Discipleship

Intro

When I told Alex I would be able to preach again at the end of January and I learned that the topic I would be preaching on was discipleship, I began to think through what passage might be best. After some thought and prayer I landed on Matthew 22:37–39“37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Then, about a week or so later Alex preached an excellent message on love, using Matthew 22:37-39. Now I could use the same text that he did, but I thought you all might appreciate if I changed it up a bit. I wanted to find a passage that captured God’s plan of change for us that was heavy on the gospel. As disciples of Christ, we are to be completely dependent on Christ, both in our justification and in our sanctification, and since this is the case, the gospel of Jesus Christ is foundational for growth in Christ. As I searched through the Scriptures over the past couple of weeks, I came to Hebrews 10.19-25

Hebrews 10:19–25 ESV

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, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 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. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 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.

Hebrews 10:19 “19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus,”

The writer of Hebrews begins this segment of the letter with “Therefore” meaning that what is about to be said is grounded in what was said before. Just prior, and throughout the letter leading up to this, the writer has been making the case that Jesus is greater than any priest or prophet who came before, and that he made a sacrifice greater than any made with the blood of animals. Jesus has made one sacrifice for all time, so that those who are being sanctified are made perfect. Their sins will be remembered no more and there is no longer a need for sin offerings.

God has… cleansed us with the blood of Jesus

Therefore, we have confidence to enter into the holy places by the blood of Jesus. In the Old Testament, we read that the Tabernacle and the Temple had a Holy Place and a Most Holy Place. Not just anyone could enter, only the high priest, and only once a year after they had made sacrifices to atone for their own sins, then they would make atonement for the sins of the people of Israel. Now, because Jesus has shed His own blood on our behalf, and has entered the most holy place offering Himself we can enter into the Most Holy Place, where the Shekinah glory of God dwells. Why does Jesus blood make a difference? The blood of Christ cleanses us from all unrighteousness which is what kept anyone from being able to enter the holy places. Because God is holy and righteous, nothing that is unholy and unrighteous can be in his presence. Elsewhere in Scripture we learn that the wages of sin is death, and that life is in the blood, so the ending of a life by the shedding of blood is how sin is paid for. For years a spotless lamb was sacrificed, as the offering to God had to be without blemish. Jesus was the only perfect man who could offer Himself for the sins of others. Though God gave us His law through Moses, we were unable to keep it, and so God has done what we could not by paying the price for our sin Himself. If God had not shown mercy and kindness to us, we would never be cleansed from our sin. But God did show us mercy by offering the blood of Jesus in our stead.

Hebrews 10:20 “20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,”

God has… opened a new way into His presence

Jesus inaugurated a new way into the presence of God. Before Jesus came, the only way to the holy of holies was through the death of bulls and lambs, now the way into God’s presence is through faith in Jesus Christ. There is no longer a need to make continual sacrifices. This is the new covenant in Jesus blood.

God has… made a living way into His presence

The sacrifice that Jesus made did require Him to die, as He took on the wrath of God for our sin. But Jesus did not just die and pay the penalty for sin, He overcame death and rose from the grave. Jesus is alive, and so the way to God is a living way. Just as Jesus continues to have life after He paid for our sin, all who believe in Him will also have life, eternal life. Everlasting life starts at the moment of our justification, but it is also something we are waiting for. This eternal life that we look ahead to is a place of perfection, where we will be in perfect unity with one another and with God. We learn that we will be coheirs with Christ, who will rule forever and ever. Because of the life that God gives us through Christ, we can look ahead to a time where there will be no more sickness, no more death, no more mourning, no more broken relationships, no more sin. Best of all, we get to look forward to being with God face to face. We will get to see our Creator, our Redeemer who from eternity past planned out our salvation, that we might be with Him in perfect fellowship.

God has… reconciled us to Himself by becoming flesh

God humbled Himself and became like us in human flesh. Jesus surrendered His glory in heaven for a time so that He could reconcile us to God. No man since Adam had been able to keep God’s law, and so every man was destined for hell, so God took on flesh and fulfilled the righteous law of God. Then He paid the penalty for our sin in His death. By His death we are justified, by His life we receive a righteous standing before God. Jesus did not just cancel our debt with God, He gave us a positive standing with Him. He has fulfilled the law in His flesh so that we do not have to strive to earn favor with God. Jesus has already done this.

God has… become our priest

Hebrews 10:21 “21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,”

Jesus is unlike any other priest, because He never leaves the Father’s side, He is always interceding on our behalf, advocating for us through His merit. Every other priest had to step away to care for his physical body, no other priest could advocate for us based on their own righteousness. Every other priest died and no longer served as the peoples advocate and mediator. Jesus lives forever, and so He is and will always be our mediator. We read elsewhere in Scripture that God’s people are His Temple, that we are the house of God. Jesus is our priest, He dwells within us through His Spirit. He ministers to us, he knows what it is to suffer, he knows our human weakness, he knows what it is to be tempted. What a comfort to have Jesus as our mediator and minister over us!

As we let these truths about what God has done sink in, we will continue reading to see what our responsibility is.

Disciples of Christ are to… draw near

Hebrews 10:22 “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.”

If all these things are true of what God has done, then let us draw near to Him. We have been sprinkled clean of the wickedness within that separated us. We have been washed of our sin and guilt. Nothing is separating us from getting close to God. We have full assurance of faith because it is God who acted. To have full assurance of faith, it is not about the depth, or strength of our faith, but it is a matter of who our faith is in. We may have faith as small as a mustard seed, but if it is in Jesus then we can be assured that we are washed clean. As a disciple with faith, a way in which we express our faith is through obedience, specifically in being baptized, as this is an outward representation of what has taken place within us. We are united with Jesus death and are raised to new life with Him. This is one way in which we demonstrate our faith. If we have faith in Jesus, then what does it look like for us to draw near to Him? We draw near to God through prayer and His Word. These two are commonly called spiritual disciplines. This being said, reading God’s Word and praying are not an end in themselves, nor are any of the other spiritual disciplines. To be a disciple does not mean we simply read words off a page in a book called the Bible. It does not mean we simply say certain words with our eyes closed. These disciplines are not something which we squeeze into our busy schedule and simply check off our list and then we can say we have drawn near to God. You can habitually read God’s Word and pray but leave relatively unchanged. The goal of prayer and reading Scripture is to draw near to God, it is to encounter the Creator of the Universe and Redeemer of our souls in a real and meaningful way. He is not some distant figment of our imagination, He is a real being who can be known. As we study God’s Word for ourselves, we will begin to see more of who God is. We will see His character revealed as He interacts with humanity throughout the history recorded in the Bible. We will see His plan of salvation unfold. Reading God’s Word is great, but getting to know God through His Word is the goal. I know this is something that I have struggled with throughout my walk with Christ. For the most part I have been disciplined to read my Bible, but many times it was to check something off my spiritual to do list. When we are simply checking things off the list, we are no longer walking in faith, often times there has been a slight shift in our hearts, and we believe that by reading we will earn favor with God. This is not the case. As we saw earlier, there is only one man, the Lord Jesus Christ who has earned favor with God. We do not read to earn favor, we read to draw near to God, and as we do we will find that our faith grows. This is the same with prayer. Jesus warns us against praying empty words like the gentiles do in His sermon on the mount. Prayer is an act of dependence on God. It is a way that we submit our wills to His. Through prayer we acknowledge that He is in control. God has perfect wisdom, and so He knows what is best for us. God is good, and so He desires what is best for us. God is sovereign, all powerful, and so He will do what is best for us. This means that even when bad things happen to us, God is working for good. As we pray, we can acknowledge these truths and draw near to God as we grow more confident in His care for us, no matter the circumstances of life. Ultimately, drawing near will cause us to love God more and worship Him more.

Disciples of Christ are to… persevere

Hebrews 10:23 “23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”

The writer of Hebrews tells the audience to hold fast their confession of hope, namely that they are going to enter into God’s rest in heaven. This holding fast, or persevering is essential, because we are not there yet. What God has promised is not yet a reality for us in this present time. We have been justified and are being sanctified, but we have not yet been glorified. So, we must continue in faith while we wait to enter His rest in heaven. When Jesus returns our salvation will be made complete. As we wait, we are assured that the one who promised is faithful. God cannot lie, and He has promised to save all who believe in Jesus, and so we can persevere knowing that our hope is in Him who does not change nor lie. Our perseverance is greatly benefited by us drawing near to God. The more we know God, the more we will trust. The more we trust Him, the easier it will be to persevere to the end.

Disciples of Christ are to… consider one another

Hebrews 10:24–25 “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.”

We were not saved by Christ to be in isolation, but rather we were saved to be a part of a community, that is the family of God. The first way we are to consider one another is by stiring one another up towards to love. This word to stir up in the Greek means to provoke or stimulate, even to the point of discomfort. This means that we are called to be closely involved in each other’s lives, and we are not to sit back and watch one another drift into hard heartedness and sin. Instead, we are to provoke one another to love through good deeds. If we are to persevere, we need others to hold us accountable and to help keep us on track. The love that we are to show through good deeds is evidence that we love God. Again, we are not doing good deeds to merit favor with God, but we do them because we love God. Our favor with God has been earned and secured by Jesus. We respond properly to the love and grace of God by loving the people around us, specifically the people of God. When we are struggling to love others, it is important that we are surrounded by other believers who know us well enough to see that we are struggling and who love us enough to stir us up to love others. That means that there will be times within the body of Christ where there is confrontation and hard conversations, but we have these because we love one another. For us to be disciples as God is calling us to, we cannot keep other believers at a distance, we have to welcome them into our lives so that we can stimulate good deeds in them and they in us. We have to meet together regularly, not just on Sunday’s, but throughout the week. This may be uncomfortable at times, but it is what is best according to God’s Word. This is what will help us through to the end. As we know one another more, we will see with our own eyes how we can best encourage one another. Sometimes it is by bringing a meal. Other times it may be with a well timed word. Other times through praying with one another. Our brothers and sisters may just need a listening ear. Other times we may need exhortation or correction. As we meet together more and more we will be better equipped to care for one another. This is of utmost importance because the Day, the return of our Lord is drawing near. And on that Day He is bringing judgement for all who are not in the house of God. He is also bringing salvation for all who are His. This means that we must continue to stir up and encourage one another to persevere in faith until the end. God is faithful to save all who have faith. He promises that He will not lose any whom He has given to the Son. As disciples, we are to draw near to God and to one another as we await the glorious return of our Lord. Let us pray.