Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction: Last week we considered the new and effective sacrifice.

You know what is true about everyone who hears the good news of the new and effective sacrifice?

He will either believe it and go on to a mature faith or he will reject it and become apostate.

Thankfully, today we will be considering the person who believes and goes on to a mature faith.

What happens to someone who has a positive response to the gospel?

They get saved!

From what?

Their sin! Now being free from sin, all believers are invited to draw near to God, and this passage invites us to draw near to God in three ways.

Draw Near in Faith

The first way that we draw near to God is in the full assurance of faith in the blood of Jesus.

Because of Jesus, we have full confidence that we can enter into the very presence of God.

If a person tries to go into God’s presence based on his own character, his own works, or his own religion do you think that he will have access to God?

Why not?

Aren’t all of these thing good?

Anything that is done without faith in Jesus does not count for Him!

However, the blood of Jesus counts for everything, and the person who places their trust in Jesus can have access to God because Jesus’ works count.

Why do Jesus’ works count when ours do not?

Because He perfectly obeyed in all areas of life and was found without sin, and because we are in Him, we can have complete access to God’s grace.

Illustration of reconciliation: The prodigal sons ()

Did the lost son deserve grace?

No, but because the son placed His trust in the mercy of the Father he found grace because of the Father’s love for him.

We find grace, not because we deserve it, but because Christ has given us access to it by His blood.

We do not earn access by works, but rather we place our trust in Jesus and have access because of grace.

The concept of having access to God is uniquely Christian.

After Adam’s sin God placed an angel with a flaming sword to guard access to the garden, and in the Old Covenant men were forbidden from entering into the Holy of Holies, but now the blood of Jesus has put out the fiery sword and torn the veil in the temple.

By faith in Jesus, you not only have permission to come but to come boldly into the presence of God.

Jesus’ way into God’s presence is also the new and living way.

By entering into fellowship with God through faith in Jesus, we are brought to a relationship with God that brings life.

The old way could not do that.

The old way couldn’t even bring us into the symbolic presence of God, but the new way can bring us into the real presence of God.

But Jesus does not just open the way to God but He lives and serves as High Priest in the presence of God.

Hold Fast in Hope

The second way that we are invited to draw near to God is to hold fast in hope.

A person who genuinely has faith cannot help but be hopeful.

What are some things that, as Christians, we are hopeful for?

Not only is a Christian hopeful but he has the kind of hope that enables him to hold fast.

What is it about Christians that causes the Bible to repeatedly describe them as being patient or having endurance of making until the end?

It is our hope.

Someone who has hope can hold on.

Now does holding on make us saved?

No, but it evidences salvation.

Example: Parable of the soils

John 12:

A true believer may go through periods of doubting or struggling (doubting Thomas), but in the end he will hold fast in hope.

Why will a Christian always be hopeful?

Because God is faithful.

Example: Being left at church/school

We will go through uncomfortable things in this life, but a believer never loses hope because he knows that God is faithful.

Stir Up Love and Good Works

The third way that we are invited to draw near to God is to stir up love and good works in other believers.

Now, where is it that you go where there are mostly believers that you could stir up?

One of the best ways that a believer can hold fast in hope is to be in a fellowship of believers where they can both love and be loved.

The church is the body of Christ and there is no better place to be continually stirred up to good works than in the body of Christ.

We must not forsake the church because the day is approaching.

I believe that the writer of Hebrews is referring to the day of the coming of the Lord.

Until the Lord comes, the only way we can hold on in hope is if we are in fellowship with one another.

We need each other.

We need to strengthen each other up in love and good works.

We cannot make it alone!

Conclusion: So, here in the writer of Hebrews is inviting us to draw near to God in faith, in hope, and in love.

Because of Christ, the way into the presence of God is open and so you are invited in to fellowship with Him and His people.

So, come and enjoy God forever.