This Changes Everything

This mornings Scripture Lesson is Hebrews 10:19-25.

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.

By the word “therefore” the author of Hebrews is signaling to his readers that he is concluding the great center section of his sermon that deals with Christ as our Great High Priest and is now turning to the application of this truth to our lives. The work of Christ as our Great High Priest is so momentous that it changes everything in our life with God and with each other. The areas of our lives that are changed are highlighted by the phrase, “Let us.”

Let us draw near. (vs. 22)

Let us hold fast. (vs. 23)

Let us consider. (vs. 24)

Each of these phrases is a commandment reflecting a new reality in our lives—we do because of what we are. Christ as our Great High Priest is the one who has done the work, we simply live out the new reality! What Christ has done Changes Everything! We have...

A New Confidence

A New Resolve

A New Purpose

The thing that has changed is we have...

A New Confidence

This truth is found in verses 19-22.

Hebrews 10:19–22 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.

The reason we can draw near is because we have a New Confidence “to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus.” Remember what the author of Hebrews taught us about the Tabernacle and the Day of Atonement?

Hebrews 9:6–7 ESV

These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people.

The only way a sinful high priest could enter into the Holy of Holies to represent a sinful people was by having his and their sins atoned for and cleanse by the blood of sacrifice. But as the author teaches us the very fact that the high priest had to go in year after year only served to remind him and the people that their sins were not really atoned for and washed away by the blood of animals. These animal sacrifices were pointing to the perfect sacrifice of Christ. The Old Testament saints were saved not by having faith in animal sacrifices, but in the coming sacrifice of Christ!

This is why now our confidence can be so great. According to verse 22, we draw near to God in the “full assurance of faith.” When we look to Christ we are not looking at the shadow, but the full reality!

To help you understand how bold our confidence can be let me use this illustration. If you wanted to see the President of the United States you couldn’t get past the front gate, but if you came by invitation of the President’s son, That Changes Everything! When you approach the front gate, he is there to met you and the two of you walk through. When you come to the front door of the White House the two of you walk on through! When you come to the Oval Office, you enter the outer office where his secretary is, the two of you walk in and past her desk to the door of the Oval Office itself. Rather than knocking at the door, his son opens the door and the two of you walk right in and approach his desk!

This is the type of boldness every believer now has in Christ Jesus! Under the Old Covenant it was so dangerous for the High Priest to enter the earthly Holy of Holies that they tied a rope around his waist in case God’s holiness struck him down dead! The high priests approached God, not in confidence, but in fear!

So how do we approach God now, we can’t physically walk into the heavenly Holy of Holies. We can however, enter spiritually through prayer and worship. Our closing hymn is “Heaven Came Down.” I love this hymn because it speaks of the change that occurs when we become a Christian.

Heaven came down and glory filled my soul,

When at the cross the Savior made me whole;

My sins were washed away.

And my nights were turned to day--

Heaven came down and glory filled my soul!

However, this hymn is technically not correct. Heaven will not come down until the end of the Age, what is really happening is our souls are being lifted up! Listen to what Paul writes in his letter to the Ephesians, “God…made us alive together with Christ...”

Ephesians 2:6 ESV

and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

When we are praying and worshiping our souls are entering the Heavenly Holy of Holies!

When the truth of this reality really sinks home it Changes Everything about how you pray and worship! Knowing that you are in heaven when you pray makes your prayers bold and powerful. Knowing that you are in heaven when you worship makes your worship reverent and joyful.

If that was not enough, there is more. The reality of what Christ has done as our Great High Priest gives us...

A New Resolve

This is found in verse 23:

Hebrews 10:23 ESV

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

The reason some in the church that the author was writing to were wavering in their faith was because of the trials and tribulations they were experiencing in the world. Jesus was clear that if you are going to follow Him you better count the cost, because in this world you will face trials and tribulation.

Things are no different today. Right now in our own state of Pennsylvania Senate Bill 613 is being debated. On the surface this bill looks innocent, it would amend the Pennsylvania Human Relation Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity as a protected class in anti-discrimination statutes. However, the liberal activists who are promoting this bill have been very open about what their goal is. One of the supporting donors of this bill and others like it in other states disclosed his strategy in a Rolling Stone interview.

“We’re going into the hardest states of the country. We’re going to punish the wicked.”

Even now his efforts are paying off at the local level in cities like Philadelphia and Bloomsburg. Just last month, the city of Philadelphia halted the placement of two Christian foster care agencies—Catholic Social Services and Bethany Christian Services—because of their religious beliefs about the nature of the family. In Bloomsburg, a Christian owned bridal shop closed its doors in March because of their biblical view of marriage. Activists attacked the store’s reputation by posting fake Yelp reviews and had made threats to burn the business down and shoot the owners in the head.

The cost of following Jesus is about to become much higher in Pennsylvania! What will give you the resolve to not wavier? Our text is clear, “he who promised is faithful.” When we look at the High Priestly ministry of Christ we see the faithfulness of God. Think about all the Old Covenant promises the author of Hebrews has been writing about and how each and everyone of them have been fulfilled in Christ! Right now it look like the Beast and the False Prophet are winning their war against the saints, but as the book of Revelation reminds us again and again, we overcome the Beast and the False Prophet in the same way Christ overcame—by being faithful even unto death.

So be bold, and be resolved. We are right and the world is wrong! We will win and the world will lose! We will be vindicated and the world will be judged! Because “he who promised is faithful.”

This bold resolve leads to...

A New Purpose

This is found in verses 24-25. I am going to read from the NKJV because it reflects more accurately what the Greek text really says.

Hebrews 10:24–25 NKJV

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

What we are to “consider” is “one another,” not how we are “to stir up one another.” The object of the main verb is unquestionably “one another.” “To stir up one another to love and good deeds” is the reason we are to “consider one another.”

So what does it mean to “consider one another”? If means that we give careful consideration, to be concerned about and seek to understand completely another person. If you truly do this it will naturally “stir up” love and good deeds in you towards others, but it will also “stir up love and good deeds” in the one you are “considering.”

It is not hard to find something wrong with any given church and the people in it. The normal way people try to change a church is complain about it, to leave or attempt to get someone else to leave, but the way to change a church is to “consider one another for the purpose of stirring up love and good deeds.” It only takes one person doing this to change the whole live of a congregation.

I want to challenge you, pick the one person you have the most problems with in the church and take the time to really know and understand them to the point that love and good deeds are stirred up in you towards them. This is something that you can’t do by your own power, so as we learned earlier boldly go before the throne of grace to get the help you need. Pray for this person that they too would have “love and good deeds” stirred up in them. Seek to encourage them as our text says.

It goes without saying that you can only do this if you are faithfully attending our worship and fellowship events. Some in this first century church had apparently made a habit of not attending worship and fellowship faithfully. You realized that anything of significance in our lives becomes a habit. If you value sports you will make it a habit to watch it. If you value good dental hygiene you will make it a habit of brushing and flossing. Oh you may claim to value these things, but if you don’t make them a habit you really don’t. They same is true of Christian worship and fellowship. Where you spend your time reveals what you really value.

Why is it such a priority to value Christian fellowship and worship? Because the Day of Christ return is approaching. On That Day only those things that Christ values will be shown of value. What does Christ value? He values His church! That is why He left heaven to become our Great High Priest! Once again what Christ has done Changes Everything! It gives us...

A New Confidence to draw near to God

A New Resolve to hold fast to our confession

A New Purpose to stir up one another to love and good deeds

Be the change by living the change!

Let us pray.