A New and Living Way
Hebrews Bible Study • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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11 Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins;
12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God,
13 waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet.
14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.
15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws upon their heart, And on their mind I will write them,” He then says,
17 “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.
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The work is done!!!
Not only are we given a new will and a new heart like that of Christ:
to listen, to do the will of the Father, to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, to present our bodies as a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God.
We’re assured that our sins will be remembered no more. Our status as “holy” is a status for all time!
Now some may say a permanent status of “holy” would actually undermine motivation towards greater holiness. What might we say in response?
Our new nature and our status are not separated realities.
Our perfection for all time is not separated from the law of God written upon our hearts.
19 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus,
20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh,
21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having 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 stimulate one another to love and good deeds,
25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
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“Confidence to enter the holy place”
From what we’ve seen so far, is this confidence in something subjective or something objective? Something that can change or something that cannot change (always true)?
This new and living way does not change day to day. Is not required day after day. The body and blood of Christ offered “once” made us holy.
We don’t have a literal “holy place”. What is the author getting at here?
Simply put, “Worship”
Where do the saints of the kingdom worship?
The church today:
We can boldly approach the Lord in worship on Sunday.
What does this passage say about the gathering of the saints on worship?
How should this passage encourage us to come to church on Sunday?
What’s the contrast?
What posture might this passage discourage us from coming to church with on Sunday?
The ultimate approach:
Heaven.
How does this passage inform how we should think about death and meeting Jesus face to face for the first time?
“The only reason I can be here is because of the body and blood of Christ which took my sin, and Your resurrection.”
In both senses, when we come to worship whether on Sunday or we approach heaven to worship for all eternity, we come with confidence because we’ve been washed by the blood of Christ, and the death of Christ has made a way.
And...
21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
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Not only has something past been accomplished. Christ is actively interceding for us. And we come to a very similar conclusion!
What might we add to the character of our worship from this passage?
We enter by what Christ had done in his death. And in response to that objective truth, we come in faith!
Faith:
What aspects of our worship on Sunday would you say contribute to this “Full assurance of faith?”
Confession: This is true!
Reading of Scripture:
Prayer of Approach: Who is God?
Others...
In order for worship to contribute to that full assurance of faith worship needs objective gospel content. It needs Scripture.
“hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
A response to an early church heresy:
The heart is clean, but the body is forever corrupted. “We can do whatever we want with our body because our hearts are made pure.”
Discipling a brand new believer: does it really matter what we do Monday to Saturday?
How might this passage inform your encouragement?
There is something objective that has happened to us! Let’s be living consistent with that reality: pure and holy lives with the whole of our bodies (Wholly Holy).
10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!
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How might you add to that answer from this passage? “Does it really matter what we don Monday to Saturday?
Who we present ourselves to on Sunday in the gathering should be the same person we present ourselves to on any ordinary day because we are His!
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 stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
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Wholly holy
The whole church devoted to seeing the whole church devote the whole of themselves to the worship and glory of God.
We do not hold individual faiths. Together we hold fast to our hope! There’s a unity and corporate nature to our faith. What is that common hope founded in?
The pastor?
The church programming?
The other people in the church?
He who promised is faithful.
17 In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.
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In an uncertain world where hope tends to be in short supply we look to two things.
Who is God?
What has he promised us in Christ?
The character of Christian worship and the Christian community should be a continual fixation on the character of God and His promises for us. Without these two things we are a hopeless people.
Practically speaking I hope to do this in my preaching. Showing the church the objective truths about God and His Word that would shore up our hope.
Let’s consider how we can do this in that “small group” or “smaller group” category. Part of being a part of the church is being aware of my brother or sisters faith. Is my brother or sister despairing? Are they fixated on the subjective things in the world or the objective unchangeable things of God.
We get a little more tangible here:
24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,
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Quick observation. We’ve addressed the mind, the faith of the believer. The active dependence on objective truth that is faith. We come to the rest of the person: The heart and the body. We’ve already eluded to this. Because the heart - the conscience is made pure it makes sense that the heart should be stimulated to holiness. But not only the conscience the body. Here we see good deeds.
Who comes to mind when you read this verse? Is there someone you know who did this well?
Is my brother’s heart my business?
Are my brother or sisters good deeds my business?
Am I my brother’s keeper?
Yes!
What’s the primary means we accomplish this Wholly Holy pursuit?
25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
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If we’re to be encouraged, if we’re to persevere as God’s holy worshippers we need to do so together!
If you were to identify one area of your own walk:
Your faith
Your heart
Your Good deeds
Where do you feel you need the most encouragement? How can the church serve you specifically?
