Hebrews 10:19-39, "A Better and Abiding Possession"

What is the greatest reward you have ever received? What is your best possession? What is your favorite piece of property? How would you feel if someone robbed you of those things? Joy?

The message of Hebrews is, if you want to know God’s plans for our world, look to Jesus who has provided communion with God to all who will trust Him. The author, who is not named, is writing to Hebrew members of the churches of Jesus to encourage them to hold fast to Jesus. The Hebrews saw everything through the lens of the inheritance they had in the promised land because of their national identity. The writer helps them see, and will help us who live in the new “promised land” of America see, that knowing Jesus is more rewarding than any other benefit the kingdoms of this world could bestow.

We Have Full Access

The going rate for a full access pass to meet your favorite performer backstage ranges from $500 to several thousand dollars. Taylor Swift? Don’t even think about it, you can’t buy meet and greet tickets, not even for the going rate of $10-20,000 per VIP ticket. What would you pay for full access to the Creator of the Universe, the very essence of love and power?

There is no amount of money you can pay. There is no achievement you can claim. You need the food that money cannot buy, the wine and milk without price. It takes the humility to confess that your power, wealth, and religion are obstacles, not aids. Your sin corrupts everything. When we humbly repent of our sin and unite ourselves to Jesus Christ by faith, we are redeemed from a wasted life, we are set on the path of eternal life, and we are given the Holy Spirit of God. All of this is a free gift of God.

In Christ alone we have confidence to enter God’s presence. But in Christ, we have confidence to enter God’s presence. We have full access to God because we have a great priest who stands there to make the introduction and make us at home.

Considering the confidence believers in Jesus have to access God, what do we do with that access?

Hebrews 10:19 (ESV)

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus,

If you had full access to Elon Musk, what would you ask? If you had full access to Bill Gates, what would you do with that opportunity? If you had a personal invitation to chat with N.T. Wright or Alvin Plantinga for an afternoon, what would you ask them?

In Christ, you have full access to the One who created all of them, the universe in which they derive their power, wealth, and wisdom, and who can take all that away in a moment. What are you doing with that?

The writer of Hebrews says, focus on three things.

Draw near with a true heart in full assurance

Hold fas the confession of our hope without wavering

Think about how to stir up others to love and good works, and get together to encourage others often

Hebrews 10:22 (ESV)

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.

How often do you draw near to God, and what do you do with that time? I don’t mean how often do you read your Bible, or pray, or “do your devotions”. I mean really draw near to God with a true heart and a clean conscience.

What happens in those moments?

Hebrews 10:23 (ESV)

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

What is the confession of our hope?

It is connected to the second half of the verse. He who promised is faithful. Jesus promised I can draw near to God because He has redeemed me. My hope is that Jesus Christ has made me a member of God’s household, and I inherit an eternal kingdom.

How do we hold fast to this confession? We live according to this reality. I put my hope in Jesus, not in self or other people or money or power. I live a life that demonstrates I belong to God (royal priesthood).

Hebrews 10:24–25 (ESV)

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 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.

We talked a couple weeks ago about stirring the pot with one another. This is stirring up of a different kind.

When we get together, what is the priority for our time together and for our conversation?

What is the urgency?

“The Day” is the Day of the Lord, from the Hebrew prophets, a day when God reunites heaven and earth and reveals Himself in all His glory and power. It is the Day when Jesus will return to set everything right. He will consummate the kingdom of God on earth.

The closer we are to the end, the more active we should be with our love, good works, and encouragement. Is that happening?

What I’ve been thinking about is, how seriously do Christians who claim that the Bible is God’s word to us really take their Bibles? Statistically, 25% of Americans identify as practicing Christians, and of those, about a quarter read their Bible more than once a week.

“Those committed to the spiritual practice of Bible reading have stayed just as committed, while those who never made this a consistent part of their lives are now more likely to never open a Bible.” (Barna.com)

How often do we meet together for encouragement to love and good works? Depends on your age. Boomers left the church during covid and did not come back. Millennials are coming back, but the average attendance is still between 1-2 times per month.

We lack urgency. We lack awareness of how momentous and vital drawing near to God and drawing near to one another really is. There is a warning for those who know the truth, but don’t act on it (Hebrews 10:26-31). If you know who Jesus is, and refuse to come to Him in faith,

Hebrews 10:30–31 (ESV)

For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

But there is good news.

We Have an Example

When we look to the early church, we see a church filled with vitality and with urgency. The church was filled with love and good works. The fourth century emperor Julian, who had abandoned the Christian faith, had to admit,

“No Jew ever has to beg and the impious Galileans support not only their own poor but our pagans as well. From this, everyone sees that the people lack aid from us. That is disgraceful for us.”

Christians in the first century, but also Christians in every gospel movement that has happened around the world since, have demonstrated a fervent love for drawing near to God in their spiritual disciplines and opening their lives to others.

The writer of Hebrews reminds his readers of their own early fervency of love.

Hebrews 10:32–34 (ESV)

But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings,

sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.

For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.

Can you imagine this in American Christianity today? Take any of the things he says. When has Christianity been a hard struggle with sufferings for us? When were we publicly exposed (made a public spectacle) to reproach and affliction? When were any of us put in prison for our faith? When have we had our property plundered because we are Christians? Let alone joyfully embraced that.

Why do early Christians endure these things with joy? They know they have a better possession and an abiding one. I think many Americans really cannot conceive of a better or more lasting possession than the comforts of this life. If you could catch one glimpse of what God has in store for those that love Him, you will see we’ve been making mud pies in the parking lot when there is a holiday at the sea just beyond.

Which is why the writer goes back to drawing near to God.

Hebrews 10:35 (ESV)

Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.

And he goes on to say, don’t shrink back. Don’t avoid God. Don’t withdraw when you should advance. Not advance your career, or your party agenda, or your acceptance by our society. Advance to draw near to God. Don’t throw away that confidence that Jesus has purchased for you with His blood. The confidence to walk right up to the King of the Universe like you own the place. Because you do! He has granted you this better possession, His kingdom that cannot be shaken.

What is the reward for those who are confident in God enough to have all their rights and property taken away?

We share in His holiness (12:10). Our pain yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness (12:11). We will see the Lord (12:14). The drawing near is the reward.

John Mark Comer says in his new book, “Practicing the Way”, “Goal #1 is the Be With Jesus. Goal #1 of apprenticeship to Jesus is to live in that moment-by-moment flow of love within the Trinity.

“Prayer - of any kind - will always remain a chore, another task on our religious to-do list, until we come to realize that Jesus himself is our ‘exceedingly great reward.’ That the reward for following Jesus is, well, Jesus. It’s the sheer joy of friendship with him.

“For years, when I read about monks and nuns who gave up a ‘normal’ life to do little else besides pray, I’d think they were a little crazy. (For the record, some of them were, and some more than a little.) But what if we’re the ones who are unhinged? We who would rather binge Netflix or go shopping or play fantasy football than commune with Love loving?…Who choose to spend hours every day on our phones yet claim we ‘don’t have time’ for God? What if we’re the ones who have lost touch with reality? Who are wasting our lives on trivial things?”

Don’t get me wrong. It is hard to maintain a lifetime of fervent devoted love for Jesus that is so strong, we would gladly give up everything we own just to enjoy Him more one day. It is hard to be willing to be publicly shamed and humiliated as He was on the cross.

Hebrews 10:36 (ESV)

For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.

But it really won’t be long now.

Hebrews 10:37 (ESV)

For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay;

But the encouragement is

Hebrews 10:39 (ESV)

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

If you are truly a believer in Jesus, you have no need to shrink back. You can have confidence to draw near to God. In fact, God is your better possession and Jesus is your abiding place. And if Jesus is your abiding place, even if you are put to shame or all your rights are violated, you lose nothing. Your life is not in those things. Your life is in Christ. You can joyfully accept being violated, because you will draw nearer to Jesus in that moment…

…who, on the cross, gave up all He possessed: His dignity, His rights as a Hebrew, His reputation, His comforts, His body, His life. He did this for the joy that was set before Him. What was that joy? That He would receive you as a brother or sister, a beloved child of God the Father. He made you God’s possession that He would become yours. Better, abiding, rewarding.

Communion

Questions for Discussion

What would you do with access to the most rich and powerful people in our world?

What possessions you hold dear? What made early Christians able to joyfully accept having those taken away?

What do we learn about God in our passage?

What do we learn about what Jesus has done for us in our passage?

Considering that, what should be our attitude toward drawing near to God?

In what ways do we “hold fast the confession of our hope”?

What are some ways you are stirring up, or being stirred up by, others to love and good works?

How can we live with greater urgency for love and good works for Jesus’ sake?

How would you compare the American church (or our church) with the early church in terms of willingness to be humiliated, imprisoned, and robbed of our possessions for the reward of Christ? What should be our response?

How will you apply this passage to your life?

Who is someone you can share this passage with this week?