8-1-2021 Hebrews

19 Therefore, brothers since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain that is, his body,  21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.  23 Let us hold fast to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:19-25)

We now come to the key passage in the Book of Hebrews…it contains the exhortation that the nine previous chapters have been building up to…Hebrews 10:19-25 is the third major division of the letter… [1:1-4:13 / 4:14-10:18 / 10:19-13:25].

Wanting his readers to embrace everything he has said up to this point… wanting them to embrace all that Christ has accomplished for them…in this passage he shows how Jesus has now fulfilled for us all that had been symbolized of Him in the Old Covenant…and how we can now embrace the New Covenant realities with full confidence.

In these verses and in what follow we are told the five things that promote Christian fellowship.

1. Drawing near to God

2. Holding fast to the confession of our hope

3. Considering how to spur one another on

4. Not giving up meeting together

5. Encouraging one another daily

The first three ideas in the Greek are what is known as hortatory subjunctives functioning as imperatives…what that means is…these three statements are commanding us to join in on some type of action.

FIRST has to do with our relationship to God: “Let us draw near”. [22]

SECOND has to do with Jesus’ promise of salvation: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope[23] (confident expectation of what God has promised He will do).

THIRD has to do with our relationship with each other: “Let us consider one another.”

He begins [v. 19] with a present participle ‘having’ …commonly translated as ‘since we have’ …that is looking back to verse 17 signifying the reason why Christians have the confidence to boldly access God [10:17]:

          their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more

Since having our sins and lawless deeds remembered no more…is key in understanding our position in Christ…the wording ‘since we have’ used in [19] and [21] are in the present tense.

This signifies that it is currently present and ongoing…we now have and will continue to have bold access to enter into the holy place of God today / forever.

This verse completes the writer’s long explanation on the superiority of the new covenant …when sin is truly forgiven, there “is no longer any offering” needed…once a truly saving sacrifice has been offered, there is no need to offer any further sacrifices for sin.

That is the reason why as Christians we are a ‘royal priesthood’ [1 Pet. 2:9] …ever considered yourself to be royalty?…this necessitates a little history.

In the Old Covenant tabernacle there was a veil…a curtain… that separated the sinner from God…the Ark of the Covenant was located inside the Holy of Holies…it is where God resided and only the High Priest was permitted to enter the holy place and only once a year on the Day of Atonement.

For anyone else to dare to enter…or even for the High Priest to enter on any other occasion, would have meant death.

The veil separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple and was a constant reminder that sin renders humanity unfit to be in the presence of God.

People carelessly live their lives without realizing the damage sin does to our fellowship with God…ever wonder why maybe God doesn’t hear your prayers? … We know that God does not listen to sinners [John 9:31].

To clarify…there are two kinds of sinners…unsaved sinners and saved sinners.

We’re all sinners…what this verse is referring to is the Christian who has…  willful…deliberate…intentional…sometimes unintentional sin…we all have sin in our lives…without confession we break that fellowship with God whereby He does not hear our prayers…the importance of confessing sin.  

The second kind of sinner is the unsaved person…the only prayer God will ever hear from them is the initial prayer of professing Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Getting back to the importance of the veil…under the Old Covenant it required that once a year the priest would pass through the veil in order to enter the Holy Place to make the sacrifice for the sins of the people.

When Jesus was crucified, that veil was mysteriously torn from top to bottom [Matthew 27:50-51] signifying that Jesus has taken that veil away through having borne our sins upon Himself.

As a result, in the New Covenant we have the right to enter in “boldly”— there is no longer a veil…we draw near with confident assurance being certain of our absolute acceptance by God without any fear of punishment or judgment… …ONLY made possible by the blood of Jesus [20].

No longer does it require someone to pray for us…or to be an intercessor for us …the way into the Holy of Holies is now open for all people…there remains no barrier to keep us out of full fellowship with God.

As Baptists we reject the idea that only those who exercise authority in the church have access to God.

BUT…drawing near to God is conditional…99% of all promises in the Bible are conditional…I’ve already shared one with you: God does not hear the prayer of sinners [John: 9:31] …in [22] he identifies what is further required:

22 a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings

—without faith it is impossible to please Him [Heb 11:16]—having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

As Christians…that is the only way we can approach God…those are the conditions…the reasons why we can draw near to God…because of…having a sincere heart…cleansed from a guilty conscience…and having our bodies washed.

The verbiage…having our hearts sprinkled and having our bodies washed are perfect tense participles…something you don’t see in the English.

This is what happens at the moment of conversion…it’s completed action…that is still ongoing today…the forgiveness of sins and the delivery from a guilty conscience…this amplifies what was said in [9:12].

“I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

I just want to encourage you to meditate on this verse…to soak it in…this is God speaking from the Old Testament in a way that validates the fulfillment of God’s promises through Jesus.

When you are constantly reminding yourself of past sins, you’ll not experience peace or have the confidence to approach God…you feel less than adequate… Satan wants you to.

When we fail to mature spiritually the enemy takes advantage of us…to keep us depressed and prevent us from realizing God’s promises…we don’t need to come to God with nervousness or an element of doubt…we approach Him with the steadfast, positive assurance that what God has said, He will perform.

God can’t have the personal relationship with us that He desires when we fail to realize that our sins have been forgiven…it implies we’re doubting God’s promises.

Don’t beat yourselves up for something that God no longer remembers…stop harboring old sins.

The SECOND statement commanding us to join in on some type of action is… [23] “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope” (the confident expectation of what God has promised He will do) …knowing without a doubt.

Previously we saw in 3:6 and 4:14 the words “hold fast” …that could really be a motto or a guiding principle regarding life or anything we do in life.

BUT…focusing on Christianity…holding fast is essential when becoming a Christian…the person who’s considering becoming a Christian…especially if at an early age… doesn’t have a real grasp of what that involves…actually…I’m not sure many people have a true grasp of what it involves.

Without knowing what’s involved in becoming a Christian people impulsively make a commitment without assessing if it’s worth sticking it out.

As Christians we are to hold fast to the assurance we had when we first came to Jesus and trusted Him as our Savior.

When we ‘hold fast’ to the word of God, He shapes our lives. We are like a field bringing forth useful vegetation …being a blessing to others…which means if you are a follower of Jesus, you need to hold fast.  

The question is why so many don’t…on the surface it seems like a no-brainer… why wouldn’t you?…most of us could name sports figures…or others in the public eye who were once known as Christians but now are nowhere to be heard of …maybe you have friends who have given up on Christianity.

Here’s what’s interesting…hundreds of Christian ministers abandon their faith… in fact, there are so many religious professionals who have lost their faith there’s a public page – The Clergy Project http://clergyproject.org/ …to help them.

These are pastors and other religious people who are either still active in the ministry…or who have left the ministry because they lost their faith…who didn’t hold fast to their hope…membership is around 1000.

Ever thought about the idea that the pastor you may be listening to has lost his faith?…so why don’t they quit?…some do…some can’t…they’re trained to do nothing else.

Finding another comparable job isn’t easy…you’re not trained for another job… if you have a family your kids need a place to live, clothes, food, literally how are you going to survive if you’re a pastor and you quit your job? So you don’t.

Here are the four most common reasons people lose their faith: 1) hardships… 2) moral collapse… 3) life’s pressures… 4) false teachings.  

With so many casualties…how do I make sure that I don’t fall by the wayside? [23] by holding fast to the confession we made at our public declaration of faith when we were baptized.

1. Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God?

2. Do you believe that when He died on the Cross, He died in your place, bearing your punishment, and paying for your sins?

3. Do you believe that on Resurrection Sunday He literally, physically, bodily rose from the dead never to die again?

4. Do you believe that Jesus is now seated at the right hand of God the Father?

The THIRD statement actually has three commands that are closely interwoven that are dictating we join in on some type of action that has to do with our relationship with each other:

24 consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together…(and) encouraging one another.

Verse 24 seems to be suggesting the kind of meeting we should be attending…one way church should be conducted …to stimulate one another to love and good deeds…not referring to merely sneaking into church service and sneaking out again.

It’s talking about the kind of stimulation that promotes mutual encouragement and the stirring up of one another…that can happen in a lot of ways…when you say something to someone that encourages them…maybe just listening to what they have to say…and where someone can reply something to you that will help you to have the strength for your earthly challenges.

This is why some churches…especially larger ones, have a ministry of small groups… giving people the opportunity to have personal interaction with one another…we don’t have small groups…we are a small group.

Before COVID we used to have a time of fellowship before service…a time of just visiting and sharing…I see this happening now more after church…that’s good…people staying around to visit…that’s why I enjoy our fellowship dinners so much.

The second directive is the encouragement to worship…he encourages us to:

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves, as some are in the habit of doing, [25]

In the Greek the actual wording is ‘not forsaking’ (ἐγκαταλείπω) or to abandon meeting together.

Problem is this statement is a bit annoying…it’s one of those statements that asks us to point a finger at ourselves…to hold ourselves accountable.

Let me say this…this is not to make anyone feel inadequate…or bad…or guilty because they occasionally miss church…people have to work…people get sick …the weather gets bad…people are on vacation.

The emphasis is to focus on the benefits that accompany attending church with other believers…here’s one…Satan is like a pack of wolves who pick off stragglers in the back of the herd…Satan will go after the Christian believer who isolates himself from the body of Christ.

Unfortunately, that seems to be the trend in America the past few years…church in America is not a priority…more than 40% of Americans “say” they go to church weekly…the reality is…less than 20% are actually in church.

In other words, more than 80% of Americans aren’t in church on any given Sunday…somewhere between 4,000 and 7,000 churches close their doors every year…but we do sing ‘God bless America’ at the 7th inning of ball games so I guess we’re good to go.

The purpose of not giving up meeting together…is so we can exhort and encourage each other to press on…having a face to face encounter during Sunday service where we’re all collectively gathered together aids in the motivation. He’s saying don’t deny yourselves that blessing…it’s not necessary to put a guilt trip on people.

Notice the author uses the word ‘habit’ which is one of the definitions of the Greek word ἔθος more commonly translated in the Greek as ‘is the custom.’

I often tell people coming to church is a habit…it’s good to see that Scripture agrees with me…it seems to stress a warning that comes when not meeting with other Christians…relationships with other believers is one way to encourage… and to be encouraged to live out the faith we proclaim.

At the end of [25] he makes an interesting statement regarding the importance of assembling together:

All the more as you see the day drawing near.

What ‘day’ is ‘the day which is approaching’…again?…would it have hurt the writers of the New Testament to elaborate a little more?

Is it the day of Christ’s coming at the end of the age?…is it Judgment Day?…is it referring to the day of Jerusalem’s destruction?…or is it the Lord’s Day?… because they all could be applicable.

I could elaborate in lengthy detail on each one of these possibilities…you’re probable thinking…please don’t, because they all do involve a lengthy explanation…so I’m going to share with you what is meant because it is the only explanation that’s in agreement with what he’s been talking about.

One of the first principles of sound biblical interpretation is that scripture is its own interpreter…therefore…Scripture must be interpreted in a way that is consistent with its context…context determines meaning.

Goes back to the word used for ‘assembling’ which is significant…in the Greek

when pronounced sounds like synagogue (ἐπισυναγωγή) (ep-ee-soon-ag-o-gay’) this would have had a meaning for both the Jewish worshippers and the Christian worshippers but particularly for the Christian worshippers.

It is alluding to the day each set aside for the assembly of worship…for the Jews it would have been Saturday…for the Christians it would be Sunday…but… because the letter is addressed to Christians, he’s tying this into their neglecting to assemble together because of their depressed state regarding their persecution.

He’s saying don’t do that…believers should be encouraged, in all circumstances, do not neglect the regular assembling of yourselves for that purpose and for worship.

Ignatius…an early church father wrote regarding assembling…that by the ‘assembling of yourselves together the powers of Satan are overthrown, and his mischief neutralized by your like-mindedness in the Faith!’

Earlier I gave five things that promote Christian fellowship…one thing they all have in common is…one of the greatest spiritual blessings we can enjoy in Christ in this life is the fellowship we share with one another in our public assemblies.

When we do those five things I mentioned in the opening…Two Things…we assemble ourselves together for the purpose of worship…and when we assemble together it gives us one of the greatest spiritual blessings we can enjoy in this life then we become a blessing to each other.

Hence for the Christian the importance of assembling ourselves regularly with other Christians.