Hebrews - Talk 7 - 10:19-39

‘Let Us – Persevere’
Introduction
Kath and I, as you may be aware, have just got back from a 10 day trip to visit friends in New Zealand, and the great thing about travelling is noticing all the differences about another country, the weather, the food, the people, even the livestock. But also noticing all the things that are common to people wherever you go, like voting in a new centre-left government, and them having no idea what to do with the new economic crisis they inherited.

And one of the little cultural windows into the people you find in Western countries is of course the television, I love watching television in other countries, you learn all sorts of good stuff. Like who knew that Magnum PI was still prime-time television? Not me for sure!

But one of the things that is common both in their nation and ours is, that they also love television shows about relationships. In particular practical shows that help them to understand how to live out their relationships, like Dr Phil.
and on one particular night super nanny. I'm not entirely sure what possesses people to watch the show, but I suspect it is some sort of macabre vouyerism, that at least my children aren't that bad!

And this one night, we set down to watch it with our friends, (who also have small children), there was a couple who had six children. (Now I have one child, so quite clearly I am no expert on children), but these people had six children and quite clearly no idea!

And it's because between them, they didn't have an ounce of clue how to discipline their children -- for the want of a better description, there children were feral. Even the casual the Observer could see that this couple needed some real perseverance if they were going to make this parenting thing work. You need perseverance to constantly battle with little enquiring minds. Young minds make bad choices, and you need perseverance to train them to make good decisions.

But then you need perseverance to make any relationship work don't you?

And as we continue with the book of Hebrews, we see the preacher is persevering with his Immature hearers. He persevered with them, in order to encourage them, so that they may like their teacher - persevere to the end.

Today we are looking at Hebrews chapter 10 versus 19-39, which is a simple section of text, in that what it says is clear, but then in being clear what it says - it isn't easy to do. So it's a simple passage - but not easy!

In fact you could describe it as a salad passage.

"Why would you call it a salad passage, is it because it is good for you?"
"Well yes, it is because it is good for you, but more than that -- it's because it has three types of lettuce!"

"Three types of lettuce you say?"

‘Yes three types!’
The first of these using verse 22, where it says:
‘let us’ draw near to God

The second of these is inverse 23, where it says;
‘let us’ hold fast to Christ

The third of these is in verse 25, where it says;
‘let us’ encourage one another -- by not giving up meeting together

There are three types of lettuce in the salad passage, simple to understand, but not easy to do, so let's pray for God's help that we would hear and apply his word rightly.

Prayer


1. let us draw near to God -- verse 22
In verse 22 we read
‘let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.’

The preacher here called his hearers to draw near to God. He calls his hearers to have faith, to trust God, to have confidence in their God.
Now It's all well and good to say to ‘have confidence’, but how can anyone have the confidence to draw near to a holy God, a consuming fire?

Well it's because of what he is already told us, starting with what he said in verses 17 and 18, that our sins have been dealt with.

V17
‘..their sins and lawless is acts will remember no more. And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice the sin.’
So We have confidence to draw near, because Sin has been dealt with.

But how has Sin been dealt with?
Well, Sin has been dealt with by Jesus Supreme High-priest, as we have focused upon over the last couple of weeks in the book of Hebrews.
Jesus our supreme High-priest, offered the supreme sacrifice of himself, and offered it in the supreme temple, the true house of God.

Verse 19
‘Therefore Brothers, since we have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great High-priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith..’

We draw near to God with confidence, because Jesus is our great High-priest


But still how can we draw near, we are still sinful people aren't we?

Well verse 22 tell us the results, the benefits we receive in our person, because Jesus is our supreme High-priest.

Verse 22
‘let us drawn into God with the sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.’

Christ our supreme High-priest, has cleansed our hearts, and our minds, and our bodies.

Now Our sin was our doing, it was harmful against God, and harmful against our own bodies. But Christ bought it at the Cross and made it his. Our sin is our doing, but it is no longer our possession, it belongs to Christ he bought it.
And the forgiveness he purchased has become our possession by faith, and it has brought about an act of new creation by God the creator in our hearts, our minds and our bodies through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus and Supreme High-priest, has cleansed us, and we are now a new creation in Christ. We now part of the new creation - the kingdom of God.

We are able to draw near to God, because we have been cleansed by Jesus our supreme High-priest.

Which leads us on to our second let us;

2. let us hold fast to Christ
Verse 23
‘let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised his faithful.’

Now as you remember in the context of the letter to the Hebrews, the ones receiving the letter were under a real threat of persecution and violence, even death, for following Christ. To be a believer in Jesus in these first century times was a precarious exercise under the occupying Roman rule.

But instead if you were a Jew, you actually enjoyed protection under Roman rule, and no persecution from your own family and friends. To be Jewish was a lot more socially acceptable, and a whole lot safer.

The temptation to turn your back on Christ, was very real that these first hearers. Which is why the preacher implores them to not turn their backs on Christ, to hold fast to Christ, because Christ is faithful to his promise to deliver the hope he has promised. The preacher wants us to be faithful, as Christ is faithful. Let us hold fast to Christ, despite hardship, temptation, trial and suffering, and even persecution. Let us hold fast to Christ because he is faithful.


Verse 35
‘so do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.’

Let us hold fast to Christ

Now if you've been paying attention as the passage was read earlier, you may have some questions about verse 26 and 27. What is going on there?

Verse 26
‘If we deliberately keep on sending after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice is left for sins, but only the fearful expectation of judgement and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.’

What is going on there?
I mean there isn't a Christian here, who hasn't at some point deliberately sinned is there?

Well, as always, the Bible is pretty good at explaining Bible, and reading the context always helps to inform our understanding of the passage. In this section of the text, the temptation to sin for the believers who are hearing the sermon, is the temptation to turn away from Christ. The temptation to publicly deny any part with Christ, the temptation of apostasy. These believers under threat of persecution and even the edge of the sword, are being tempted to escape the hardship by denying that they know Christ, and to deny it publicly.

Apostasy, to deny Christ publicly and to mean it, is to sin with a ‘big S’

The deliberate sin spoken of here, is not your day to day, garden variety (if you can use such language) type of sin, but the profound and conscious denial of Christ's lordship, his sacrifice, and his priesthood on your behalf. To deny Christ is to deny his benefits for you, to deny those benefits is to be without hope before God.
Now before you get too comfortable, in thinking while I haven't done that! Remember that the path to the big ‘S’ Sin, is paved with a whole lot of little ‘s’ sin (garden variety) Sin. So knock it off!!

Faithful with little things, means faithful with big things when they come.

Let us hold fast to Christ

Let us hold fast to Christ, because trial and temptation and persecution is coming.

Versus 32-34 we read;
‘Remember those early days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insults and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated.’

The preacher reminds his hearers, they have in the past been faithful with little things, and now it is time to be faithful with the big things that are coming their way, to be faithful under persecution and trial and even the edge of the sword. In the second let us, they are to hold fast to Christ no matter the cost.

So finally we can move on to our third ‘let us’ in this passage, where our preacher to calls us, and says;

3. let us encourage one another -- and in particular, by not giving up meeting together
Verse 25
‘let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another -- and all the more as you see the day approaching.’

The positive expression of his point here, is let us encourage one other.

Christians have always met together, the mutual testimony to encourage one another. This profound act of worship of speaking truly to each other about the living God in his presence. This act of worship to speak truly through song and speech, and to hear the living God speak from his word, and to call upon him as our father in prayer. All these things exist to strengthen the Christian, so that they may draw near to God, that they may hold fast to Christ, and that they may persevere in Christ until the end.

The negative expression of his point is that to withdraw from the Fellowship that meets together, is a concrete expression of a person withdrawing themselves from Christ himself. To withdraw from the believers in the first century, was to not make the good confession of Christ in the sight of opposition.

It was to wear your Australian Rugby league jersey to work on the Friday, but then turn up to work on the Monday wearing the New Zealand Rugby league jersey after they won the World Cup on the Sunday night!

Under threat at the edge of the sword, people withdrew from the Fellowship, to avoid suspicion, persecution, and hardship. To be part of the group was prima face evidence that you belonged to Christ. Withdrawing from the fellowship, was a concrete expression of withdrawing from Christ. And you know what, despite 2000 years, I suspect not much has changed in this regard? To withdraw from the fellowship is really an expression of withdrawing from Christ.

The preacher has called to the believers, let us encourage one another. But in contrast, what better way would there be to discourage the brothers and sisters than to withdraw from the fellowship?

Well what do you reckon?? Can you think of a better way of discouraging other believers?

I reckon that there are at least 10 things you need to make sure you do if you want to discourage your brothers and sisters
(by which I am being slightly ironic, and am of course encouraging you to do the opposite, and I am in the same breath not necessarily saying people are doing things, I'm just saying these would be dumb things to do!)

So here we go, 10 ways to discourage your brothers and sisters;

10. make sure everyone knows that church is just not a priority for you

Make Church just like dinner at home on Saturday night, it's what you do when you don't have a better option. And a better option can be a small as kids sport, or school holidays, or just plain tired.

So make sure everyone knows that church is just not a priority for you.

9.make sure things you never miss a chance to complain about church

The services are too long, there are too many creeds, there is too few confessions, there is too much new music, there is not enough old music, we always do the same thing, we never do the same thing!

And especially make sure you never miss a chance to complain about church, to the leadership whether it is the Minister or the CLT, or just in the Bible study.

And especially make sure you never miss a chance to major on a minor and take your theological hobby horse and ride it home like it was entered in the Melbourne cup, because nothing produces unity and encouragement like proud theological elitism

so make sure you never miss a chance to complain about church

8. make sure you bear grudges against people, and if possible to publicly, or at least with a small faction of your friends from the congregation

whatever you do, do not forgive as you have been forgiven

7.make sure you never serve, but always be served!

Be a consumer Christian, from teaching the kids, to doing evangelism, make sure everyone knows - it's someone else's job -- certainly not yours!

6. make sure you compartmentalise your Christian faith

Make sure you are one thing with Christians, and another with non-Christians. And especially never let your Christian faith into your workplace or allow it to bear upon your significant relationships.

5. make sure you never encourage other Christians with the good things the Lord has done in your life

Make sure everyone thinks you have a dead Christianity. At morning tea, or any church gathering, never get past talking about the sport or the kids schoolling. Never (ever!) tell anyone how you became a Christian.

4. make sure you never commit to anything related to church

Always keep your options open, whether it's a dinner RSVP, or a midweek Bible study, whether it's going on the roster during school holidays, or actually financially committing to the Fellowship rather than just giving the bits that are left over after you pay for what you want.

Never put yourself in the position of being committed

3. make sure you never read your bible personally

Privately, in the family, with other Christians or even in Church, do not read your Bible. And especially never ever share anything you've learnt from your Bible reading with another Christian.


2. make sure you never pray personally

Never pray to God, especially for the spread of the gospel, for Christian leaders, missionaries or for your Christian Brothers and sisters at church

Never pay personally, and especially never pray publicly when you have a chance during the service

1. make sure you never let Jesus and the cross set the agenda of your life

Your goal is to be happy not Holy!

discipleship, mission, even persecution are just not your bag baby! Leave that to the keen ones, the ones who seem to think that perseverance is an issue.

Make sure you never let Jesus and the Cross set the agenda for your life!


The Instruction
Verse 23
‘let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised his faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not to give up meeting together, and some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the day approaching.’

The Comfort
Verse 39
‘but we are not of those who shrink back and have destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.’