Hebrews 10:19-25 - The Results of Jesus’ Greater Ministry

Well, welcome back to Tabernacle Talk.

And this is the, I've done this now, did it on Sunday, and then I did it today on Wednesday. I recorded three episodes in one go.

And that's because this weekend, or actually at the time that you're listening to or watching this, this past weekend, I was in Connecticut, the place where all the fun happens.

And we were up at Emmanuel Baptist Church with Pastor Carey Schmidt and seeing some old friends, some old co-workers from Moses Lake, Washington, and was at the Healthy Church Weekend.

And just a brief conference going over, you know, what do we got to do? What do we got to look at? So that not just like, can we get our churches big, or can we get our churches noticed?

But what can we do to get our churches healthy? And so I'm looking forward to experiencing all of that and learning about that by the time that this episode airs. I will have learned all of that.

So I'm looking forward to that time. Today, we are in Hebrews 10, and we're going to look at verses 19 through 25. And I'm going to do this today.

I'm going to be a little bit on the briefer side. Number one, because it's a little bit late at night when I'm recording this. But number two, because I actually preached a message on this.

I think it was my last year that I was in Moses Lake, and it might have been the year before. But I'm going to link that in the show notes. And I cannot remember for the life of me what the title of that particular sermon was.

I know my one from Hebrews 13 was called Go With the Flow. And this other one, I do not particularly remember what the title was. So you're going to have to look in the show notes to figure it out.

But I'm going to link that. And that way, if you want like a, you know, super full exposition of the passage, it'll be right there for you.

I'm just going to take out a couple nuggets today of some verses that are particularly kind of meaningful to me or thoughts that maybe I didn't go into in the sermon itself, but that I think would be beneficial for us to take a look at, even in light

of everything that we've been looking at through the past, you know, now 10 and a half chapters of Hebrews. And man, it does not seem like that long ago that we began and already 10 and a half chapters in. So let's do this.

Let's begin in verse number 19 and we'll go through.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus, he has inaugurated for us a new and living way through the curtain that is through his flesh.

And since we have a great high priest over the house of God, 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 in pure water.

Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering since he who promised is faithful.

And let us watch out for one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.

Well, as we've been looking, this is kind of the culmination of everything that the person, the author has been saying for the past like four and a half, five chapters about Jesus and who he is and what he accomplished and his mission.

And now this is the culmination of all of it. Because of everything that we know about Jesus, everything we know about his sacrifice, everything we know about him as a priest, what do we do with all of that?

And he says in verse number 19, we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus, where we couldn't enter into the sanctuary when we were, you know, if a woman was on her period, she couldn't enter the sanctuary until that time of

the month was done. And even as we look back at it now, having experienced 2,000 years of our freedom in Christ, we go like, man, that seems like really weird that you, you know, couldn't in a sense go to church if that was the case for you.

But that's one of the amazing things that God opened up to us, that we weren't having to deal with like silly, I shouldn't say silly, but we weren't dealing with the physical here and now, what the author of Hebrews described as like food and drink

and ritual washings. We're not having to deal with that anymore. Now we're dealing with like the actual hearts of people, hearts and souls and consciences, and that's what we're interacting with.

And what a joy, what an incredible privilege we are given as believers in Christ.

And so we can boldly enter, and we before could not enter the Holy of Holies, but now in a sense, the Holy of Holies, God's presence has entered us, the Holy Spirit indwells us, and what a wonderful truth that is.

So he says, because we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus, he has inaugurated for us a new and living way through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, that is, through Jesus, through his death on the cross, we can now

enter into God's presence, that it doesn't come through a, you know, a curtain made of threads, but instead we go through Jesus, and he's the way that we enter into God's presence. There is no other way than to go through Jesus.

So, because we've got that boldness, through that new way in verse 21, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, so because we have that one who has made us clean, who has washed us, who has, who enters seeds for us, who has

brought everything that God required for us, verse number 22, let us draw near, get close to God. Right now, you guys have been scared. You've been scared about like even just sticking where you are with Jesus.

But he says, I want to invite you further in. I want you to get even closer to the Lord, get even closer to Jesus. Draw near.

And he says, with a true heart, that is be a genuine believer, not just a behavior. Don't just follow along because other people are doing this Jesus thing.

And just because other people are doing this church thing, he says, don't follow him because of that. He says, draw near with a true heart.

He says, in full assurance of faith, like realize, okay, as I've believed in Jesus, that there is full assurance. It's not partial. It's not hopeful assurance.

It is full assurance of faith, that because of what Jesus has accomplished, I don't have to worry about wearing that with God.

I don't have to worry that God is somehow against me because of the persecutions going on or because my family members ostracized me or because my friends no longer talk to me.

When I'm following the Jesus way, I can have full assurance in my faith and I can know that I'm safe and protected in Him.

He says, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, that is Jesus just as in Leviticus, where you take the blood from the sacrifices and you would sprinkle it around the room and the whole room would then be considered holy and cleansed

and atonement made and sin covered over, that Jesus did that within your own heart and soul, within your conscience, you are now cleansed forever. And he says, so our hearts are sprinkled clean.

And he says, and our bodies washed in pure water, that just as the priests entering into their tasks, as they would go through that ritual washing, he says, you have now been set aside for the service of God, that you are a priest, as Jesus is the

great high priest. He says, you're not just saved. You are saved to serve the Lord. You are saved to minister to others.

And what an incredible thought that that is. He says, you're not just called to like attend, and you're not just called to believe. You are called to make a difference and to serve with your life.

What are you doing today with your salvation? Is it benefiting anyone else? Are you serving in any way in your local church?

Are you doing anything for other people within your church? He says, our bodies are washed in pure water. Certainly, there's an element of this that also calls to mind our baptisms when we publicly confess Christ as Lord.

And what a wonderful truth that that is, that that water is pure, not because it contains any magical abilities or because it is holy water, quote unquote, but it is pure water because it is water that we have dedicated ourselves to the Lord in.

And what a joy it is.

I've often mentioned on here, if you are not baptized and you do believe in Jesus and you are a genuine believer and you want to join with a local group of believers, and I would encourage you to be baptized following that example of Christ and 2,000

years of believers in that ordinance. Verse number 23, he says, let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering.

So this was something that he told us back in chapter two or three as well, to hold fast, to keep a hold of the confession of our hope, that we know Jesus is returning, that there will be that day when God has made his enemies his footstool, and he's

going to return. And so will he find us waiting? And let's not like release that confession of our hope, but let's hold on to it.

He says without wavering, that is not like, you know, leaning to one side, leaning away from the Lord, or leaning towards, you know, a bitterness or an anger towards everyone else. Let's not do that.

Let's be straightforward in our holding of our confession. He says, since he who promised is faithful. What an interesting thought there.

He says, let's hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, and we would think so that like we will be accepted by the Lord. That would be how we would naturally think that sentence would end.

But he says, hold on to the confession of your hope, because he who promised is faithful. The one that promised that hope to you, he is faithful, and he will not let you go, so don't let him go. What a wonderful truth that that is.

Think of the song, He Will Hold Me Fast, which I think I've mentioned on this podcast before. When I fear my faith would fail, he will hold me fast. When the tempter would prevail, he will hold me fast.

I could never keep my hold through life's fearful path, for my love is often cold. He must hold me fast. And so grateful for that.

And then verse 24, he not only says, like, hold on to the confession of your hope, but he also says, let us watch out for one another.

This is also put in some translations as, let us consider one another, watch out for one another, know each other enough to be able to see when people are falling into sin, when they're falling into unbelief, when they're falling to their doubts,

consider one another, watch out for one another to provoke love and good works. We're not watching out for one another so that we can like, you know, bring condemnation to them. We want them to love God and to love people.

We want them to do good works of evangelism and doing good by other people and lifting up Jesus and doing the kinds of good works that God has prepared for us to do that Ephesians 2 and verse 10 tells us about, that we ought to care for one another.

Who do you in your local church? Who do you know well enough to realize, like when they're struggling spiritually? Who do you take notice of when it's like, okay, well, they're not singing or they're not showing up to church.

Let us encourage one another in our Christian walks. Don't just be content with saying, well, they'll get back when they get back. Or good riddance.

No, no, no, let's love one another. This is Christ's body. It's Christ's bride.

And we should not have a mindset that says, sure, right now, this person is a runaway bride, but they'll get over it. No, no, no, no, no. Let's be like Jesus, the one that leaves the 99 and goes after the one and rescues them and brings them back in.

Let's be the person that would care enough for a Saul or a Paul.

We would be like a Barnabas, that when everyone else is too scared of the person and they don't believe in that person, that Barnabas went and he brought Saul to the church leaders there in Jerusalem, and he vouched for him and said, hey, I've seen

him preach and I've seen what he's done, and I've seen that his walk with God is genuine. And so we should bring him into our church. He should be a member of our church.

May we have that love for other people that we would want to bring them into a vibrant Christian fellowship and relationship with other believers. Much, much more could be said. I'll leave the rest for my sermon.

Verse number 25, not neglecting to gather together as some are in the habit of doing. This is one of the most emphatic statements that we read, a direct condemnation of not gathering with the local church.

He says some people are in the habit, that is, it is not just total abandonment of the church that is in the author's sight. He says some people are in the habit of neglecting to gather together with the church.

And he says the opposite of neglecting to gather with the church isn't gathering with the church, which would be what we would normally think the opposite of that is.

But the opposite of neglecting to gather together with the church is knowing and loving and considering one another and watching out for one another.

Just showing up to church does not mean that you are accomplishing what God wants you to do on a Sunday or on a whatever day, you're with a small group or Sunday school class or something.

God's goal for you is not just that you would learn and worship and pray and give and evangelize, all that, God also wants you to fellowship, to pray with one another, to love one another, to have a real open conversations with one another.

And certainly that won't be able to happen with like every single person in your church, but may it happen with at least one other brother or sister.

Jesus had his 12, he had the three that he took with him really everywhere, Peter and James and John, even on the Mount of Transfiguration, all that kind of stuff.

But may we have people that we are open and honest with, may we have people that we can encourage in their faith, may we have people that maybe if it's not even those that we're closest to, but others that we are friends with, that we would be able

to reach out to them, let them know that we missed them if they do miss a Sunday. And for us, let's not be in the habit of putting attending church off to the side and just say, like, you know, whenever I get to it, I get to it.

We absolutely ought to be in church more than we are not. Certainly.

But I think that this verse, being in the habit of neglecting together together, would inform us, let's make it so that unless there is like some, you know, truly big thing, if it's sickness, or maybe if it's like a notable family activity, something

that's large, or certainly if you're on vacation or something like that. If it's not a deeply extenuating circumstance, let's plan to be together in God's house. I can tell you as a pastor, not a week goes by that we don't have at times.

There was probably a six to eight week stretch there at the church, where I knew the names of some of our members and regular attenders, that we would have 35 people gone every single week for like six to eight weeks, and it wasn't the same people.

It was like cycling through. And as a pastor, my heart certainly isn't to beat anyone with a bat over the head and be like, hey, you got to be in church. But here on the podcast, I'm not looking at anyone in the face.

Frankly, I'm just looking at me in the face. And I want to encourage you. Right now, I'm looking at Bryon Self's face.

I want to encourage you, whoever you are, they're listening to the podcast, like be in God's church regularly. It'll bless you. It'll bless your family.

It'll bless people that you're inviting. As you're inviting people to church, and it will motivate you to actually be there on Sundays and gather and worship with the church.

If you've been inviting people to come, then you're not going to want to skip, because what if your friend or family member or neighbor or whoever finally does come to church and you weren't even there?

So I want to encourage you, attend the local church whenever there's an opportunity. Back 70 years ago, the old phrase was, three to thrive. And they had Sunday morning church and Sunday night church and Wednesday night church.

And in each of those times, they encouraged their people to be there every single time.

And certainly they would be able to see that from the end of verse 5 where he says, but encouraging each other and all the more as you see the day approaching, that as we realize that Jesus is coming back, that we ought to have hearts that are

focused on him and on his work and what's important to him. And what is important to Jesus? The local church. It's what he died for.

It's called his bride. And so we ought to love the church even as Jesus loves the church. So let's attend.

Let's not view it as just something that's like, okay, well, yeah, I guess I'll check that off my spiritual checklist, but let's view it as something that we can be passionate about and enjoy and be a part of.

And one big part of that is be inviting people, I promise you.

And I will say, not just maybe people that attend other good gospel preaching churches in your area, but invite the unsaved, invite those that are maybe just like nominally religious, that are more behaviors than believers.

Like invite them to come because it will make a drastic impact on how you view the service.

You'll notice when things are like off-putting, when things are just like odd, and it will help you to realize like, oh, okay, well, I understand why my, why my pastor might make this decision or this decision, because he's trying to be conscious of

the fact that there will be unsaved people here. It'll help you understand like, hey, why does Pastor Bryon give the gospel like literally every single message?

It's because I want there to be unsaved people right there in the congregation that do not know Christ, and I want to call them to accept the Lord.

And so I'm doing that, and I'm trying best as I can to invite some people to know Jesus throughout the week. And so I want to encourage other people to do the exact same thing.

And when you do that, man, as we sing together, as we pray together, as we hear the word together, what a joy there is.

And we do this for the end of verse 25 says, all the more, as you see the day approaching, as we realize that Jesus is coming back, it should never motivate us to come to church less and less and less and less.

The, the, quote unquote, regular attender of today comes to church once or twice a month, and that is what's, you know, referred to in the statistics of today as a regular attender.

And certainly, that would be a sad thought, that a person could miss 50 to 75 percent of what the local church is doing and still be kind of considered a regular attender.

Let us follow the Lord and love his church that he died for, because that's our brothers and sisters, and that's the other members of the body of Christ.

Let us as thumbs or as elbows have a love and a care for some of the noses or the shoulders of Christ. That's about all I'm going to do for today. It was still a decently long episode, so thank you for your patience.

But I'll put the sermon in the show notes, and I mentioned some different things in the sermon, so don't feel like it'll just be a complete copy of what's going on here.

But thank you for tuning in, and look forward to a very somber, very, very important portion ending Hebrews 10 tomorrow. So be sure to tune back in.