Living Confidently

We are continuing our study in Hebrews and last week we learned that the audience in Hebrews are Christians who are struggling with returning to old ways or habits. Dooley showed us pictures of his younger and oh so cool self. Reminding us that we all must grow up. He gave us 3 questions to wrestle with.

Who are you pouring in to? Who is pouring in to you? If you cannot answer the first two then asking yourself am I being lazy?

Tonight, my question to you is how confident are you to enter the presence of God?

We will be in Hebrews 10:19-25. We will get there in a moment. We need to talk about Gods Holiness or uniqueness. God is so good so unique that its dangerous for impure people like you and me to get close to God. Consider the sun. its unique in our solar system, here on earth we can benefit from its warmth and life producing rays but, if we were to launch on mission straight to the sun, that very power that generates heat on earth is going to destroy anything that enters its presence. Not because the sun is bad but, because the sun is a giant fireball and will consume all earthly things that come near it.

God’s presence is much the same, once sin entered the picture and we became impure, if we were to approach God who is so perfect and so good and we were to enter His presence, we would drop dead. His goodness is so powerful it will destroy anything impure.

How do an unclean people get clean enough to enter God’s presence?

In the Old Testament they would have a high priest who would represent the people to God and God to the people. He was expected to live with a higher moral standard amongst other expectations. One of the big tasks of the year for a high priest, was to enter the place called the holy of holies. This is a place where heaven and earth came together. Where God’s presence could be entered. This was a place that was separated from the rest of the temple or tabernacle so that no one could see or enter it except for the high priest. And he had to follow strict cleansing rituals and sacrifices before entering the holy of holies. He would do this once a year to cleanse the people of all their sins for the previous year giving everyone a clean slate moving forward. They would call this the Day of atonement.

The author of Hebrews is addressing this thought pattern in His audience. This is what I want us to get from the scripture tonight.

Through the sacrifice of Jesus, we are invited to freely and confidently enter God’s presence prompting us to support each other in a community that inspires growth and accountability.

Heb. 10:19-21

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, STOP.

Because the blood of Jesus we can now confidently enter this dangerous area through the blood of Jesus. When you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus died for you sin and He was raised from the dead and now sitting at the right hand of God the Father. The bible says that if you believe these things then your impurity, your sin, is covered by the blood of Jesus. No need for animal sacrifices. you can confidently enter in the holy of holies. the Holy place. God’s presence.

Verse 21

and since we have a great priest over the house of God, STOP

Now Jesus is our high priest. He goes in to the holy of holies on our behalf, for me and says A.J. is mine, I represent him. His sins are covered.

22 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.

With Jesus representing you, with boldness you can go to God with your questions, with your struggles, your victories, your failures, your fears. Because of Jesus work on the cross you can bring all that you are to God without guilt and without shame. You are seen as clean and you can draw near to God. James 4:8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

How do we draw near to God? We do this through accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We can draw near through daily worship. Through dependence on God. We draw near by conforming to God. By communion with Him. By continuing to be influenced by God. We are constantly fighting to draw near to Him and He will draw near to us.

When we experience depression or a broken relationship or a failure, we can draw near to God trusting that He is faithful and will bring us, not out of it but, through it. We can trust that whatever is happening no matter how terrible it might be, He know our pain. He knows our struggles and wants us to draw near to Him in Prayer, reading His word, walking alongside other believers as they help carry you through tough times. Its fairly cliché but, singing praise songs in times of darkness, in times of struggle and temptation truly lifts the spirit and points it back to hope in Jesus.

Verse 23

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

This confession of hope is our confession of our hope in Jesus. To constantly remind ourselves and each other of the death burial and resurrection of Jesus and how that is freely given to us. Despite being completely undeserving of such a gift.

And to hold on to the fact that our God is unchanging. His promises are never broken. His faithfulness should encourage us to be faithful and depend more upon Him.

Verse 24

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 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.

There are 3 “let us” statements here in these 7 verses. Let us draw near, let us hold fast, let us stir up. The Christian walk is not one to be done alone. Sheep who travel alone are just a snack for the enemy who wants nothing to but, to steal, kill and destroy. The Christian life is designed to be lived within a community of believers.

Here in verse 24 is this term stir up. It can also be translated to spur one another. Cowboys wear spurs to inflict a little pain on a horse to get it move or change direction. And if we are honest we need that in our lives as well. When someone knows your struggles, your temptations they can walk along with you, not to judge but, to encourage and motivate you sometime by putting a little spur in your side to change your direction to love God and do good works.

In verse 25 we get this phrase, not neglecting to meet together, I do not think this is just talking about church. Its more than that. If we are going to help one another if we are going to spur each other along then we need to be getting together more than just at church. Church is the starting point. This is where we can break the ice and get the awkward out of the way so when we go back to school or back to our situations at home, we have someone to contact. To pray with. To encourage us when we are not at church. To share our lives with one another. It starts here and is lived out there. At school. At home.

I will end with this. Being a Christian is a collective journey where we build each other up, encourage one another, help one another and it takes all of us participating in the journey together. So, when you go to your small groups. Christians, share and talk, be bold, you never know how God will use your comment to change some one’s life or to simply encourage them. Let’s pray.