Full Assurance

A man was showing his little boy around the old church building, and they came to a plaque on the wall. The little boy asked what this was for, and the man said it was to honor those who had died in the service. There was a pause for a moment, and then the boy, with a bit of apprehension, asked his father, “The morning service or the evening service?”

So often, it is considered by people that coming to church is a duty, one that is very costly, and in this little boy’s perspective, bearing the prospect that one may not make it out alive. And yet, as we know but need always to be reminded of, being part of a church, including the morning service, or any other part of the church, is not to be looked at only as one’s solemn duty, but as a joy and in fact, a gift.

Last week we looked at the subject of assurance, and we learned that we can indeed have assurance of our salvation. We have this assurance from our experiences, from God’s Word, and because of the God who guarantees delivery of those he has saved.

I want to continue this morning on the theme of assurance, and as we looked at what is sometimes a difficult and challenging passage last week in Hebrews 6, today we move forward to Hebrews 10, and we will see that the writer continues this exhortation to the Jewish people to choose Christ, and the complete once and for all sacrifice he made on the cross, and in choosing Christ, the Jew had to put aside the old sacrificial system. It was simply not needed anymore, but not only was it not needed any more, it was offensive to God that one would say they want Jesus and also to continue to offer sacrifices.

The really big point through all of Hebrews is that Jesus is enough, Jesus is better, He is the complete package of grace and mercy and forgiveness, the once and for all sacrifice that one could put faith in to complete their salvation from the wages of sin past, sin present, and sin future. The point is made strongly in Hebrews that Jesus is indeed all one needs. He is better than Moses, better than Melchizidek, better than the prophets, better than the sacrifices that had to be offered again and again. And the writer to the Hebrews makes this claim, that not accepting Jesus and trusting in His finished work on the cross ultimately is refusing to believe God, and even more than that, if one continues to bring sacrifices after having heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, they were crucifying him again and committing the unforgivable sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit by rejecting the truth about Jesus.

But in the midst of all of these strong warnings, the book of Hebrews is also full of hope for the Christian. That we can indeed have full assurance in our salvation. And so this morning we will spend some time looking further into this assurance. And the conclusion in our passage this morning is that because we can have this assurance, our lives should reflect it as we draw near, hold fast, and consider one other.

Hebrews 10:19–25 ESV

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 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. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 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.

The very first thing we see is a therefore, and as we say in studying the Bible, if we see a therefore, we need to see what it is therefore. In other words, there is a context to what is being written here. That context really is the entire book of Hebrews, and we must be careful, as we saw in last weeks passage, not to pluck phrases or verses completely out of their context so that we can make a point the scripture itself is not making. We must be careful to make sure that whatever we draw out is in agreement with the rest of scripture, and the first starting point for that is to see what else the author has been saying up to that point as well as what comes after.

It is like you see so often in politics. In any 30 minute political speech, you could pull one sentence out of context to say something entirely different than what the speaker meant. This happens all the time. You see the one line and it seems damning, but then if you have an opportunity to read the whole transcript or hear the whole speech for yourself, you find the meaning was different than what you were led to believe. It can be done with the words of a high profile person, and it certainly can and has been done throughout history with the Word of God, and lest we be guilty of speaking wrongly about the meaning of scripture, we must learn to look at context, not to have bumper sticker theology that rips phrases of scripture out of context to be used in a misleading way. I know I harp on this a bit, but it is so important.

So what is therefore? Well, he has been writing about the holy of holies, how Christ has made a way in for us, he has made the point that Christ’s sacrifice was once for all, and he has said that where there is forgiveness, there is no longer any offering for sin. That, and much more about Jesus being better than the old covenant, brings us to verse 19, where he says, therefore, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (remember the curtain torn in two, indicating that all now have access to the holy of holies through Jesus Christ), that is through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God….

Therefore, because Jesus did all of that, let us draw near, etc. And we will get to the drawing near shortly, but first, let’s look at what is said here. Verse 20 says Jesus is the curtain, that is, through his flesh. In other words, Jesus is our access to the Holy of Holies. And not only is he the curtain, he is also our priest, or advocate. Remember that before the cross, the high priest would enter the holy of holies, after a series of careful steps to make sure he was prepared, and he would do so once a year, and in fact, by this time, the ritual had evolved into this: the priest would only enter for a few moments, because otherwise the people would start to panic that the priest had been killed through some infraction of the protocols that he had to follow. But now, through Jesus, the curtain was torn, and Jesus himself, a priest whom we need not worry about surviving his service, because he was the sinless Son of God, becomes the curtain that we come through and also the priest who intercedes with God on our behalf.

Hebrews 10:11–14 ESV

And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

So now, knowing all of this, THEREFORE. Therefore, 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. Clearly this is the picture we have in baptism, as one of my daughters said when she was baptized, I want my sins washed away. When we put our faith in Christ, and repent of our sins, and are obedient to him, which includes our being baptized as a symbolic dying with him and being raised with him as well as a symbol of his cleansing us of our sins, we then can have a true heart in full assurance of faith.

Hebrews 9:13–14 ESV

For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

So how do we draw near? We seek after God and His ways by studying scripture, praying for him to reveal our true selves so that we can confess and continue being sanctified, and also, as we will see, we draw near by being an active part of the body of Christ and interacting with other believers.

Having this assurance of faith should produce in us a hope not only in our future, but a hope that produces fruit in our lives now, something to live for. A professor at NYU asked 3,000 people “what have you to live for?” 94% were simply enduring the present while they wait for the future. And while I don’t know the beliefs of those 3,000, I think that in the church this can be a tempting way to dodge our responsibilities now. It is easy to have the promises of heaven and eternity with Christ, and therefore simply muddle through today, defeated in the moment but hoping for a victory later on. It’s like the person who gambles out of every paycheck, dreaming of the big payout, but in the day to day, never taking actions with their finances that will bring them some peace of mind now.

And so these Christians love to read about heaven and the end times, but do very little today. They get excited if you start a conversation about what eternity is going to be like, but they can’t stand being in the real world now. This is not what scripture tells us. The writer to the Hebrews is clearly saying that if you have that hope for your future, there should be some excitement and joy in serving Him now, right here. Yet all too often Christians do not have the will to even go through a trial, and rather than going through any sanctifying trials, they want to just hold on until Jesus comes, and keep their heads down in the meantime.

They are like soldiers who stayed in the trenches while the others charged forward, and when the battle was won, though they suffered no injury because they kept themselves safe, they still want a part in the glory to come. But we are not to be that way, but to hold fast, and endure with joy and hopeful anticipation any and all trials that come our way, not because of what we are earning, but because of what we have already been given, and when and if we receive a crown of glory, it will only add to our joy.

We are to hold fast, which is a sailing term, and you will remember that last week in chapter 6:19-20, we learned that we have a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever. So in keeping with the nautical metaphors, he now continues in 10:23 “let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. Again, we aren’t given instructions to hold a blind faith, but our faith is based upon real evidences of God’s power, and our trust in Him then is not a simpleton’s faith, but a faith that has strength because we have this assurance, an assurance based upon experience, God’s Word, and God’s promises.

So we are to draw near, and we are to hold fast. And these cannot be done alone. Just as the peace offering was never done alone in the old Testament, the living out of one’s faith in Jesus is not to be done alone either.

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.

Now these two verses will be the topic for the remainder of the sermon, and they are very important indeed. Sometimes it can be awkward to tell people that they really need to be in church more often, that family involvement in Sunday school as well as the worship services and the fellowship meals, and the other church functions are vital to the Christian, that they are actually necessary. Sometimes people think if the pastor or someone else speaks of these things, it is because they want to have bigger crowds, and while that may be the case at times, the real reason any pastor or elder has a responsibility to make a case to each Christian that they should be involved deeply in the church, the real case should not be made out of any selfish motivations of the pastor or for the ego of having a good crowd, but rather the motivation ought to be that this is what scripture says, and for very good reason, it is very difficult to live out your faith to full potential on your own, if it is even possible to do so.

Do you have to go to church to be a Christian? No, but neither do you have to go home every night to be married, but you can sure tell a lot about a marriage when one spouse stays away as much as possible. I had someone say to me once, and I didn’t have a ready response, because the question came as a surprise, but this person said something to the effect that there’s nothing wrong with going out with the work buddies for a drink after work. And had I been quicker on my feet, I may have told this person, who was a husband and father, that there may not be a bible verse saying you can’t go out with the guys after work, I can’t imagine wanting to do that very often since I would rather go home to my wife and children.

No, you don’t have to go to church to be Christian, but you will never meet your full potential in Christ alone. On the other hand, simply being at church does not make you a Christian any more than falling asleep in the garden makes you a corn cob. There are always pretenders around. But for the truly saved person, the church is a vital part of this life of faith, and no one should try to live apart from the church.

So my reasons to encourage you to be a regular at the church, not only on Sundays, but for our other fellowship opportunities, are not based simply on my own desire that you be here, although I do want that, but instead, let me give you some biblical reasons why you should be an active part of the church.

Ontology

Doxology

Theology

Psychology

Ontology is an experience of the presence of Christ. You may experience him on your own, but the best way to experience Jesus is in the presence of other saints, and scripture tells us this is true, and Jesus is with us when we are alone also, but he specifically promised that when we are together he would join with us, and he ordained communion for us. It is impossible to take communion all by yourself, it is something that must be done as a community.

Doxology is another word for worship. When we worship corporately, we can experience a great joy that is just simply better than we would have just singing by ourselves in the shower or in the car.

Theology; The teaching and learning of biblical truths are done best when we are together. You learn better in a classroom with the interaction with others than if you simply read the book on your own.

And Psychology; we are commanded to live out our faith, including in how we love. Love cannot be developed alone.

So when he warns them not to neglect meeting together, it is a concept we see not just in one remote part of scripture, but throughout the bible, we see that faith is best lived out in community. It was true in the Old Testament, and it was true in the church as well, and that continues to be the pattern for us as well.

So we are to stir each other up with good works. This is encouragement. Not frustrated demands that others meet some criteria that we set for them, but true encouragement, spurring on or stirring others up to good works. I hope we all have stories of people who encouraged us. I remember a dear friend of my mom’s, Helga. She was this wonderful lady. Every time I saw her she was encouraging me. She would tell me how handsome I was, how smart I was, how charismatic I was. Now mind you, opinions may vary on this. But I will always remember how she always made me feel encouraged.

I was excited about one of my first jobs, at a buffet that used to be in my home town. The Royal Fork. Some people called it the King’s trough, or the Royal Gorge. Anyway, my friend Paul worked there and put in a good word for me and I was a busboy. Once evening, Helga and her husband, Jim, came in to eat. And while she was encouraging, Helga was also very direct. She saw me working there as a busboy and chastised me. Not to discourage me, but to encourage me.

She said I ought to be working somewhere where I would earn tips. I foolishly argued back that I was only 16, no one hired 16 year olds to work tables and make tips. But she insisted that I was quite capable and I should be setting my sights a bit higher than being a busboy. Because she had encouraged me so many times over the years, I knew she loved me and wanted the best for me, so I was not offended, but for the first time I realized that being a busboy was not as prestigious as I had once thought.

In every interaction we have with people, we can leave them feeling encouraged and hopeful, or beat up and chastised. It is important to understand the difference, and how we come across to others is not always how we thought we were getting across.

We are to stir each other to love and good works, not the opposite. Unfortunately, the experience that some people have had with the church is one of discouragement, harshness, and judgment. Instead of feeling stirred up for love and good works, many come into a church and feel stirred up, and not in a good way. I could segway into a lecture on gossip right here, since that is related and is a way to stir things up in a bad way, but that is another story for another time.

Big Idea: Because we can have confidence in the blood of Jesus, we can have full assurance of faith.

Assurance of faith is lived out when we:

Draw Near

Hold Fast

Consider one another

Let us look a little farther down in Hebrews 10. The writer continues to bring words of encouragement to the people:

Hebrews 10:32–33 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.

Believers have had sufferings, being publicly mistreated, seeing their brethren mistreated.

Hebrews 10:34 ESV

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.

Wow, could any of us joyfully accept the plundering of our property even if it were for our obedience to Christ? But we should consider that we should work to be joyful in those things, for the same reason: we have a better possession and an abiding one.

Hebrews 10:35–39 ESV

Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

So we who are believers have the assurance, and yet we must work on that assurance, we must work to not throw away our confidence. We need endurance now as much as the Hebrew believers did.

I heard RC Sproul talking about assurance, and he said something like this: There are 4 types of people: Those who are going to hell and know they are going to hell, those who think they are going to heaven but are not, those who are saved but at times waver in their faith to know with certainty, and those who are going to heaven and know they are.

The first group knows they are condemned and are completely unconcerned about that. They boldly sin, and declare that they are atheists, or joke about how much fun hell will be because all their friends will be there. The second group is one to be concerned about. They think they have earned heaven based upon some sliding scale. “well, I’m better than so and so”, or “I’ve never killed anyone”. They are in danger because they have a false assurance, not based upon faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross, but based upon their own heart’s knowledge, and this is dangerous because we know the heart is wicked and deceitful

Then there are are the two types of Christians, those who are saved and know it with great confidence, and those who are saved but sometimes worry that they have lost it. Not that that is always the worst thing, for this person will often be much more diligent in searching scripture for comfort, and they do not take their salvation for granted, but continually struggle to be sure that they really have salvation and believe.

And RC, when he was asked by someone how they can be sure, would ask three questions: The first question was “Do you love Jesus perfectly”. Of course, no one can answer this, since any sin is an indication of our mistrust or disbelief. So no, I don’t love Jesus perfectly. Then RC would ask “Do you love Jesus as much as you should?” And of course, they answer again is no, because I should love him perfectly, and I already answered that question.

The third question is the one that really matters: “Do you love Jesus at all?” And the answer to that question is really the answer to whether a person is saved. And it had better not be answered flippantly, the way someone says I love camping or I love going on vacation or whatever. But truly, do you love Jesus at all? And if someone loves Jesus at all, then they may be like Paul, who said I want to do good, but I often don’t. They may be like Peter, who boldly spoke for Christ until he felt intimidated and denied him, but Jesus knew Peter loved him and gave him opportunity for restoration. They may be like the two brothers, who really did love Jesus, but wanted to sit by his side in authority. They may be like Thomas, who loved Jesus but had doubts over whether Jesus was truly risen.

And on and on we see so many examples in the New Testament of those who did not love Jesus perfectly, nor did they love Him as they ought to, but did they love him at all? Yes, but how can that be an indication of assurance of salvation? Because we know that unless the Holy Spirit does a work in us to bring us to love Christ, that does desire to do good and serve Him well, we would not love him on our own. If the Holy Spirit has done that work, then we will know he loves us, and we in return will love him:

1 John 4:13–21 ESV

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

And so we know we can have confidence because of our experiences, by His Word, and by His promise, and Because we can have confidence in the blood of Jesus, we can have full assurance of faith.

Assurance of faith is lived out when we:

Draw Near

Hold Fast

Consider one another

Everyone who is a believer in Christ will have somewhat different experiences of testing their faith, possibly times of backsliding. Some may be anxious at times about the promises. Some might feel weak as they endure the trials. Some may find it tempting to want immediate satisfaction rather than completing the journey of faith. We all will experience Christ is different ways.

And yet, those who truly love him, and put faith in him and live for him, despite times of doubt, despite times of failing, despite times of arrogance or anything else, if they truly love Jesus, not perfectly, not even as much as they ought to, but if they love Him at all, then they can have the assurance that He will bring their salvation to its completion, an end that glorifies God and brings the redeemed safely to the celestial city.

The ones who have moments of weakness but repent and move forward, the ones who desperately need help for much of the journey just to keep going, those who we may see as weak, but continue on that journey because of love for Him who saves, they are much safer than the ones who are arrogant and confident in their own ability to make it happen.

The church is given to believers as a source of strength and encouragement. We must encourage each other and in the end, if you truly love Jesus, you can have full assurance:

Hebrews 10:19–25 ESV

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