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you you you you [Music] well good morning church welcome uh here on the lord's day to free grace baptist welcome to anybody that is uh visiting with us today means house of summer there's people traveling around so just like to welcome you here for our morning service and um i have one announcement before we start and uh it's a good news announcement leslie told me that we're having a luncheon next week so that would be i don't know what date that would be 28th i think and there's going to be an email coming out from the church to just to give the details about it but uh next sunday after service we'll have a luncheon so if you'd like to join me in our call to worship this morning in turning to psalm number 138 psalm 138 and we will read that as our call to worship this morning psalm 138 a psalm of david i will praise you with my whole heart before the gods i will sing praises to you i will worship towards your holy temple and praise your name for your loving kindness and your truth for you have magnified your word above all your name in the day when i cried out you answered me and made me bold with strength in my soul all the kings of the earth shall praise you o lord when they hear the words of your mouth yes they shall sing of the ways of the lord for great is the glory of the lord though the lord is on high yet he regards the lowly but the proud he knows from afar though i walk in the midst of trouble you will revive me you will stretch out your hand against the wrath of mine enemies and your right hand will save me the lord will perfect that which concerns me your mercy o lord endures forever do not forsake the work of your hands amen and may the lord bless his word our first song this morning if you want to take your hymnal and turn to number 342 342 will be our first song this morning [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] [Music] oh [Music] let's go to the lord in prayer then and ask his blessing on our time together this morning our father who art in heaven we just thank you that we may come to gather together today by your grace to come into the house of god on this day of god to worship you father we give you thanks and as we have just sung we thank you for our lord jesus christ who's the one spoken about who is stricken on that cross and it is by him that we come this morning and because of him and because his blood shed for the remission of our sin that we have peace with you father and we thank you and praise you for this time that we may come to gather together to rejoice together to rejoice in thy presence to give you thanks for all things that you have done in christ and father as we come this morning we just want to ask even as we have read in the psalms this morning we ask that you would help us to worship and to praise you with our whole heart lord with a heart that you have purified by faith we thank you for that we pray that you would help us as we do gather today to sing your word to hear your word read to hear your word preach we pray that you would help us to receive and love your word lord that you hold that said higher than your name we praise you and thank you for that word that we can come before this day we pray that you would help us as well lord in our singing that we might sing and praise you as we ought to with with hearts again that are purified by faith through the precious blood of christ we pray that you would help us to walk humbly before you in all our ways and uh lord even in the hearing of your word that we might receive it uh with meekness this morning this your engrafted word we praise you and thank you for that we thank you lord for your keeping during this last week we thank you for your keeping us this day we thank you even as we have heard this morning in the previous hour lord in uh studying the perseverance in the of the saints how we are kept by the power of god through faith unto salvation we praise you for that that it is of you lord from first to last our salvation and that if it wasn't for you we would surely depart but because of your faithfulness because of your goodness lord and your promise your oath towards us we are are kept by you lord for you are immutable unchangeable and we thank you for that and um lord we just want to pray as well that as we consider the even from your word here that though we fall into sin sometimes often we fall we trip let yet lord you are the ones that pick us up and that we can look to you in all things for it is you that are able lord to perfect that which concerns each one of us and we thank you and praise you for that we want to pray as well lord for the congregation today we want to pray for those that aren't with us that may be away traveling on holidays that may be at home sick lord and we we pray that you would be with them that you would bless them richly lord that your hand of grace would be upon them and that those are sick that you might nurture back to health we also want to pray for pastor jim this morning who is in surrey and we pray that you would be with him that you would anoint him there and that your word might go forth there lord we thank you and praise you for that and we we want to pray for uh even ryan in up in armstrong lord that your word would be faithfully preached there we thank you for that we thank you for those in the church in honduras lord who gather this day as well that you would be with them and that they might preach your word that the gospel would go forth there lord and sent by you we thank you for that and we also want to pray for our brother cam here will be speaking today preaching to us today that your hand of grace be upon him and your spirit would anoint him and that we would be ready to receive the word we hear we just give you thanks for that we thank you for all your ways lord and we just pray that um our praises would be acceptable unto you this day in christ jesus our lord for we pray in his name amen okay our second song if you want to turn with me this morning is number 446. four four six if you like to stand and we'll sing to the lord [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] i am [Music] oh [Music] my is [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] amen our scripture reading this morning is going to be from the book of james james chapter 3 if you'd like to turn there we'll read from the word of god read the whole chapter james chapter 3 starting in verse 1. my brethren let not many of you become teachers knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment for we all stumble in many things if anyone does not stumble in word he is a perfect man able also to bridle the whole body indeed we put bits in horses mouths that they may obey us and we turn their whole body look also at ships although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds they are turned by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things see how great a forest a little fire kindles and the tongue is a fire a world of iniquity the tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of nature and it is set on fire by hell for every kind of beast and bird of reptile and creature of the sea is tamed and has been tamed by mankind but no man can tame the tongue it is an unruly evil full of deadly poison with it we bless our god and father and with it we curse men who have been made in the similitude of god out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing my brethren these things ought not to be so does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening can a fig tree my brethren bear olives or a grape vine bear figs thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh who is wise and understanding among you let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom but if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts do not boast and lie against the truth this wisdom does not descend from above but is earthly sensual demonic for where envy and self-seeking exist confusion and every evil thing are there but the wisdom that is from above is first pure then peaceable gentle willing to yield full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisy now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace may the lord bless his word this is probably a familiar passage to most of us there's exhortations here against not many becoming teachers because with it comes a responsibility of the teaching and of the doctrine that that goes forth and not that um it should be uh obviously shunned by by everybody or we would have no teachers no no pastors in the church but it's important as we see in this this word that things are done properly we see that we carry within us in in between our very lips i guess it's an enemy it can be used by our flesh to do great evil as it says in this word of god here that the tongue is that in that place and it's compared to the ship who can turn a small member turns a big ship so this this tongue that we have within us can be used for both blessing and it can be used for cursing it can build up and it can tear down it's um it's something that we need to take heed to the warnings that are set here about about how we use our tongue and that it's also an admonition to the christian if we profess the name of christ on our kind of our conduct our conversation in christ that as christians this tongue shouldn't be be doing both things blessing and cursing it should be by god's grace uh something that is to the edification of uh brothers and sisters in christ and even to those who without we're told that our our speech is to be filled with grace and to be seasoned with salt so the one thing that stands out as well in this portion of god's word is it says in verse i think it was eight it says no man can tame the tongue so i think we have to receive an admonition through that that we're we're prone to this this uh this spirit struggle with the flesh and to speak uh to speak things sometimes that we should not so but we can't be relying on ourselves because it says no man containment we have to look to the lord to the lord jesus christ to the spirit of god to mortify these things in us that would would be not appropriate to uh our christian conversation as it were let's just uh sing now with our third song will be 275 number 275 [Music] foreign [Music] we is [Music] is [Music] [Music] r [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] good morning to everyone you can turn in your bibles with me to hebrews chapter 10. hebrews chapter 10 as we now engage in that act of worship the preaching of the word of god we're going to read hebrews 10 beginning at verse 1 and finishing at verse 25. again that's hebrews 10 1 to 25 and this is the word of the triune god 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 had when he came into the world he said sacrifice an 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 blood 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 but 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 let us pray heavenly father we rejoice in the fact that we can gather here this morning for the worship of father son and holy spirit that we can gather together in the name of our savior the lord jesus christ we do pray for the spirit's aid now lord god for both preacher and hearer we do pray that saints would be edified in this place this morning we pray lord god that sinners would be saved we would ask lord god for that glorious act of amazing and condescending grace this morning that any and all who entered inside these two doors outside of jesus christ in unbelief would leave singing the praises of their victor jesus christ the lord do be with us now might you be glorified and might we receive as your saints good from on high we pray in the name of our savior the lord jesus christ amen well we're going to look at hebrews 10 19 to 25 this morning the perfection of christ as the prompting of his people in the book of hebrews we have something here that pink notes the principle design of the spirit herein that is the book of hebrews is to exhibit the excellency and efficacy of christ's satisfaction and this not so much god words as saint words showing the inestimable blessings which it has procured for the favored members of the household of faith here in hebrews 19 to 25 that is chapter 10 19-25 we've come to a pivotal point in the epistle to the hebrews largely prior to this point we have had theology set forth we have had doctrine set forth now we have a transition in verse 19 with this therefore a transition to exhortation an kids means a strong urging to do something and so the apostles in the new testament and of course those in the old testament the prophets and such would set forth the glory of god the glory of the lord jesus christ and then would exhort the hearers unto certain action in light of amazing and victorious grace and here we have such a transition if the theological substance of the book of hebrews is and it is if the theological substance of the book of hebrews is the super abounding excellency of jesus christ over all that had come before him then the exhortative substance that we will look at this morning that exhortative substance is to lay hold of that glorious jesus christ with an unswerving constancy that is the letter to the hebrews the glory of christ and exhortations to lay hold of that blessed savior with an unswerving constancy remember that the theological content of the book of hebrews is the glory of christ simply kids that christ is better better than all things he's better than the angels the author sets forth he's a better hope the author sets forth he's the better priest the better prophet the better and enduring promise he is the mediator of a better covenant and that surety that is built upon better things the glory of jesus christ is set forth and then by virtue of that there are exhortations given by the apostle paul for christians to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of so glorious a christ now just very briefly before we dive into two things in this particular passage we want to note the context verses one to four we can find what we might say a mosaical insufficiency that simply means that the old covenant had a divinely designed insufficiency in so far as the sacrifices that were rendered there was a divinely designed obsolescence to the offering up of bulls and goats which could never take away sins because they pointed forward to that greater sacrifice jesus christ the lamb of god who takes away the sins of his people so there's a statement of mosaical insufficiency with regards to the sacrifices of the old testament notice verse 4 for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins but there is then in verses 5 to 10 a statement and elaboration upon the absolute sufficiency of jesus christ and his sacrifice notice at verse 10 by that will that is by christ jesus by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of jesus christ once for all so old covenant insufficiency at the point of the sacrifice is rendered but new covenant absolute sufficiency in jesus christ our savior and then in verses 11 to 18 we have the insufficiency of the earthly priesthood followed by the absolute sufficiency and perfection of the priesthood of christ notice at verse 11 and every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never take away sins but see in in the scriptures we have these wonderful these wonderful bots b.u.t in the holy scripture that set forth something of a greater contrast 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 you see the the labor of the apostle paul in this epistle is to set forth the glory of jesus christ before the eyes of faith of those who are being tempted to depart away from christianity the temple was still standing judaism was still going on the sacrifices were being offered the washings the ceremonies all of these things were taking place and the family members and the friends and the countrymen of hebrew christians were tempting those hebrew christians to depart from this glorious christ and to go back to the shiny things of the old covenant because they were still before their eyes and so paul wants to set forth no the glory of jesus christ not these things that were typical not these things that foreshadowed jesus not these things that were copies of the true but the true has come lord jesus christ has come our blessed savior has come do not depart but maintain that allegiance by grace in the crucified one and so we get to our particular passage and we want to note that this passage breaks down into two parts first the foundation for the exhortation in verses excuse me 19 to 21 and then the giving of the exhortation in the following verses that is 22 to 25. so two simple things the foundation for the exhortation and the giving of it first of all the foundation for the exhortation in some to borrow from john owen the dignity of the person of christ and the virtue of his office that is what the apostle paul is setting forth the dignity of jesus he is the perfect one he is very god and very man yet one christ the only mediator between god and man and all of those old covenant things only pointed forward to him all of those those blessed streams of old covenant revelation merged and found their confluence in and find their confluence in jesus christ the lord the dignity of his person that he is very god and very man hebrews 1 1-4 and the virtue of his work that means the perfection of his work he didn't fail he came into this world sinners to save and he saved sinners and that perfectly notice the language of verses 19 uh to 21. therefore so there's this transitional word 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 etc so there are two things that we see here first confidence in the once for all sacrifice of christ and then second the glorious fact of christ's high priestly office these two things correspond with verses uh verses 1 to verses 1 to 4 verses 5 to 10 and then verses 11 to 18 because there are two things that the the apostle paul is doing by way of comparison he's comparing the old covenant sacrifices ineffectual in and of themselves and then he's comparing that with the glory of the sacrifice of the lord jesus christ the one to whom those things pointed and then secondly he's comparing the insufficiency of the priesthood of the old covenant and that's compared to the excellency the super abounding excellence of the priesthood of christ the old covenant priests ministered daily with sacrifices that could never take away sins they would go once a year on the day of atonement into the most holy place with a sacrifice that itself could never take away sins these things were only signals that signified the glory of jesus christ his perfect sacrifice and his perfect priesthood so first of all confidence in the once for all sacrifice of christ it is sacrifice and priesthood being compared and set forth here confidence in the once for all sacrifice of christ notice the language of the text having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of jesus we are not so many christians that come into this place with sheepishness and trepidation we come into the the house of the lord on the day of the lord gathering together with the people of the lord we're not to be marked by a sheepishness and a trepidation the text says that by virtue of the perfect work of jesus christ we're to be marked by a boldness we're to have courage it assumes both liberty from religious restriction and the absence of trepidation he has hushed the la the law's loud thunder he has quenched mount sinai's flame it's the language of the of the hymn that we sing you see we don't come in if we are if we are marked and we are to be marked by a boldness if we come in and we somehow think that that boldness is by virtue of us if we somehow think that i'm you know we're mighty christians we puff out our chests we lift up we lift up our our noses and our chins and we think ourselves bold we're we're placing we're placing boldness in the wrong location the boldness that we have is by virtue of what came of what is in uh chapters 1 through to 10 18 and what we see in verses 1 through to 18 and chapter 10 that is the perfect work of jesus christ that's where our boldness lies that's where christian courage lies we are not so many lion-hearted christians bold in our own strength and vigor but we are so many christians bold because christ lived for us christ died for us christ rose again for us and he has ascended to the right hand of the majesty on high where he ever lives to make intercession for us that's wherein our boldness lies and so the author can write here having boldness to enter the holiness the holiest by the blood of jesus as well he says note that we're able to enter the holiest by the blood of jesus so by the holiest is meant the most holy place and it has reference first off to that typical place the tabernacle in the temple where there was a veil that separated and the most holy place was behind it only the high priest was able to go in there once a year on the day of atonement to offer up the sacrifices and quickly depart and remember to offer up sacrifices first for himself in his own household and then for the people but this jesus entered the holiest that is the true of the copy he entered into heaven itself by the blood of himself he needed no sacrifice for himself because he is holy harmless and undefiled but he offered up the sacrifice for his people people for all those whom had been given to him by the glorious predestinating grace of almighty god and so jesus christ by his blood secures this boldness and notice as well we have this glorious language by a new and living way which he consecrated for us what does that mean we have this boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of jesus by a new and living way which he consecrated for us again this has a comparison to the old covenant the old covenant remember that at the time of jesus christ up until the crucifixion of jesus christ it was propitious and uh it was right for these to enter into the temple to offer up sacrifices in their service unto god but with the coming of christ his crucifixion subsequent resurrection and ascension this activity was to cease it was no longer a lawful thing why because the true had come the copy was to be cast off the substance had come the shadow is to be cast off the true temple the true tabernacle the true priest the true sacrifice had come and so the old was to be cast off so a new and living way in contrast to the old and the repetitious and the dying and fading away way that was the typical ordinances of the mosaical institutions these were old these were repetitious these are fading away but christ by a new and living way it's living it's eternal it brings life it gives life it sustains life and it brings us into eternal life and new we can we can think of other uh other texts other doctrines in the new testament the new covenant the the fact that by the the rending of the shed blood of christ we have that blessed new covenant inaugurated wherein all are the people of god and so christ by a new and living way consecrates this worship for us that means he sanctifies our worship he sets apart our worship our confident approach to god by virtue of his shed blood remember we don't come sheepishly we don't come with trepidation we just saying the hymn arise my soul arise shake off thy guilty fears we we don't need to come guilty into these doors of worship into the house of god why because christ has taken away the guilt of sin he has dealt the death blow to the power of sin to the condemnation for sin and to the guilt of sin he has taken it away by the perfection of his sacrifice that's why the hymn writer can write arise my soul arise don't be sheepish don't be trepidatious if that's a word don't be marked by trepidation but come with confidence because the high priest has shed his blood for the salvation of a multitude which no man can number from every tribe and tongue and people and nation and notice the language is used here through the veil that is his flesh remember that on the day of the crucifixion the sun was darkened and the veil of the temple was torn in two you know that wasn't just the gospel writers making a historical note oh isn't it interesting that the you know the sun was darkened and the and the the veil was torn in two that's that's curious i'll just make a note of that in my gospel account no there was great typology there was great significance there is great theology to the rending of the veil leo notes this that is leo maximus if you ever want to name a name a son there's another name on the all-time name list leo maximus so anybody uh planning on having children and you want to think of the name for a boy leo maximus um but leo writes this and it's notable the new testament also was being ratified that is in the uh in the rending of the veil that is his flesh and in the blood of christ the heirs of the eternal kingdom were being enrolled the great high priest was entering the holy of holies and to intercede with god the spotless priest was passing in through the veil of his flesh in fine so evident to transition was being erected from the law to the gospel from the synagogue to the church from many sacrifices to the one victim that when the lord gave up the ghost that mystic veil which hung before and shut out the inner part of the temple and its holy recess was by sudden force torn from top to bottom for that reason the truth was displacing figures and forerunners were needless in the presence of him they announced listen to this last statement for that reason the truth that is capital t christ for the reason that truth was displacing figures and forerunners were needless in the presence of him they announced that's the apostle paul's point in the book of of hebrews forerunners are needless in the presence of him they announced the announced one had come the announced one had come gloriously life death resurrection rendered for the salvation of a multitude so those forerunners are needless because the one to whom they pointed had come in glory going back then to the passage secondly under the foundation for the exhortation we just want to notice here the glorious fact of christ's high priestly office notice the language of verse 21 and having a high priest over the house of god this is to give us much confidence this is to give us the boldness that the apostle paul is here writing about we have a high priest over the house of god it is not according to our machinations in our movements and our operations and our actions that the house of god is perfected that service unto god is rendered but it is by the perfection of the actings and the operations of the high priest who was over that house even jesus christ the lord this is to give us great confidence jesus is the worship leader we don't need a worship leader why because hebrews 2 12 the lord jesus christ is the worship leader of the church he walks amongst the lamb stands he is the greater brother for his brethren who gives service to god in the house of god for the people of god so this brings us then to the giving of the exhortation and the rest of our time will be taken up with this so i think we hopefully get the blessed point the perfection of jesus christ his person and his work therefore these following things so we have now the giving of the exhortation and it is threefold or we have three exhortations we have them given in verses 23 through to 25 and i want us to note here that the exhortations are structured such that first the exhortation proper is given so there's an actual exhortation given and they're given with these let us clauses uh secondly the giving of the exhortation comes and it states the manner in which the exhortation is to be carried out so we're exhorted onto an action how are we to carry it out paul writes this and then thirdly there is a reason or motivational impetus for heating the exhortation provided so exhortation given manner by which it is to be carried out and then a reason for doing it notice here that these three exhortations are given to us with the introductory language of let us let let's not avoid let us not avoid that language or just skip past that language when we're reading this passage it is congregational language the language is let us that is it's congregational it's given to the assembly of the saints it's given to the gathered church and so this congregational exhortation is to be understood in that exact sense that it's given to the church he doesn't write let all of you individually exercise such and such but rather he says let us as the gathered church as the people of god in worship peculiarly and specifically how are we to act and what are we to do when we are assembled together you see we are not uh a smattering we are not a we're not a gathering of maverick christians we are not to be so many maverick christians that just come into these doors gather together sing a few hymns do a few elements of worship and then scatter out about our way we are together gathered together in union with our lord jesus christ and in union with each other we are to fellowship we are to be assembled saints we are to be exhorting saints and as we'll notice in a moment we are to be others minded saints so the first exhortation that's given is the call to engage in confident and true new covenant worship notice the language in verse 22 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 it's a call to engage in confident and true new covenant worship the exhortation that is given is let us draw near with a true heart so that's the exhortation proper let us draw near with a true heart this drawing near is to the triune god through christ it envisions worship and spiritual sacrifices that we render to god prayer the reading of the word the hearing of the word the singing of the word and the preaching of the word so it also entails confidence and not presumption so we are to draw near with a true heart it you know we're not to draw near like those of the old covenant many in the old covenant remember the rebuke of god they draw near to me or you draw near to me with your your mouth and with your lips but your hearts are far from me that was the condition of those many in the old covenant that would would offer blind and lame sacrifices yeah they might render lip service to yahweh but by their actions and in their heart and absence of religious hearts they would not render a true sacrifice or rather a true religious service with true hearts and so this is we are to draw near with true hearts not in outward worship only the motions of the physical man but with hearts purified by faith that's something that we ought to pray for every lord's day shouldn't it i mean we have we have you know we're in this we're in august right now the heat's here um it's heavy in the building that you know the air feels heavy maybe it's humidity the hot's here we're fighting the flesh to try and stay awake you know these are difficult things we ought to pray every lord's day morning that we would have true hearts in worship that we would not just come through these doors and with the motions of the physical man engage in outward worship only absent of a true christian heart we should pray every lord's day morning and even when we're in the pews before the one opening worship comes up we should pray lord give me a true heart of worship that i might honor you today so we also see that there is a horizontal responsibility that we'll see in a moment a horizontal responsibility for the people of the church not only are we to honor god but we are to exhort one another and so praying for true hearts that our souls would be lifted that it would be true of us arise my soul arise that we might even have the crazy wherewithal to crescent our lips and smile that we might be joyful and cheerful christians on the lord's day honoring our god and exhorting one another and encouraging one another to lay hold of their god with an unswerving constancy so let us draw near with a true heart and notice the manner in which this exhortation is to be carried out it is in full assurance of faith let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith it speaks again to the confidence into the boldness that christians are to have when they enter into the worship of father son and holy spirit the one and only living and true god we are to have full assurance of faith again not because we're so splendid not because we're so glorious but because the triune god is glorious in his amazing and victorious grace and because of the finished and perfect work of jesus christ we are promised that all those who believe in jesus christ will not perish but have everlasting life and so we can ensure in full assurance of faith come into the worship of our god come into the honoring of our christ with confidence and with boldness isn't it a blessed thing brethren that our sins are forgiven you know this is another another reason why because christ is perfect and the rendering of him as a sacrifice the forgiveness of sins are a promise given in a means by which we can have boldness and confidence in worship because we've had the power the condemnation and in this case specifically the guilt of sin taken away you know there was the i i i think i pray in the in the history of me preaching i probably use this illustration or this not this illustration but this uh quote from the pilgrims progress about every third time that i preach but because it's because it's so glorious at the point of this very thing that we're studying right now being confident and bold in worship and having this full assurance of faith we don't come to christian worship with guilt the guilt of sin has been taken away if you've come here this morning and you're feeling guilty you're you're wallowing in sin right now you're presently enduring a season where the storms have come in and god's countenance seems far from you the love of god seems far from you repent and find forgiveness with christ you see we don't need to wallow in our sin we don't need to engage in seasons where we're where we're you know it's metaphorically flagellating ourselves until god somehow accepts our personal atonement christ has died for you the perfect sacrifice has been given so cast off your wallowing it does no one good there's no nobility in wallowing in sin okay if you're if you're i'm going to endure a season of guilt because i'm so holy and pious i'm just going to wait for a period of time and metaphorically flagellate myself if you want to ask what that means later on the roman catholics would put you know beads and sharp things on ropes and whip themselves in order to atone for their sin christ has died for us christ has was raised again for us christ has ascended to the right hand of the majesty on high where he ever lives to intercede for us so don't wallow in guilt that pilgrim's progress quote goes something like this how how far have i come laden with my sin how far have you come laden with your sin this morning how far have we come laden with my with my sin nothing could ease the grief that i was in till i came here what a place is this must here be the beginning of my bliss must hear this burden fall from off my back the burden of sin must hear the cords that tied it to me crack blessed cross blessed sepulcher that is tomb blessed rather be the man who there was put to shame for me you see we don't come before the triune god riddled with guilt we come before the triune god with the confidence of a crucified christ with the confidence of a resurrected christ with the confidence of an ascended christ and there we find our glory there we find our confidence in worship we draw near in full assurance of faith and the the the reason for heeding this exhortation is also given here having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water the imagery comes right out of the old testament again remember paul's writing to those who are being stolen away or who are people are attempting to steal them away back to old covenant worship and so he uses old covenant worship here to speak to the greater reality of new covenant truth and he says having our uh having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience in our bodies washed with pure water the imagery is drawn from those exodus and leviticus admonitions and narratives where aaron after the offering of the sacrifice would sprinkle the blood upon the altar and it speaks to that blessed new covenant reality or that's what it points to the blessed new covenant reality that our hearts have been sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water you see that sprinkling of the blood of the sacrifice never it never washed it never purified it never took away sins but it pointed forward to as a signal to the thing signified which was which is our heart sprinkled our hearts washed our hearts regenerate rated by the saving power of the holy spirit that's the promise of ezekiel 36 where our hearts will be washed that the spirit will be that one who washes us in pure water purifying us by amazing and victorious grace the second exhortation that we find here is the call to be steadfast in the confession of christ notice the language here verse 23 let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful the call to be steadfast in the confession of christ the exhortation that is given is properly let us hold fast the confession of our hope so that's the exhortation that's given let us hold fast the confession of our hope or we could render that the profession of faith our faith but this exhortation first off assumes that there is an exertion of strength that's rendered a diligence we are exhorted believers are exhorted to hold fast that means we are to to grip strongly we are to have a strong grip upon something that something follows but hold fast be steadfast grip the truth hold on to something it comprehends an exertion of strength christians we are to exert a measure of strength as we rail against the devil as we rail against the world as we rail against the flesh we are to maintain not an inviolable grip because only christ has that not a perfect grip because only christ has that but we are to maintain as much as we are able by supplies of the spirit we are to grip something in the exertion of a diligence and of a strength and that thing is given or the object gripped is given here the the holding fast assumes that there is something of value to hold on to and in this case it is of inestimable value so we're to hold fast and we're to hold fast something and that something is the confession of our hope or the profession of our faith what is that if we are to define that we could define that with one word and that one word is christ again the dignity of his person in the virtue of his work or his office that he is very god and very man yet one christ the only mediator between god and man our savior our redeemer our king that is the confession of our hope that the son of god the second of the blessed triune of one substance with him who begat him came into this lower world took upon himself man's nature with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof and yet without sin and it affected a perfect salvation that's what we are to lay hold of why because the danger in the context was that those countrymen those family members those friends were trying to steal these christians back to old covenant worship why would you why would you why would you engage in a worship when there are no shiny things when there is no temple when there are no brush brushed accoutrements um however you pronounce that when there when there aren't all these physical things that you can cast your eyes upon in the temple you can see the high priest decked out you can see all of these elements of worship why would you go to this one invisible why would you go to this one that you cannot see why would you go to this simple worship and so they were fighting against the answer is why because all of those things pointed forward to this blessed one all of those streams of old covenant reality pointed forward to this christ whom you crucified that's why we worship the triune god and engage in the honoring in the worship of jesus christ the savior but back to the point here this gripping this laying hold of something is the laying hold of jesus christ and it recognizes the danger of opposition there is contemporaneous jewish opposition so you might say maybe some of you are asking but but hopefully not but maybe some of you are asking okay well what does this have to do with me we're 2 000 years removed from the giving of this revelation we're 2 000 years removed from this pre-temple judaism or this pre-temple destruction judaism that is this doesn't occur anymore well there still is an assailing devil there still is a contrary world and there still is a lusting flesh and we rail against these enemies each and every day and those three three things are trying to steal us away are trying to allure us away from us laying hold of christ jesus the lord and so we fight against these things and the exhortation yes comes to the hebrews 2000 years ago but by the fact that this is the living word it comes to us here in 2022 in chilliwack on a hot day and so we are to lay hold of this hope the confession of our hope the manner in which this exhortation is to be carried out is given notice the manner is without wavering we're to have a doubtless faith we are to be resolute in believing so we are to lay hold of the hope confession of our hope and we are to do so without wavering we're not to be like so many boats so many ships that are rudderless sailless mastless what orless were not to be such as those boats tossed about on a waving ocean we are to have the rudders and the oars and the sails captained and piloted by jesus christ the lord realizing that we are on that boat not on so many boats cast and tossed a fro and asunder by the waves of the storms but rather we have our captain the lord jesus christ we are to lay hold of him and we are not to waver you know this this brings us to to an important point with the context here and that is that given the weight of the apostles arguments throughout the book of the hebrews given the fact that the apostle has spent 10 chapters trying to set forth not trying setting forth by divine inspiration the glory of jesus christ and doing so time and again uh emphasizing that all of those old i know i keep saying this but paul has to keep saying it in the epistle to the hebrews because of the weakness and the corruption of the hearts of men why would you go back to judaism why would you go back to old covenant religion why would you go back to things to to those things when christ has come and perfected salvation we can we can almost hear the apostle paul say these things repeatedly why would you go back to the fading away and becoming obsolete things of the old covenant religion when christ has come and perfected salvation why would you go back to the foretellings of the prophets when the one to whom they foretold has come their scope their end and their terminus he has come don't seek out those don't seek out those four tellings as if to look for another christ as as if to look for a future messiah which they do the messiah has come the christ has come why would you seek out the ministrations of angels like we have in the beginning chapters of of hebrews why would you seek out the ministrations of angels when in christ we have the ministry of the maker of angels why would you go back to the temple when we have emmanuel why go back to the copy when we have the true why go back to the shadow when we have the substance why go back to the type when we have the blessed antitype jesus christ the lord it's madness why the copy when we have the true in the context here why go back to repeated sacrifices when we have the once and for all sacrifice of the lamb of god who takes away the sins of the world why would you go back to the ministrations of an earthly priesthood when in the high priest jesus christ we have that obedience unto cross death vocation of the son of god incarnate why would you go back and so us so far removed from this particular time with the assailing devil with the contrary world and its allurements with the lusting flesh and that battle we are to look to this christ to hold on with an unswerving constancy and the reason for heeding that exhortation is given for he who promised is faithful notice again verse 23 let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful this is the motivational impetus as if to this point perhaps they're still doubting you know the the weight of their countrymen the weight of their family the weight of the shiny things of judaism that were before them even though they should have been cast off and they should have only owned one alone christ jesus the lord but these things are before them if they were still doubting and if there still was hesitation in their hearts the language of for he who promised is faithful would come as that blessed bomb that blessed cure to that doubt why because it stresses the immutable promises of our living and true god he who promised is faithful this comprehends and asserts the infinite eternal and unchangeable character of god and calls upon the reader to consider the promissory promissory declarations of that god what does that mean god has promised and he is immutable in his promises he is unchangeable in his promises he is infinite eternal and unchangeable in all of his glorious perfections and he has promised that all those who believe in his son will have everlasting life so lay hold of this christ and lay hold of him with that unswerving constancy i think it's okay for us to make some assumptions as to what perhaps the promises are in view here that promise that genesis 3 15 promised that the hero born of woman will crush the serpent with his heel that covenant of grace given in the garden given at the garden remember that that is language concerning christ in all of revelation that follows the giving of that promise that the hero born of woman christ will crush the serpent with his heel all of subsequent divine revelation builds off of that particular promise the promise to abraham that from you the nations will be blessed from your seed that is capital s seed christ according to galatians all the nations of the earth will be blessed the promises to david the the promises to the the patriarchs the promises given to the prophets that the prophets announced to the nation of israel that there is one coming who will give himself for guilty sinners who will rise again the third day and ascend to glory that promising god is the ground and the motivational impetus for all of us brethren to lay hold of jesus christ with an unswerving constancy and then lastly the call to be others minded in our walk with christ this is the final exhortation given the call to be others minded in our walk with christ notice the language in verse 24 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 the exhortation proper that is given is let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works see there's a posture and a connected activity given here were to have this posture of considering one another and there is a purpose given to stir up love and good works so this posture that we're to have is in others mindedness this is very difficult for humanity it's very difficult for us to be others minded isn't it because we're so often about ourselves you know even right now and i i promise that i'll end soon so you don't have to worry about me going on for another 30 minutes but even right now when's this preacher going to end when can i leave when can i get my lunch maybe i'm imputing evil to you that i shouldn't please forgive me if i'm if i am but sometimes the flesh avails as we're sitting in the pews and our thoughts can wander our thoughts can go astray from the worship of god and from honoring christ and from a horizontal responsibility to other people in the church that we might exhort them and be examples of conducting ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of christ we're hot we're tired so we are to be others mindedness we're not to be selfish we're not to look inwardly we're not to be about our own issues and our own problems but we are to put the interests of others ahead or before those of our own that's the language of the apostle paul in philippians 1 and 2. we are to in humility put others interests before those of our own and so there is an other mindedness posture that we are to have the language let us consider one another and the purpose is to stir up love and good works ought not we to pray about that that we would by our activity based upon the finished work of the lord jesus christ by our conversation in the gospel of jesus christ that's an old word that means our are conducting ourselves by conducting ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel that we would stir up one another another to love and good works that's what we ought to pray for that is we come into church we would have an others mindedness not a me mindedness but in others mindedness considering one another in order that we might stir up service unto god and unto the honor of christ the manner in which this exhortation is to be carried out is by not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together so how do we consider one another in this context and how do we stir up love and good works it's by coming to church it's by assembling together it's by it's by the the stuff of the lettuces that paul is trying to bring out in the flavor of congregationalism we are an assembly of saints and what does that mean means we assemble we gather together in the name of christ jesus the lord to worship our god and to exhort one another and build each other up in our most holy faith so we are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some these were tempted not to gather out of fear of persecution out of fear later on in hebrews 10 later on we read of their goods being plundered of them being persecuted by their countrymen and so out of fear out of apprehension some weren't coming to church but you see that is where we are blessed that is where god blesses us that is where christ is and we are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some and then what is that reason for heeding the exhortation notice the text goes on here but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching so what is this what is this day very very quickly uh some have thought is it the day of our death um is it the the day of the future and general judgment is it the sabbath day it is most likely the day of judgment upon jerusalem and ad7 as you see that promised day approaching first century hebrews as you see that day approaching all the more conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of christ all the more exhort one another all the more gather together and encourage one another to stir up love and good works john owen writes this he 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 all other contrivances will prove not only vain and foolish but destructive unto our souls the day here intended was coming on the city and nation for their neglect and contempt of the gospel it was the revenge of their murder on belief and obstinacy against christ wherefore if any that made profession of the gospel were now negligent and careless in the known duties of it they could have no evidence and satisfaction in their own minds that they should not fall in the fire of that day and so brethren we may not have the problem or the approaching day that these hebrews had in the first century but remember we do have our problems we do have our oppositions we do have our enemies our trials our storms our floods and so the answer to that is not to submit to the flesh and not assemble together the answer is to submit unto god and with joyfulness and cheerfulness come to church on the day of the lord with the people of the lord singing praying engaging in the ministry of the word and honoring the triune god so in closing brethren just just a few things and and these will go very quickly but not to the sacrifice of treating the content as it ought to be treated first off reflect often upon the person and work of christ a very simple one for a preacher but a very important one for christians reflect often upon the person and work of christ because this is glorious in and of itself but also because it is the ground of our service unto god that's what the text says because of the perfection of his sacrifice because of the perfection of his priesthood we have access to god free access unto the triune god and we are to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the amazing grace by which we were brought from darkness to light secondly there are no strange appendages to our christian duty and worship you might wonder what that means and i'm there are no that means that christianity is simple biblical christianity is simple and i don't mean that in the sense that there will never be persecution that there will never be trial that there will never never be hot opposition against us but i simply mean that the apostolic exhortation unto christian activity is very simple we're not called to we're not called to seek after the next the next the next uh experiential high we're not called to capture or recapture the next emotional experience lifting your hands higher crying more uncontrollably shedding more tears we're not called to to seek after prophecy and tongues and knowledge and think of ourselves as failed when we don't have them because those three things ceased with the completion of the canon in the new testament we're not called upon to buy the broach to buy the dvd to to to buy the the little bottle of water that was kissed by angels in the middle east we're not called upon to do all of these things we're not called upon to to to pay for the conference to listen to the incessant ramblings of modern prophets and apostles were called to think upon to dwell upon to engage in sweet contemplations of the triune god father son and holy spirit were called upon to engage in the sweet contemplations of the son of god who came down from on high took upon himself humanity sinners to save and what do we do in light of those blessed contemplations we gather in worship we draw near confidently we lay hold of the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful and we gather together in others mindedness exhorting one another until that blessed day for us when we enter into emmanuel's land brethren we're called upon to engage in a simple christianity and it's a glorious one sweet contemplations of our god is there anything better than laying hold of a triune god infinite eternal and unchangeable in all of his glorious perfections dwelling upon the blessings of so glorious a god is there anything more sweet than that that that holding fast grip upon the son of god who came into this world sinners to save is there anything blessed to grip than an incarnate then a living then a bleeding than a dying then arising again and ascending savior there isn't let us do that unto that great day and let us do that together as a congregation as a band of brothers so we stand and we sing on during during worship as just one example you know the bible says that we sing psalms psalms and hymns and spiritual songs we do sing them unto god yes but we also sing them to one another the text says so as banned as a band of brothers when we sing when we rise up and sing we are to rise up and we're to consider that before us and behind us that to the left and to the right there are christians saved by the blood of the lord jesus christ interceded for by an exalted lord jesus christ and that we are together as that band of brothers to sing the praises of jesus christ unto that great day when we enter into emmanuel's land and if you're here this morning and you are a christian rejoice in your christ dwell upon the glories of the triune god dwell upon the sacrifice of the lord jesus christ the blessedness of our redeeming king if you're outside of christ this morning what is so ugly about this savior that god came down from heaven sinners to save what is repugnant about that what is repugnant about the one who fixed the stars in place being fixed in place upon a tree to redeem mankind there are so many sweet things quote unquote that you chase after in this lower world with all of its allurements and you neglect the one thing that is worthy to be chased after and that's jesus christ the savior the one who came into this world sinners to save the sinner believe on him saints rest upon him and might every single one of our tongues because it's possible only with god leave these two doors singing the praises of our victor let us pray heavenly father we thank you for your truth we rejoice in your goodness to us that we can embrace your word that we can study your word that we can preach your word that we can sing it that we can see it in your ordinances and we do just pray lord god that you would apply this word to our hearts that we might rejoice in your word that we might sing the praises of the christ to whom it points and do go with us help us to engage in the heating of these exhortations joyfully and cheerfully lord and might we do all things in the honor of father son and holy spirit we pray in the name of our savior jesus christ the lord amen well let's stand and sing a doxology and that is the doxology we'll stand in sing 568 if you don't know it let's stand and sing that together [Music] oh [Music] now may the god of peace who brought up our lord jesus from the dead that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you complete in every good work to do his will working in you what is well pleasing in his sight through jesus christ to whom be glory forever and ever amen we'll please be seated and we'll have a brief time of prayer when the the piano is finished you're dismissed you