Living out the Reformation
2 Amens
Living out the Reformation
Hebrews 10:19-25
March 23, 2008
Series 3 Sermon 39
19 Therefore, brothers, since we
have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by
the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is,
through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest
over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true
heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil
conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let
us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised
is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir
up one another to love and good works, 25 not
neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one
another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Introduction
Over the past few weeks Dani and I have been researching ways that we can be more self sufficient. We are trying to discover ways that we can spend less, save more, and give more. So in order to do that we have to become less dependent on store bought food and energy which is the largest economic expense for most people. We have looked into various gardening techniques as well as alternative ways of obtaining meat for food. Also we have looked at ways we can decrease the use of electricity and fuel.
The opposite of self sufficient is dependence. Dependence is a word most people do not like.
We hear in the news of our national
dependence on foreign oil. We feel the
sting of that when we drive into the gas station and fill up. We hear about the dependence we have on
foreign made products. We go to Wal Mart
and many of the items we buy are made in
However, it is a word that Christians are called to live by. Christianity is a religion that does not empower the individual. It causes him or her to be dependant. What it boils right down to is that in Christianity we are called to do things we are incapable of doing. We are called to walk by faith and not by sight but the last time I checked my eyes were right out in front. We are called to live by the spirit yet we still live in this rotting shell called the flesh. We are called to cease from sin but our flesh though decaying is alive and well.
So what is it that we have to be dependant upon? In the first nine chapters of Hebrews and in the first 18 verses of chapter 10 the writer has shown us over and over again how the Old Covenant, which was performed in our own strength, was insufficient for salvation. Yet in the New Covenant Christ has fulfilled all of the Old Covenant and New Covenant laws and in Him only do we have eternal salvation and eternal perfection. We have been shown without a shadow of a doubt that our New Covenant great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, has saved those of us in the New Covenant to the uttermost. We are saved eternally and perfectly. Christ’s once for all sacrifice not only forgave all of our sins but also secured us in Christ for all eternity.
So the writer in the remainder of his letter or sermon to the Hebrews is going to turn his attention to how we are to live out this New Covenant faith in Christ Jesus. In essence the remainder of Hebrews from 10:19 through the end could be titled “Living out the Reformation.” Chapter 9:10 introduced us to this Time of Reformation and it spoke specifically of the inauguration of the New Covenant. The writer has shown us the beauty of this New Covenant and begins the exhortation section of this letter by summarizing why we can live out the reformation. Look with me at verses 19-21.
19 Therefore, brothers, since we
have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by
the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through
his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest
over the house of God,
He summarizes in three verses what it has taken him nine chapters to explain. We have confidence because of Christ’s once for all sacrifice to enter the holy places. The way was made by the blood of Jesus that has perfected us eternally and now we can go into the heavenly Holy of Holies. Second, we can obey the commands of the New Covenant precisely because we have a great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is over the house of God.
But did you notice that this was not empowering? Did you notice that he did not say that we could come in on our own merit or good works? Did you notice that it did not say that God has looked on us and decided our good outweighs our bad and we can come in because of that?
True Christianity annihilates self sufficiency. It is here in chapter 10 where the legalist and the moralist will be greatly disappointed. They want commands that consist of “do this” or “don’t do that.” They find great pleasure in keeping score and comparing righteousness. But the writer gives us none of that. The reason is because that is a waste of time. To be in the New Covenant means that you are a person dependant on things other than your own strength and ability. It means that ultimately you are dependant upon God and fellow believers.
PNP
From our text this morning I want you to see three commands God has given us to live out the reformation.
1. God has commanded us to draw near to Him.
2. God has commanded us to hold fast to Him.
3. God has commanded us to provoke faithfulness in each other.
Purpose
My purpose in preaching this passage is to show all of us what it takes and what it means to live in covenant with God through the Lord Jesus Christ and then to successfully live out our faith in a world hostile to the Gospel.
So much in our day veils the Gospel. We are encouraged by some not to preach or evangelize by mentioning the cross. It is too bloody and will offend the modern mind. Then we are encouraged after “winning” these people to a Christ without a cross we are to take them through steps of discipleship to teach them how to live Christian lives. In the thought of many of these church experts living out one’s faith consists of reading their Bible, praying, giving, coming to church, and being involved in some sort of ministry. If these church experts can get their people to do this then they are successful. But let me tell you something. You can take a group of school age boys talk them into reading their Boy Scout manual, reciting some memorized thing to their parents, donating money to the den, attending all the meetings, and helping little old ladies across the street but that does not make them Christians.
There has got to be more to Christianity than just what I can do. There has to be something about Christianity that sets it apart from all other religions and organizations. Besides the mere fact of eternal salvation there has to be something woven within the fabric of the faith that causes Christianity to rise above Buddhism, Islam, Taoism, and all of the other isms in the world. And what we are going to see over the next weeks in Hebrews is exactly that.
We are going to see that God calls us to dependency upon Him and dependency upon our brothers and sisters.
RPNP
So look with me at these three commands God has given us to live out the reformation.
1. God has
commanded us to draw near to Him.
Look with me at verses 19-22.
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Notice where we are drawing near to Him in verse 19. 19 Therefore, brothers, since we
have confidence to enter the holy places
In the Old Covenant the earthly holy places were off limits. But in the New Covenant we are called to go not to go into the earthly holy places but in the heavenly holy places. But we do not go on our own merit. In order to get there we are dependant upon Christ. Notice the phrase “have confidence” in verse 19. Where does this confidence come from? He answers that in the rest of verse 19 and verses 20 and 21. Look at them.
19 Therefore, brothers, since we
have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by
the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is,
through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest
over the house of God,
Notice that the confidence is not in us but in Christ. It is not in what we have accomplished but in what Christ has accomplished.
Let me ask you this morning and be honest, if we have to draw near to God in our own strength with our own holiness and righteousness how many of you really believe you are holy enough to come before God? God has called all men everywhere to love Him with all their might and to walk before Him in righteousness but all have fallen short. So the only way we can actually draw near to God in the Heavenly Holy of Holies is for us to be made perfect and that is only accomplished in the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The truth of the matter is that we can only draw near to God because He has made the way for us but there is more. This is only for those in the New Covenant. I want you to look closely at verse 22. Notice the first phrase in verse 22.
22 let us draw near
The verb is προσερχώμεθα.
The word is used in Hebrews several times and it always carries with it the idea of approaching the Lord. It is coming into the presence of God. Here in Hebrews 10:22 it is a command. It almost sounds like a suggestion in English but I assure you it is not. The command is for us to continue (the verb is in the present tense) to draw near to God. Why? Because we must remain dependant upon Him for our salvation. God does not save us, wind us up, and let us go on our own. He is with us to see our salvation through.
I also want you to see here how we are to draw near to the Lord. There are four preparatory works involved in coming before the Lord. Notice the rest of verse 22.
22 let us draw near
1. with
a true heart
2. in
full assurance of faith,
3. with
our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience
4. and our bodies washed with pure water.
Let me ask you this morning, how do we obtain these four needed characteristics to approach the throne of grace? Do you have a true heart? Only if it has been changed by the Lord. Do you have full assurance of faith? Only if that faith is gifted by God and therefore rooted in the person and work of Christ. What about your heart? Has it been sprinkled clean from an evil conscience? Only if Christ has done that. What about the washing of our bodies with pure water?
Now, some have argued that this is speaking of water baptism as the initiation into the covenant community and others have said that it is not. I think it is speaking of water baptism here specifically New Covenant baptism of the believer after confession of Christ. In the New Covenant baptism is the outward expression of an internal reality. It signifies the washing away of sin by identifying us with the death and burial of Christ.
Some may argue that baptism is something you can do yourself and I guess you could baptize yourself however that is not what the New Testament teaches. Even the Lord Jesus who is sinless perfection allowed Himself to be baptized by John the Baptist. Therefore if we are Christians and Christ is our example then we also should be baptized.
Which presents a good moment this morning to say that if you have never been baptized, then you should follow the command of Scripture and be baptized. Get with me or Doug or Mark or your dad or mom and we can discuss this.
The first command is for us to draw near to God
continuously. Now I want you to see the
second command.
2. God has
commanded us to hold fast to Him.
Notice verse 23.
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
Again we have what sounds like a suggestion in English that
is actually a command for us in the New Covenant. What are we to hold fast to? Look at verse 23. 23 Let us hold fast the confession
of our hope
What is that confession? The confession is what has been given to us in the first 9 and a half chapters of Hebrews. We are confessing Christ as the Lord of all, as the Great High priest and mediator of the New and Better covenant secured by His blood and that He is able and has saved us to the uttermost. Our confession is the confession of completed salvation. This is our hope. Now how are we supposed to hold fast this confession? Look at verse 23 again.
23 Let us hold fast the confession
of our hope without wavering…
The word that is translated “without wavering” meant not to swerve from one side to the other. This would be in direct opposition to our present day politicians who tend to swerve from one side to the other depending on the latest poll.
What we have here is a command to remain steadfast in our confession of Christ come what may. What we will see in Hebrews 11 is exactly that. We will so those called by God to do extraordinary things who remained steadfast in their confession. They were unswerving in their confession.
The question that we must ask is whether we can do this on our own and we know that we can’t so now we have to ask why we can do this. The answer is in verse 23. Look at it again with me.
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
Who has promised? God has promised in the New Covenant that we will be perfected. He has set His heart to our sanctification and will ultimately see that through to our glorification. Paul said it this way in Romans 8:31-32.
31 What then shall we say to
these things? If God is for us,
who is against us? 32 He
who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not
also with Him freely give us all things?
I have to say this morning that in 21st century
I want to read to you part of an exchange between the
governor of
Pliny the Younger to the Emperor Trajan
It is my practice, my lord, to refer to you all matters concerning which I am in doubt. For who can better give guidance to my hesitation or inform my ignorance? I have never participated in trials of Christians. I therefore do not know what offenses it is the practice to punish or investigate, and to what extent. And I have been not a little hesitant as to whether there should be any distinction on account of age or no difference between the very young and the more mature; whether pardon is to be granted for repentance, or, if a man has once been a Christian, it does him no good to have ceased to be one; whether the name itself, even without offenses, or only the offenses associated with the name are to be punished.
Meanwhile, in the case of those who were denounced to me as Christians, I
have observed the following procedure: I interrogated these as to whether they
were Christians; those who confessed I interrogated a second and a third time,
threatening them with punishment; those who persisted I ordered executed. For I
had no doubt that, whatever the nature of their creed, stubbornness and inflexible
obstinacy surely deserve to be punished. There were others possessed of the
same folly; but because they were Roman citizens, I signed an order for them to
be transferred to
Soon accusations spread, as usually happens, because of the proceedings going on, and several incidents occurred. An anonymous document was published containing the names of many persons. Those who denied that they were or had been Christians, when they invoked the gods in words dictated by me, offered prayer with incense and wine to your image, which I had ordered to be brought for this purpose together with statues of the gods, and moreover cursed Christ--none of which those who are really Christians, it is said, can be forced to do--these I thought should be discharged. Others named by the informer declared that they were Christians, but then denied it, asserting that they had been but had ceased to be, some three years before, others many years, some as much as twenty-five years. They all worshipped your image and the statues of the gods, and cursed Christ.
You would think that Trajan would set this in order but only affirms what Pliny is doing.
Now we can understand what the Lord Jesus means when He says, “Be faithful unto death.”
These early Christians were called to lay down their lives
to hold fast their confession of hope and so are we. But this is where ultimate dependence upon
God is absolutely necessary. To the
flesh the gods of
So because God is faithful and has eternally saved us we can obey the first two commands of living out the reformation. We can draw near to God and hold fast our confession.
Now I want you to see how these first two commands are lived out in the third.
3. God has
commanded us to provoke faithfulness in each other.
He tells us how to do this in verses 24 and 25.
24 And let us consider how to stir
up one another to love and good works, 25 not
neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one
another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Here is where a lot of folks will get off board. Some like the fact of paying lip service to dependence upon God but when it comes right down to it in living it out they kind of peel back from actually living their confession. What is the confession? The confession is that Christ is our Lord and savior. Therefore if He is our Lord then He is in charge and will then dictate our lives by His Word. It was Christ who founded the church. To Peter He said that He would build His church. Christ’s church is not a loosely grouped bunch of people that just barely know one another. But rather the New Testament model of church is groups of people who have invested their lives into the lives of each other.
This is something that is sorely lacking in the modern church. The modern church emphasizes hyper-individuality to the point that for many people who call themselves Christians it is just me and Jesus. You see this in bumper stickers that say, God is my co-pilot. But that is not the intention of the Lord. The Lord is the shepherd of the sheep and you don’t see too many individual sheep running around in the wild. Christ used the imagery of sheep for a reason. Sheep stay with the flock. The sheep that wanders from the flock is in great danger. It will be devoured by its natural enemies, it will fall into a ditch or a ravine and will be unable to get out. Sheep need the shepherd and they need the other sheep as well.
What we have done at GFC is to try and emulate the early church as best as we can discern from Scripture. Acts 2:42 says, “42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
The word for continually devoting in that passage means unremitting persistence. The early church was unremittingly persistent in doing three things. First they were diligent to devote themselves to the Apostle’s teaching. Then they unremittingly devoted themselves to fellowshipping together which included the apostle’s teaching, the breaking of bread, and prayer. So when the early church met together this is the pattern of worship. Other passages clue us in to the fact that they sang together as well. In the letter from Pliny the Younger that I read a few minutes ago he mentions the meeting pattern briefly of this early second century church.
“They asserted, however, that the sum and substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by oath, not to some crime, but not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not falsify their trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so. When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of food--but ordinary and innocent food.”
Isn’t it amazing that the Roman government would find this offensive especially in comparison to what went on in pagan god worship in those days.
The way the early church gathered may not have been in the exact order in which we gather but the Bible does not prescribe a set pattern of order for worship however it does dictate what happens in worship. But that is another sermon or five.
But the command of verse 24 is what we need to take a look at.
Notice the very first phrase in verse 24.
24 And let us consider
This is the third command of chapter 10. It is the same verb form that the previous two commands have taken on that sound like a suggestion in English. We are to consider the text tells us. The word does not mean that we just give a passing thought to this. This was life and death. We are to give careful consideration to this. We are to devote ourselves to considering. What are we to consider? Look again at verse 24.
24 And let us consider how to stir
up one another to love and good works,
The writer uses the word παροξυσμὸν.
It is translated here “stir up” but it is a word that you
would seldom use in this context. What
the writer is doing is trying to grab our attention here and show us what we
are to do. The word could be rendered “a
stirring up” or an “incitement.” People
do this to crowds to get people worked into a frenzy. But here the writer tells us what we are to
stir one another up to. What is it? “Love and good works.” These are two important concepts of the
Christian life. Now he will unpack for us
what this phrase means in verses 32-34 which we will look at later. But what the writer does for us in verse 25
is to give us two things we are supposed to do in order to stir up or entice
love and good works in one another. One
is negative and one is positive. Look at
verse 25 with me.
25 not
neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one
another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
The first command to stir one another seems like one that we would get automatically. It says do not neglect to meet together. He is speaking of the regular assembly of the church. This was not to be neglected because how could you stir each other up to love and good works if you did not get together for corporate worship and fellowship? It is obvious from the passage that there were some who had ceased to meet together. Look at verse 25 again.
25 not neglecting to meet together,
as is the habit of some,
He is speaking of those who have left the fellowship because of persecution. When life got too difficult as a Christian they decided enough was enough and they were gone. Folks, this is disheartening. I told you that God never intended for us to be independent. He never intended His church to have this loose affiliation with one another. But rather we are to be closer to one another than we are even with our extended families. We are after all children in the household of God the Father and even though we may be husband and wife and parents and children, those of us in the New Covenant are brothers and sisters, children of the Most High God. Therefore we are to obey the command to meet together and look at the rest of verse 25.
but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
The word encouraging means to come along side, support, console, urge on. We are encouraging one another to remain faithful even in the most difficult times.
The Lord’s Day should be your most encouraging day. We should be in the habit, and I think we are pretty successful at it, of spurring one another on. We should be fellowshipping and encouraging one another to press on in the faith and to press on in love and to press on in good works.
If we had the time this morning we could go over many New Testament passages that deal with this encouraging. Titus 2 comes to mind as well as the whole Epistle of James. You can probably think of others.
The point to these three commands, draw near to God, hold fast the confession, and consider how to stir one another up, are to show us that we are not alone. We are not self sufficient people who can be Christians all by ourselves and we don’t need anyone else. We need the Lord and we need one another. You need me and I need you. We are in the greatest spiritual danger when we are alone in the faith.
And this encouragement is only supposed to increase. Look at the last part of verse 25.
25 not neglecting to meet together,
as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you
see the Day drawing near.
Let’s pray.
Chapter 9. The Eucharist. Now concerning the Eucharist, give thanks this way. First, concerning the cup:
We thank thee, our Father, for the holy vine of David Thy servant, which You madest known to us through Jesus Thy Servant; to Thee be the glory for ever..
And concerning the broken bread:
We thank Thee, our Father, for the life and knowledge which You madest known to us through Jesus Thy Servant; to Thee be the glory for ever. Even as this broken bread was scattered over the hills, and was gathered together and became one, so let Thy Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Thy kingdom; for Thine is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ for ever..
Chapter 10. Prayer after Communion. But after you are filled, give thanks this way:
We thank Thee, holy Father, for Thy holy name which You didst cause to tabernacle in our hearts, and for the knowledge and faith and immortality, which You modest known to us through Jesus Thy Servant; to Thee be the glory for ever. Thou, Master almighty, didst create all things for Thy name's sake; You gavest food and drink to men for enjoyment, that they might give thanks to Thee; but to us You didst freely give spiritual food and drink and life eternal through Thy Servant. Before all things we thank Thee that You are mighty; to Thee be the glory for ever. Remember, Lord, Thy Church, to deliver it from all evil and to make it perfect in Thy love, and gather it from the four winds, sanctified for Thy kingdom which Thou have prepared for it; for Thine is the power and the glory for ever. Let grace come, and let this world pass away. Hosanna to the God (Son) of David! If any one is holy, let him come; if any one is not so, let him repent. Maranatha. Amen.
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Dale Dewar
warmest regards, - Dale, and gang
Mark Livingston
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