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Good evening, everyone. You can 
turn in your Bibles with me to the book of Hebrews. Hebrews 10. The last number of 
Lord's days, we've looked at certain forms or elements of 
the New Testament epistles. We've looked at the anatomy of 
a salutation, the anatomy of a doxology, and then the anatomy 
of a benediction. This evening we'll look at the 
anatomy of a letter's main content by reading from the entire book 
of Hebrews. No, from Hebrews chapter 10 and 
verses 11 to 25. We're gonna note, generally, 
the structure of a letter's main content, but then focus specifically 
on the blessed content of verses 19 to 25. So this is Hebrews 
10, beginning at verse 11, the word of God. 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. Well, let's pray. God, 
we thank you for this time together in worship. We rejoice that we 
can freely gather to worship our great God, We thank you for 
our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, for his righteousness, for the 
forgiveness of sins. We rejoice in the glorious gospel, 
and we pray that you would help us now as we engage in this act 
of worship, the preaching of your word. Do strengthen us by 
your spirit, do help us by your spirit, and might you be glorified 
in this exercise. And we pray in the name of Jesus 
Christ, our Savior, amen. Well, we've noted, as I indicated 
at the beginning, a number, and if you'll recall, a number of 
different forms or elements that we find in the New Testament 
epistles. If we take away from a New Testament epistle then 
the salutation, the benediction, or benedictions, and the doxology, 
what we have remaining is the letter proper, the main content, 
the letter's main content. And usually what we find, it's 
not These patterns aren't some sort of cookie-cutter reality 
that every pistol takes on, but largely speaking, the letter's 
main content can be summed up in three things, a purpose statement, 
theology, and exhortation. So three things at large that 
we will often find in the main content of a New Testament letter. 
Again, either an explicit purpose statement or statements from 
which we can gather the purpose for the giving of the letter. 
Then we have usually the author of the New Testament epistle 
giving theological foundation for an exhortation that would 
follow. And we have that here in the 
book of Hebrews. First thing we want to note is 
some purpose statements. Before we get to the content 
of Hebrews 10, 19 to 25, which does give us theology and exhortation, 
we want to notice purpose statements. And you can turn with me to Hebrews 
4 for a moment. There are three places, not that 
it's exhausting the purpose statements in the book of Hebrews, but three 
places where we find a measure of clarity as to what the Apostle 
Paul, or the writer to the book of Hebrews, What the author's 
purpose is in writing this letter and in Hebrews 4 at verse 14? This would also serve as if anybody's 
to ask you what is give me a one-sentence summary of the entire book of 
Hebrews it would be Hebrews 4 verse 14 and Seeing then that we have 
a great high priest who has passed through the heavens Jesus the 
Son of God Let us hold fast our confession That is a summary 
of the book of Hebrews. You can turn to Hebrews 8 for 
a moment and And it's wonderful. I noted that sometimes the author 
doesn't explicitly say, this is my purpose statement, colon, 
space, and then writes the purpose statement. Here in Hebrews 8, 
though, we have sort of something like that. Hebrews 8 at verse 
1. Now, this is the main point of 
the things we are saying. We have such a high priest who 
is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in 
the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, 
which the Lord erected and not man. And then a simple statement 
at the end of the book, very near the end of the book in Hebrews 
13 at verse 22. And I appeal to 
you, brethren, bear with the word of exhortation, for I have 
written to you, in few words. So the purpose statement of the 
book of Hebrews or the purpose of the book of Hebrews is that 
these Hebrew Christians would lay hold of the confession of 
their faith. Christ is glorious. He has perfected. He is the sum and substance of 
all theology, the sum and substance of all old covenant realities. They all pointed forward to him. 
He has come to perfect salvation, therefore hold fast the confession 
of your faith without wavering. So the purpose statements, and 
then we have the, largely speaking here now, two things, the theological 
foundation and the exhortative substance. And really that's 
what Hebrews could be broken down to, theological substance 
and exhortative substance. And here at Hebrews 10, 18, And 
then 19, we have a transition from the former to the latter. 
So a transition from theology to exhortation. We see at the 
end of Hebrews 18, or excuse me, Hebrews 10, verse 18, after 
the apostle here opens up the reality of Christ being that 
promised new covenant champion, we see at verse 18, now where 
there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering 
for sin. And then we have a therefore 
given to us in verse 19. So what follows is built upon 
the substance of the letter. It's captured well in this reality 
that the Lord Jesus Christ is the champion of the new covenant. The new covenant is ratified 
in his blood. Where there is remission of sins, 
there is no longer an offering for sin. Christ has offered himself 
for sin once for all. And so now we want to look at 
two things, the theological foundation for the exhortation that we find 
here, and then the giving of the exhortation itself. The theological foundation for 
the exhortation is here found in verses 19 to 21, and if we 
could sum it up, what is the theological foundation for this 
exhortation that will follow, it is the dignity of the person 
of Christ and the virtue of his work. It's the language that 
Owen would often use, the excellence of his person and the virtue 
of his saving operations with regards to the Lord Jesus Christ. 
When we consider our blessed Savior, when we consider the 
champion of the new covenant when we consider our blessed 
hero the one the one born of woman who would crush the serpent 
with his heel we think of the excellence of his person and 
the virtue of his saving office and we see this language in verses 
19 to 21 and we want to notice first that we see confidence 
in the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ so What is going to 
be the foundation for the exhortation that follows exhortations? One 
of the things we see is the confidence in the once-for-all sacrifice 
of Christ notice at verse 19 therefore brethren having boldness 
to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus So the New Covenant 
reality, this blessed reality that Jesus Christ has perfected 
salvation for his people and that his people then are the 
blessed beneficiaries of saving perfection, that is to give us 
confidence in our New Covenant worship. We are to have boldness 
to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus. As we go into worship, 
as we come into worship, we're not to be such as who sheepishly 
enter in bearing the guilt of sin, but rather we are to confidently, 
not arrogantly, but confidently because of Christ and the perfection 
of his work, enter into worship knowing that he has answered 
the guilt, he has answered the dominion of sin, that he has 
cast away all guilt and all All wrath and all curse and all condemnation 
Therefore we are to enter with great courage and confidence 
before the throne of grace in in worship of so great a Christ 
Owen calls it the special privilege of the gospel. The special privilege 
of the gospel that we can enter into worship, not by virtue of 
confidence in our own deeds, not by virtue of confidence in 
ourselves, not by virtue of confidence because, hey man, we've really 
put in a good week of obedience to the law of God and I can enter 
now confidently within one of these two doors and worship my 
God. No, it's having boldness to enter 
the holiest by the blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus is the foundation 
for our confidence in worship. The Apostle Paul here is bringing 
forth the reality that the perfection of the blood, the shed blood 
of the Savior, over and against, if we were to read beginning 
at verse 1, over and against the blood of bulls and goats. 
over and against the sacrifices offered in the old covenant. 
The blood of bulls and goats could never take away sins. They 
were a reminder of sins, and they pointed forward to the one 
who would come in the fullness of the times to give himself 
for guilty sinners. But the blood of bulls and goats 
could never take away sins. The implements, the elements 
of old covenant worship never took away sins. But this one, 
when he came, he put an end to sin He offered up himself once 
for the sins of his people, and there is remission, there is 
forgiveness in his blood, and therefore we have boldness to 
enter the throne of grace. Boldness here assumes both liberty 
from religious restriction and the absence of trepidation. He has hushed the law's loud 
thunder. Isn't that a blessed verse in 
the hymn that we sing? He has hushed the law's loud 
thunder. Another hymn that we sing is, 
arise my soul, arise, shake off thy guilty fears. The the stanza 
doesn't continue by saying because I've put in a good week of obedience 
to the law of God Arise my soul arise shake off thy guilty fears 
the bleeding sacrifice in my behalf appears that's how we 
can come confidently and boldly to the throne of grace and That's 
how we can come confidently and we should come joyfully into 
the house of worship because this one has shed his blood for 
guilty sinners. He has risen again. He has ascended 
to the right hand of the majesty on high and what now he ever 
lives to make intercession for his people. Secondly, we have 
the glorious fact of Christ's high priestly office. 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. So that sort of ends this theological 
foundation for the exhortations that will follow, but we have 
this blessed reality of Christ's high priestly office. We have 
this new and living way, the old covenant, the old covenant 
was an old way, and it was a way of death in a sense. The law 
spoke death, the gospel brings this living way which Christ 
has consecrated for us. And notice this language of through 
the veil that is his flesh. It links the Lord Jesus Christ 
and his assumption of humanity to the veil of the old covenant 
temple. And an old brother of ours, Leo 
Maximus, wonderful name, wrote this concerning this particular 
reality in the book of Hebrews. The New Testament was also being 
ratified 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 fines so evident 
a transition was being effected 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 the reason that truth, was displacing figures, and forerunners 
were needless in the presence of him they announced." It's 
a wonderful statement. Forerunners are needless in the 
presence of him they announced. In other words, with respect 
to the book of Hebrews, since Christ has come, since the one 
to whom all these things pointed, all old covenant religion pointed, 
since he has come, why would you have your minds and your 
hearts stolen away back to those things that were fulfilled in 
Christ? That was the danger in the book of Hebrews. Tempted 
by countrymen, tempted by family, tempted by the shiny things of 
old covenant mosaic religion, Hebrew Christians were being 
tempted to go back to those things that were fulfilled in Christ. 
Why would you go back to the prophets when in Christ we have 
the one to whom the prophets pointed? Why would you go back 
to the ministrations of angels when in Christ we have the ministry 
of the maker of angels? Why would you go back to human 
priests when we have the great divine high priest, Jesus Christ, 
who has given his obedience unto cross-death vocation as the salvation 
for sinners. And so we have this blessed confidence 
that we can go in to the Holy of Holies, we can come before 
God Himself by virtue of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
the perfection of His sacrifice, the blessedness of His shed blood. Notice then we have now the giving 
of the exhortation So the theology is simply the super abounding 
excellence of Christ over all that had come before him To modify 
some language from pink the super abounding excellence of Jesus 
Christ over all that had come before him So then what do we 
do with this? What are we to do in light of 
an assailing devil? in light of an opposing world, 
and in light of the lusts of the flesh, what are we to do 
in light of the blessed theology of Jesus Christ? Well, we see 
here three things, and the first is the call to engage in confident 
and true New Covenant worship. Notice, as we see At verse 22, 
we have the theology of the blessedness of Christ behind us. And now 
this first exhortation, 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. Now, 
the structure of these three exhortations are threefold. If we see each of these three 
exhortations, there is first, the exhortation proper given, 
secondly, the manner by which the exhortation is to be carried 
out, and third, a reason or the motivational impetus for heating 
the exhortation is provided. So here we have in verse 22 the 
exhortation proper, let us draw near with a true heart. The manner 
by which the exhortation is to be carried out is given. in full assurance of faith, and 
then we have the reason or the motivational impetus, having 
our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies 
washed with pure water. We come to New Covenant worship 
with a true heart. One of the things that the writer 
to the Hebrews here is getting at in large part, I believe, 
is a comparison between those who are engaged in New Covenant 
worship and many who are engaged in Old Covenant worship. Remember 
the indictments by God through the prophets that they come with 
their so-called obedience, they come with their so-called sacrifices, 
But your hearts are far from me the Lord would say they didn't 
come with true hearts They would bring the blind and the lame 
and the the lesser sacrifices not coming with true hearts Well 
in the new covenant all those that are in the new covenant 
all those in the covenant of grace are Such as who have been 
brought alive from deadness to life by the Lord Jesus Christ 
by virtue of the shed blood of Christ and they can now draw 
near with with true hearts and in full assurance of faith. We 
can have this as Christians, brethren, full assurance of faith. 
Not because we're so good and not after a long and extended 
gaze at our own selves, but because of the finished and perfect work 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has died once for sin that 
he might bring many sons to glory, and in that we have full assurance 
of faith. As we'll see in a number of minutes 
here, the God who is faithful in his promises rests behind 
this as well. The immutability of his decree 
of election flowing from the unchangeable love of God the 
Father. And here we have the merits and 
intercession of Jesus Christ. Since you have such a perfect 
and glorious Savior, Draw new with it draw near with a true 
heart in full assurance of faith and notice having our hearts 
sprinkled From an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure 
water. That's not new language The the writer here is pulling 
out from the Old Testament Remember the language of well the language 
first of all of the sprinkling of the blood the sprinkling of 
the of the blood on the books of the Covenant We have the sprinkling 
in Ezekiel chapter 36. In the promise of the New Covenant, 
the language of sprinkling and cleansing with clean water is 
given. Remember, God promises, giving 
this New Covenant announcement, that He will bring His people 
from out of many nations. He will sprinkle them with clean 
water. He will cleanse them from all 
their filthiness and from all their idols. This ultimately 
obtains by virtue of the perfection of the work of our Savior, the 
Lord Jesus Christ. By virtue of that work, our hearts 
are sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies are cleansed. 
The filthiness of sin is washed by the perfection of Jesus Christ 
and the spirit of glorious grace. And we have Not only do we have 
the exhortation given, not only do we have the manner by which 
it is carried out and the promise, but we have the richness that 
each of these exhortations is calling us back to the theology 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, where there is remission 
of these, there is no longer an offering for sin. The call 
then, secondly here in these exhortations, is the call to 
be steadfast in the confession of Christ. So this first exhortation 
calls for us to have that confidence in new covenant worship, and 
now we have this call to be steadfast in the confession of Christ. 
And remember, this is largely the point of the writing of the 
book of Hebrews. that we would hold fast, that 
these Hebrews would hold fast, and by virtue of the word being 
living and active, we in our own age ought to also hold fast 
to the confession of our faith. But notice verse 23. This is 
the call to be steadfast in the confession of Christ. Let us 
hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he 
who promised is faithful. So we have the exhortation proper, 
let us hold fast the confession of our hope. We have the manner 
in which that is to take place without wavering, and the motivational 
impetus for he who promised is faithful. But let's notice first, 
let us hold fast the confession of our hope. There is this action 
exhorted unto hold fast, and an object to be held, the confession 
of our hope. This exhortation to hold fast, 
it comprehends, first off, the exertion of a strength, the exertion 
of a diligence. We're to hold fast. We are to 
grip. We are to clasp. We are to to 
exert strength and energy in order to hold on to a thing that 
is precious. And that's what this exhortation, 
that's what this exhortation is. What is the confession of 
our hope or what is the confession of our faith? It is simply the 
excellence of the person of Christ and the virtue of his blessed 
work. That is the confession of our hope. That is what Paul 
is asking these Hebrew Christians. That is what God is asking us 
by virtue of Bible and spirit that we would hold fast the confession 
of our faith were to do it with the exertion of a strength and 
with the exertion of a diligence. It is to precious things that 
we like to hold on to, isn't it? We don't like to hold on 
to a pack of dirt. Well, maybe that's precious to 
some of you, but the gripping of a thing, the holding on to 
a thing argues for the fact that there is high value, there is 
much value in the thing that is grasped, that is held on to. 
And so the Apostle Paul, having spent many a page arguing for 
the perfection of the work of Jesus Christ, his super abounding 
excellence, and his supremacy, he gets to this point of holding 
fast that Christ, and we are to do so because of the preciousness 
of that Christ. It's the language that the Apostle 
Peter uses. Wonderful language to those who 
believe he is precious. Isn't he precious to us as Christians 
reflecting upon our former selves reflecting upon the madness of 
sin? reflecting upon, again, a raging devil, a contrary world, 
and a lusting flesh, we have a champion of our salvation, 
Jesus Christ the righteous. He is to be precious to us, and 
he is to be held fast too. This contemplates not only the 
exertion of strength, but it assumes that there is something 
of value to hold on to, and it recognizes the danger of opposition. So we're to exert strength in 
the holding on, uh, in the holding on of something precious. And 
we are doing this in the face of opposition. In this case, 
the contemporaneous Jewish opposition, but in our own context, once 
again, that threefold enemy or those three enemies, there isn't 
a sailing devil. There is a contrary world and 
there is a lusting flesh. Let's lay hold of the confession 
of our hope. it is to be without wavering. The manner in which this exhortation 
is to be carried out is without wavering. As much as it is possible, 
and it is possible with God, we are to have a doubtless faith, 
a non-wavering faith, not being blown here and there by every 
wind of trial and every wind of whatever else, but whatever 
comes upon us, we are, by God's grace, to endure In a without 
wavering holding fast of things that are precious to us Turn 
to the book of Daniel speaking about an unwavering faith Let's 
have a look at a particular case in unwavering faith and it also 
helps us a little bit with regards to what faith is the definition 
of faith in Daniel chapter 3 This is of course the case with 
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace the closing 
of the narrative we see in verse 16, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego 
answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no 
need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God 
whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, 
and he will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let 
it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, Nor 
will we worship the gold image which you have set up You see 
faith is not having this this strong sense of wishing that 
God actually will do something that He might he might in fact 
not do You know, Daniel here, you know, if we, we really, really 
have, you know, strong faith that God is going to do something 
in my life. And then when that thing doesn't 
happen, then there is almost this, this loss and this doubt 
of faith, because we're, we're thinking of faith in the wrong 
way. Faith and hope is resting upon 
the sure promises of God. When we have faith, we are exercising 
belief in something that God has revealed to us. And Daniel 
here says, now notice he says, it might not be the case that 
God will save them from this fiery furnace. Notice, if it 
is the case, verse 17, God, whom we serve, is able to deliver 
us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us from your 
hand-oaking, but if not, this wonderful statement, but if not, 
let it be known to you, and this is the confession of their hope, 
O King, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship 
the gold image which you have set up, because they worship 
the one and only living and true God. And here we have an unwavering 
faith These Hebrew Christians were to be like Shadrach, Meshach, 
and Abednego in the sense that they're laying hold of something 
precious, their confession of the God of Israel, and come what 
may upon them, they will not abandon the glorious preciousness 
of the triune God. So back to Hebrews 10. This call to steadfastness in 
the confession of Christ, we see the exhortation, we see the 
manner in which it is given, we are to do that, the Hebrew 
Christians were to do that, without wavering. And notice the motivational 
impetus for this particular exhortation. Verse 22, let us draw near with 
a true heart in full assurance of faith. Oh no, excuse me, sorry, 
verse 23. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without 
wavering for he who promised is faithful. So, So these who 
were in danger of their own countrymen and their own families, these 
who were facing much persecution for their confession of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, this exhortation comes, let us hold fast the confession 
of our hope without wavering. And if Paul here was to stop 
writing, the exhortation wouldn't be any less true and needful, 
but perhaps they'd be going, man, you know what? Still need 
a little bit of confidence. Well that confidence comes with 
this next clause for he who promised is faithful You know, this is 
this sort of that statement comprehends all the promises of God in divine 
revelation, the promises to the patriarchs, the promises to the 
kings, the promises through the prophets, the promises inherent 
in the sacrifices offered to God. All of the promises, ultimately 
the promise that the hero born of woman will crush the serpent 
with his heel and bring many sons to glory. We can lay hold 
of that precious Christ because he who promised God is faithful. he will bring about that which 
he has promised to come to pass. We've noticed this a number of 
times. Christian hope is not a human hope. Christian hope 
is not strong wishing. Christian hope is the certain 
expectation that the promises of God will come true by virtue 
of the perfection of Christ and the power of the triune God. 
And so we have this glorious statement, he who promised, is 
faithful. So this call to be steadfast 
in Christ. And then thirdly, we have this 
call to be others minded in our walk with Christ, to be others 
minded in our walk with Christ. Notice at verse 24, and let us 
consider one another in order to stir up love 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 So we have this exhortation proper given 
not forsaking the assembly or excuse me Let us consider one 
another in order to stir up love and good works That's the that's 
the exhortation consider one another in order to stir up love 
and good works the manner in which it is to take place is 
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, but exhorting 
one another. And something of a motivational 
impetus in the exercise of this is so much the more as you see 
the day approaching. So this exhortation proper, first, 
let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good 
works. We are to be others-minded. As we read elsewhere from the 
Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians, no longer to live for ourselves, 
but for him who died for them for us and rose again. We're 
not to live for ourselves. If you're here this morning, 
we only noted briefly Paul's point in the book of Philippians, 
specifically as it had to do with the lack of humility that 
was going on with the Philippian Christians. He asks them to conduct 
themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, he exhorts 
them unto unity, and the answer to unity is humility, or putting 
the interests of others before those of our own. And so we see 
the apostle here writing, then, let us consider one another in 
order to stir up love and good works. We're not so many maverick 
Christians that come into this place all about ourselves to 
get what we want out of worship and then leave. We're to consider 
one another, and did you notice as we're reading these exhortations, 
all three, the language begins with, let us. They're congregational 
exhortations. Let us do this. This is the fact 
that Christians together as a band of brothers and sisters marching 
towards that celestial city by virtue of the blessings of the 
triune God, we're to do this together and we are to consider 
others before the interests of ourselves. Very often it can 
be a me, me, me Christianity. Why aren't you doing what I want? 
Why aren't you propping up my hobby horse? Why aren't you doing 
the things the way I want them to be done? Let us consider one 
another in order to stir up love and good works. We're to be about 
the congregation for the glory of God. And so we are to consider 
one another, and the purpose is that we might stir up love 
and good works. Do you think when, you know, 
if you say, I'm not gonna go to church today or something 
like that. And there's no good reason for 
it. Not only are you not worshiping God in the house of God for the 
glory of God, but you're also affecting your brothers and sisters 
in Christ because we rely on each other for the stirring up 
of love and good works. Church, as we'll note in a moment, 
is the best place on earth to be. That foretaste of heaven, 
that foretaste of Emmanuel's land, where the people are gathered 
together for the worship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to glory 
in the Savior. their confession. And so we're 
to consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. 
The manner in which this exhortation is to be carried out is not forsaking 
the assembling of ourselves together. So how is this consideration 
of one another taking place? How is this stirring up of love 
and good works taking place? It's by coming to church. At 
this time, it was not giving in to the temptation of hiding 
in the face of opposition from unbelieving Jews. They're seeking 
to persecute. They had endured the plundering 
of their goods, Hebrew Christians have. They were struggling. They were being opposed to gather 
together in the name of Jesus Christ, this crucified Messiah, 
gathering together to honor and glorify him, to worship him, 
to worship the triune God? The answer is, yeah. we're going 
to church. Whatever opposition may come, 
whatever may come upon us, we are going to church. We are not 
going to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as is 
the manner of some, but we will consider one another. We will 
stir up love and good works as we wake up on Sunday morning. Remember, and again, we're not 
so many Christians on our own, maverick Christians, just coming 
in, getting what we hope we'll get, and then leaving. we're 
coming in that we might worship God and that we might horizontally 
affect one another, stirring us up to love and good works. 
Hopefully it cheers your heart when we're standing up and singing 
hymns and you can look around and see that your brothers and 
sisters are standing with you. We're singing hymns to the glory 
of God. We're singing hymns to the honor 
of Christ. We're rehearsing the blessed 
lyrics and things of gospel glory as a gathered church. We are 
to consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. 
We're not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as is 
the manner of some, but we're to exhort one another, and then 
we have something of the motivational impetus in a large sense for 
these Hebrew Christians, and so much the more as you see the 
day approaching. What is this particular day, 
the approaching day? to offer up an explanation. It's 
not that absolute day of final judgment. It's not the day of 
personal death, and it's not the Sabbath day generally, but 
it is the destruction of Jerusalem that was coming upon these Jewish 
Christians upon Jerusalem as a whole. John Owen writes, 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, 
unbelief, and obstinacy against Christ. Wherefore, if any that 
made profession of the gospel were now negligent and careless, 
the known duties of it they could have no evidence or Satisfaction 
in their own minds that they should not fall in the fire of 
that day So I think we are to glean from this among many other 
things the importance of going to church and and the fact that 
it is to be cherished. Why? It's because Christ is held 
forth, because there in a particular, peculiar, and special way, Christ 
is with his people. He walks amongst his lampstands, 
and in the gathered church, he is with them as the worship leader, 
as the one who comforts, as the one who strengthens, as the one 
who communes, as the one who gives us all that we need from 
his ascended place by virtue of the sent spirit. We have wonderful 
riches in the context of the gathered church. A note with 
respect to the Assemblies of the Saints from Benjamin Keech, 
one of our particular Baptist forebears. The Assemblies of 
the Saints are the dearest places to God upon the earth. They are 
his dwelling places where he manifests his special presence 
and where he delights to bless his people. And then Nehemiah 
Cox, it is in the assemblies of his saints that Christ walks. There he manifests his presence 
and communicates of his grace. It is there that his glory is 
seen in the sanctuary and his people rejoice in him. To be 
gathered together in the name of Christ and to have his spiritual 
presence among them is the highest privilege and honor that can 
be enjoyed in this world. No exaggeration, no extra weightiness 
or unnecessary weightiness of words here, not some false rhetoric. This is true, and this is what 
the Apostle Paul is getting at, that we have this special presence 
of Christ amongst us, and this is, in the gathered church, the 
highest privilege and honor that can be enjoyed in this world. Let us not forsake the assembling 
of ourselves together as is the manner of some, but let's gather 
together, exhort one another, and encourage one another in 
our walk with Christ. It is encouraging to be found 
not by ourselves, but with a band of brothers and sisters who own 
the Savior, who rejoice in the grace of God, and who glory in 
the gospel of our God. Well, just some concluding observations, 
and one of those things is that we are to reflect often upon 
the person and work of Christ. It's so easy for a preacher to 
say that, and it's so easy to say, but it's so right to say. What are we to do in a reading 
of the book of Hebrews, in a reading of the scriptures themselves? 
We are to reflect upon the person and work of Christ, because the 
exhortation here is that since we have such a glorious high 
priest, Jesus, the son of God, who has entered into the heavens 
before us, we are to lay hold of the confession of our hope 
without wavering. So how do we grip? How do we 
lay hold of? How do we clasp onto the confession 
of our faith? We reflect upon the person and 
the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is, this is, glorious in and 
of itself, and it is the very ground of our service to God, 
the person and the work. of Jesus Christ, our Savior. 
What do we do in a reflection upon Jesus Christ, our precious 
Savior? We dwell upon His glorious person, 
very God and very man, yet one Christ, the only mediator between 
God and man. we reflect upon the perfection 
of His work, the fact that He came in the fullness of the times 
to effect a perfect salvation, to not render an atonement of 
perhaps and maybe, to not render some Arminian atonement, 
but to perfectly secure the salvation of a multitude which no man can 
number by the perfection of his life, death, the glory of his 
resurrection punctuated by the majesty of his ascension. We 
are to seek to contribute to and to encourage a congregational 
unity in pursuing proper worship and proper reflection upon our 
God and His Christ. We are to have this mind where 
we're contributing to and encouraging a congregational unity, casting 
aside our own interests, putting the interests of Christ and His 
cause in front of those, putting the interests of others before 
those of our own, and seeking to engender a congregational 
unity. What is it better to not be divided, 
to not be cast in a multitude of controversies, but to in congregational 
unity, together with confidence, approach the throne of grace, 
rejoice in our Savior, finding in Him our all in all, encouraging 
one another in our united worship? And we are to reflect upon the 
glory that Christ has perfectly satisfied the justice of God 
for all who believe in him. So if you're here this morning, 
These exhortations are built upon the theological weight of 
the fact that Christ secured your salvation, if you're a believer 
here tonight. And if you're outside of Christ, 
whether young or old, know that this justice will be satisfied 
in the exhaustion of God's wrath upon you if you are found outside 
of Christ, not believing in him, not resting upon and rejoicing 
in the glories of gospel truth. God is, as we read in the book 
of Hebrews, God is a consuming fire. Yes, he is perfect in his 
love. Yes, he is perfect in his grace. 
Yes, he is perfect in his goodness and in his mercy, but he is also 
perfect in his holiness and perfect in his justice. And he cannot 
look upon sin approvingly, but must punish sin. And it's either 
punished in Christ or it's punished in the sinner. We would pray 
that each and every one of you, because it is possible with God 
and with God alone, that you would leave this place rejoicing 
in our victor, the Lord Jesus Christ, that you would rest upon 
Him, that you would believe in Him and find in Him the champion 
of your salvation, and join with our small throng here in rejoicing 
with and in the Lord Jesus Christ, in the perfection of his salvation, 
in the glory of his saving work, and that we would work together 
unto a congregational unity, that we might in peace, each 
and every Lord's Day, rejoice in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 
and sing the praises of our saving King. Well, let's pray. Heavenly 
Father, we thank you for Christ our Savior. We thank you for 
This text that we read out for the perfection of Christ's salvation. 
We pray that we would heed these exhortations though we do not 
have the same the same allurements and the same troubles that these 
Hebrew Christians had in the context of of unbelieving Israel, 
but We do have, as we've noted, an assailing devil, a contrary 
world, and a lusting flesh. We pray that you'd help us in 
this lower world to rejoice in Christ, to seek to grow in the 
grace and in the knowledge of Christ, that you would help us 
by your spirit to engender a congregational unity, that we would put Christ 
before us, that we would put others before us, and that we 
would gather together as a body, as a unified church, to sing 
the praises of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. and to lift up the 
Lord Jesus Christ upon our praises. Go with us into this week. Help 
us by your grace to live for your glory. Help us to reflect 
upon amazing and victorious grace, the person and work of Christ, 
the glories of our God. And might we do this for your 
praise and for your honor. We pray in the name of Jesus 
Christ, our Savior. Amen. We'll have a brief time 
of prayer and meditation. When the piano is finished, you're 
dismissed.