Holding On Together

Introduction

We are continuing our way through this series on the church and what it means to be part of the community of God’s people. Our text to day includes a famous verse which commands us to not avoid meeting regularily together with hte church. Today our theme is the responsabilities in the church, what is the duty of those who belong to Jesus’ flock, specifically in the local church. However, today we’re not going to spend most of our time hammering home how important it is to be at church on Sunday morning. Instead, we want to stay true to the text and focus on the main point, which is the instruction to pursue Christ and hold onto Christ by loving others until the day of Christ’s return arrives.

However, the content of this text forms the heart of what our responsabilities are in the church. There’s a reason that regular fellowship is an important part of holding onto Christ. Living the Christian life without walking in our church responsabilities is like trying to balance a chair with two of its legs falling out. The author of Hebrews does not intend to merely chime in with a perhaps naggings reminder, make sure you go to church! He is showing his readers that their responsabilities as a Christian, and therefore their responsabilities in the church, must be understood and practiced in light of the truth of who Christ is.

Our text begins at the end of the author’s great explanation of the work of Christ in response to those who are beginning to fall into doubt under the pressure to be conformed to their Jewish communities. The author’s main theological point is that Christ has fulfilled the Messianic expectations of the Old Testament. He is a better leader than Moses or Joshua, a greater priest than Aaron, and he brings a better covenant for the people of God than the one given to them at Mount Sinai. He is both the priest offering up a once-for-all sacrifice for sin, rather than the repeated and ineffective sacrifice of the Levitical priests. Jesus is also the sacrifice itself, his blood true atonement for sin and the basis of a New Covenant. Therefore, going back to the Old Covenant would be like those who were rescued from the Atlantic ocean after the Titanic sank going back to the lifeboat after other ships had come to pull them out of the cold deep. The purpose of the shadowy old covenant is realized in Christ, every picture made real, every illustration come to life. This ends with the assurance that all our sins are forgiven if we are in Christ.

So beginning in 10:19, a practical conclusion to this hope we have in Christ is given in four parts.

Hurry to Christ

Hold onto Christ

Huddle Together in Christ

Head Out with Christ

In these four parts, we get a very good and well-rounded idea of what the Christian life is meant to look like, indeed must look like, in order for the benefits of being in Christ is be realized and experienced. Since Christ is the answer to all of life’s problems, the fulfillment of the Old Covenant, and since the blood of Christ his done away with our sin and guilt and brings us boldly into the throne of grace with compassion and help, Christ remains the centre of how we live. We are oriantated to him, like our planet’s orbit around the sun. And so always when it comes to studying the Christian life and how we can pursue godliness, meditation on the work of Christ is always our main focus.

Hurry to Christ

The first instruction for the Christian life is to be continually running to Christ. The author of Hebrews tells his readers in chapter 4 that Jesus is a great high priest, whose job it is to be a mediator between God and man. In our text, the language of passing through a new and living way by a curtain that is the flesh of Christ. In other Words, the spiritual effect of Christ’s broken body was mirrored in the torn curtain in the holy of holies. Christ’s torn body, being the establishment of the the new covenant and the forgiveness of our sins, guaruntees our way into the throneroom of God for grace, help, and eternal life. This access is new, implying that access was not available before in the Old Covenant or in any other attempt to know God.

But how we pursue Christ is important to the author as well, and he clarifies that coming to Christ must be done with sincerity, confident faith, and a clean conscience washed by the blood of Christ.

Sincerity

Not passive, but actively coming without pretension, reservation, condition, or bargaining.

Confident Faith

God is completely reliable, and those who have faith will also have the confidence that this is true.

Conscience Sprinkled and Guilt Washed by Christ

Conscience is the inner knowledge of guilt.

Sprinkled most likely refers to the part of the covenant cerimony in Exodus 24:8. Washing has a parallel meaning, a physical metaphor for the covenantal cerimony. The parallel relflection of the the blood and body of Christ making a way for us to approach God in verses 19-20 puts in our mind the remembrance of these two elements at the Communion Table. Already, the context of the church shows itself as it is the church meeting together in Christ that have the authority to offer these elements, reflecting that it is the church whom Christ has given the authority to give these elements since he has given his church the keys of the Kingdom. Although the Table is not mentioned, what the Table represents and accomplishes is key to this passage and to our understanding of the work of Christ. We come to him because of what we have which the elements remind us of. This coming to God through Christ does not only refer to conversion, but to the constant approach to heaven’s throne in our regular Christian lives.

The Author’s theology of Christ’s work produces a confidence in those who believe to approach God boldly, believing that the blood of Christ has cleansed them from everything that would make them unholy or impure in God’s eyes.

Hold onto Christ:

Next, in verse 23, we are encouraged to “hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. Again, nothing explicitly related to being in the church here, but here is a common confession which binds all Christians as brothers and sisters, the confession of our faith. In our context, the word ‘confess’ gives a good idea of the greek word behind it. It is almost always a negative word, referring usually to confessing wrongdoing. A criminal may or may not confess their crime to a judge, an adulterer may confess to their spouse out of guilt, but here the confession is of our faith. A confession is not hidden, it does not fudge details to make things look more favourable than they are, it makes no apologies either. It simply convays truth publically regardless of the consequences. When the father of Perpetua, the 2nd century Christian martyr, tried to convince his daughter to only offer up pagan insense, but to really not mean it. She gestured to a vase in the room and asked what it was. When her father answered that it was a vase, she asked, “can it be something else if you want it to be? Can you pretend it is something that it is not?” She then said, “I am a Christian, and I cannot be anything but a Christian.” That is a confession, not necessarily a written document describing your religious convictions, but the sum total statement of your life reads “I am a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ.”

This is the confession of hope that the writer is speaking of. It is a confession of hope, a better word would be assurance since this isn’t a “wavering” hope, since “he who promised is faithful.” God keeps his promises. The Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:12

2 Corinthians 3:12 ESV

Since we have such a hope, we are very bold,

This boldness in his hope is founded on what he says earlier in the same letter, 2 Cor 1:19-20

2 Corinthians 1:19–20 (ESV)

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you... in him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.

Everything that God ever promised is affirmed in Christ, therefore holding onto Christ is the only guarunteed way, the only way at all in fact, to experience the promises of God. Those promises are eternal life as opposed to the eternity in deathly wrath that we deserve. If we hold onto Christ, all the blessings of God are ours. If are grip is compromised and we let go, we’re doomed. There are no higher stakes than these.

Because of the full way in which Christ has fulfilled the law, the Hebrews must hold onto their Christian confession, lest they fail to reach the end of their faith.

Huddle Together in Christ

Here at last we get to the part that explicitly talks about our relationship with the church in all this. Pursuing God and holding onto Christ are not sufficient if done alone, for God has made the church for the purpose of being the body of Christ, together doing what only they can do when holding fast to the head and to one another.

Christians must hold onto each other as they hold onto their confession so that, through encouraging and exhorting each other, we may be stirred up to love and good works. This is where we may speak about our main topic this morning more directly; believers have responsabilities tied to their membership in Christ and his church that are necessary for the continued growth and health of God’s people.

The Positive: Consider

Holy Provocation

Love: the best way to provoke love is to show it patiently and consistently. It also means being an easier person to love, being approachable, humble, friendly, and engaging. Let the love you exemplify and provoke be Christ-like. Humbly accept help from other believers, being like Paul who was more joyful over the heart of the givers than the gift at all. Phil 4:10-14

Philippians 4:10–14 (ESV)

I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content...

Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble.

Good works

Example

Instruction

The Negative: “not neglecting”

So while these Christians are commanded to be provoking one another in these ways, they are warned against the practices of those who neglect the regular time of worship together.

The Author notes that some have made a habit of it, and if that were true then how much more rampant is that sickly habit. By indulging in it, many have become like those who search for riches, becoming pierced with many pains and even denying the faith. It is indeed a greed of time and energy, believing other things to be of greater importance, whether it be hobbies, work, rest, or even homework. Of course there is not explicit command here to join every week, but do remember that this was at a time when Christians were often meeting every day. Tim tells me that their bretheren churches in India meet all day on Sunday and many times throughout the week. Seeing and worshipping with other believers becomes a near daily activity. If anything, the weekly meeting is a bare minimum compared to how seriously many Christians in church history took church life.

This is certainly not to be legalistic about church attendance, that is not at all the author’s intention. But it does put the necessary benefits of fellowship at risk. Back in 3:13 the author had told each member to take care and watch out for an evil, unbelieving heart and to exhort one another every day. This is necessary “that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” and become like the grumbling Israelites who died in the wilderness. Yes, this is a matter of life and death! Both for yourself, and for your church family.

Damages of missing out on weekly attendance.

Unable to excercise spiritual gifts.

Unable to be encouraged and comforted.

Unable to be disciplined.

Unable to love.

Unable to develop a healthy assurance in Christ.

Unlikely to be discerning by themselves.

Like sheep without a shepherd, rejecting the biblical leadership and community and instead doing what is right in their own eyes.

Likely motivated by idolotry.

Easily self-decieved.

These two perspectives, the positive and the negative, inform us of our responsabilities as members of both a universal and a local church. In a word, it is the responsability of every believer to be devoted to a local church, to actively provoke love and good works there, and to be there often in order to keep themselves safe from sin and focused on the needs of their fellow Christian. How this is specifically achieved will be explored more in a Sunday School lesson in the next few weeks.

Head Out with Christ

Church life exists in the short period in which we see the final end of our faith approaching. The local church which exists in this period of time is not an ongoing party which one may or may not attend, or which one may come and go as they please. The local church is a lifeboat, taking us away from the sinking Titanic of this world to deposit us on the heavenly shore which Christ is preparing for us. The lifeboat itself is built by Christ and is able to cut through icy waters and keep all those on board safe if they heed the warnings and instructions given in our text. The elders are your pilots, directing the boat to the safe harbour of God’s Word, in which we are shown more of Christ. Deacons are incharge of overseeing the ores, making sure everyone has their lifejacket on and seeing that everyone is treated fairly and are as comfortable as you can be drifting over the fridged Atlantic.

But what about you? What is your responsability? Certainly one is to remain on the lifeboat, not to jump out at the risk of your own life and the lives of those on board now troubled by a rocking vessel. But you also cannot be one sitting inside doing nothing. There are a great many things to do, ores to pick up and use, deacons to manage things on board, even giving a sincere word of encouragement to the others in our small dingy is a great help and comfort. Of course some are needed to pull others from the fridged sea, others hold the spotlight of the Scriptures, encouraging each other with it and discerning where a drifting ice sheet or swelling wave may be. Above all, there is the universal ministry of love, from which every service must spring. As we approach the lighthouse of God’s promises, there both to warn and comfort us as we near our heavenly destination, we must take our position on this craft seriously and with great concern, always soberminded, full of the Word, moldable in the hands of the Holy Spirit, and holding on firmly to the lifeboat that is the church and to one another, since we all were bought with so great a price.

The mindset we are to have while we are in this time is future focused, as we see the day drawing near. This is done as we are holding onto Christ together through our service to the people of God. In any loving relationship there are benefits and responsabilities. Any relationship that doesn’t require both in some way or to some extent is not a loving relationship, it is slavery.

It is crucial that you start thinking of your service to and presence in the church as the means by which you enter into Holy worship, for the church is God’s temple. And it is only in the firm, loving grasp of other believers that we can tangibly feel the love of Christ for us as he pulls us from our sinful stupours and sets us on the solid foundation of God’s Word.