Hebrews 10:11-25

Last Week We Dealt with Hebrews 10:1-10

There the Author Spoke of How Jesus Took Away the Old System of Atonement and Established a New One

The Old System Relied on Animals Sacrifices

But the New System Relies on Jesus’ Sacrifice

Through Jesus’ Sacrifice We Have Been Sanctified/Made Holy/Set Apart for the Purposes of God

Hebrews 10:11–18 (NLT)

Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet. For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.

And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so. For he says, “This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Then he says, “I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.” And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices.

Hebrews 10:11–14 (NASB95)

Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.

Our Author is Bringing a Dramatic End to the Main Point of His Sermon

The High Priest of the Old System Stands Daily, Repeatedly Performing the Service of Atonement for the People

But His Ministry and Sacrifices Could Never Take Away Sins

Those Who Stand are the Servants

Jesus On the Other Hand Sits at the Right Hand of God

Sitting Represents 2 Things Here:

1.) His Ministry of Atonement is Complete

It Only Took His One Sacrifice to Take Away Sins Forever

2.) His Equality of Authority with God

Jesus is Not a Servant, But a Priest King

In Talking About Jesus Sitting at the Right Hand of God…

Our Author Quotes Again From Psalm 110

(One of His Most Used Passages to Make His Points About Jesus Being High Priest)

Jesus is Sitting and Waiting for the End of the Age When He Will Conquer All of His Enemies

I Like the Way the NLT Puts Verse 14:

Hebrews 10:14 (NLT)

For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.

It Does a Better Job at Focusing On the Tenses of the Verbs

By Jesus’ One Offering He “Forever Made Perfect”

“Perfect” is in the “Perfect Tense”

Meaning it was Something Done in the Past that Has a Lasting Result in the Present

Because Jesus Offered Himself as a Sacrificial Offering for Our Sins in the Past…

We Experience the Result of that Sin Offering in the Present

We are Now Experiencing the Desired End

We are Justified/Made Righteous and are Given Access to God

Perfection/Justification is Available for Those Who are “Being Made Holy”

“Being Made Holy” is in the “Present Tense”

Something that is Still in the Process of Happening

Jesus Has Already Justified Those Who are Actively Being Sanctified/Made Holy By the Spirit

1 Corinthians 6:11 (NASB95)

Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

2 Thessalonians 2:13 (NASB95)

But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.

We are Justified/Made Righteous/Declared Innocent…

When We Place Our Faith in Jesus

But Sanctification/Growing in Holiness is a Life-Long Process

It is Made Possible By the Holy Spirit Who Lives in Us

And as Long as We are Growing in Holiness Through the Spirit…

We Remain Justified/Righteous/Innocent

What Does it Mean to Live a Holy Life?

To Follow the Spirit’s Guidance in Doing the Will of God

To Do What is Right and Abstain From What is Wrong

To Be Like Jesus and Not Like the World

Those Who Actively are Being Sanctified/Growing in Holiness are Those Who Remain Justified

Hebrews 10:15–18 (NASB95)

And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, “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, “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.

This Quote of Jeremiah 31 Forms an Inclusio (Literary Bookends for a Topic)

The Author Quoted From Jeremiah 31 in Chapter 8

He Did This to Introduce the Topic of the New Covenant…

And How Sins Will Be Completely Forgotten Through the High Priestly Sacrifice of Jesus

Now He Quotes Jeremiah Again to Bring an End to the Topic

Just as Jeremiah Prophesied:

Because of Jesus, Sins are Forever Forgiven

There’s No More Need to Worry About Them Ever Separating Us From God Again

That Ends the Theological Portion of the Book of Hebrews

We’ve Focused On How Jesus is Superior in So Many Wonderful Ways

Especially as it Pertains to His Superior New Covenant…

In Which He is the Superior Royal High Priest After the Order of Melchizedek…

Where His Superior Sacrificial Work Fully Atones for Our Sins…

So that We Can Have a Clear Conscience, Knowing Our Sins are Forgiven and Forgotten

Now it’s Time to Enter the “So What” Section of the Book

Now that I Know All of this Information About My High Priest, Jesus…

And What He Has Done, is Doing, and Will Do for My Salvation…

What Am I Supposed to Do About it?

Hebrews 10:19–25 (NLT)

And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Hebrews 10:19–21 (NASB95)

Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God,

The Author Begins By Recapping the Blessings We Have Because of Jesus Priestly/Sacrificial Service for Us

We Can Confidently Enter the Holy Place By the Blood of Jesus

There was Only Fear of the Presence of God Under the Old System

But Through Jesus’ Perfect Atoning Sacrifice, We Can Have Confidence in God’s Presence

His Sacrifice Inaugurated a New and Living Way Through the Veil of His Flesh

This Way to the Presence of God is “New”

Until Jesus’ High Priestly Ministry for Humanity…

There was No Way to God’s Presence

But Now There’s a “Fresh” and “Recent” Way into God’s Presence

This Way to the Presence of God is “Living/Alive”

What Does it Mean that the Way is “Living/Alive”

It is the Way that Leads to Life?

The One Who Inaugurated the Way is Alive?

The Way is Alive and Active for Us at All Times?

All the Above?

The Way was Inaugurated/Opened/Begun Through the Veil of Jesus’ Flesh

The Veil that Separates Humanity From God was Opened By Jesus’ Obedient Life and Sacrificial Death

Or, Here’s Another Way of Putting it:

Old Covenant People Enter Through the Veil into God’s Presence

New Covenant People Enter Through the Obedient Life and Sacrificial Death of Jesus

We Have a Great Priest Over the House of God

We Not Only Have Confidence to Enter the Most Holy Place By the New and Living Way of Jesus’ Sacrificial Death…

But Jesus Remains the Great/High Priest Over All of God’s People

Since We Have this Great Confidence and this Great Priest:

Hebrews 10:22 (NASB95)

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.

“Let Us Draw Near”

This is One Word in Greek, and it is One of the Hebrew Author’s Favorite Words

He Uses it 7 Times Throughout the Book

Every Single Time with Reference to Drawing Near to/Approaching God

Since We Have Confidence to Enter the Presence of God Because of Our High Priest…

Let’s Draw Near to/Approach Him

These Hebrew Christians Were Tempted to Shrink Back From and Forsake God

That is the Reason the Author Uses this Word So Often

Because of Jesus, We are Able to and Should Draw Near to God

But We Must Do it in the Right Way

Hebrews 10:22 (NASB95)

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.

In Order to Draw Near to God, it Must Be Done with a Sincere/True/Genuine Heart

A Heart that is Drawing Near to God with the Proper Motives

Hebrews 10:22 (NASB95)

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.

In Order to Draw Near to God, it Must Be Done with the Complete Certainty of Faith

No One can Approach God Without a Good Heart and the Confidence that Only Faith Provides

The Very Next Chapter Goes into Deep Detail on the Faith that the Author is Talking About

Faith is a Confident Trust

You Can’t Draw Near to God if You Don’t Have Confident Trust in Him

Hebrews 10:22 (NASB95)

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.

In Order to Draw Near to God, We Must Have Our Consciences Sprinkled and Bodies Washed

Every Time the Hebrew Author has Used the Word “Sprinkle”…

He’s Been Talking About the Sprinkling of Blood to Purify Things

And “Washing with Pure Water” Likely Refers to How the Priests Were to Wash Themselves Before Performing Their Duties

But, Both “Sprinkled” and “Washed” are in the Perfect Tense

They are Things that Happened in the Past But Which Have Results Lasting into the Present

At Some Point in the Past, the Hebrew Audience Had Their Hearts Sprinkled From an Evil Conscience…

And Their Bodies Were Washed with Pure Water

And They Remain Clean to this Day

I Believe the Author is Referring to When His Audience was Baptized By Faith into Jesus

Through Baptism Their Bodies Were Washed and Their Hearts Were Sprinkled Clean By Jesus’ Sacrificial Blood

One Can Only Draw Near to God if They Have Been Baptized into Christ…

Receiving the Gracious Gift of Jesus Christ as Their Sacrificial Offering

Hebrews 10:23 (NASB95)

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

He Tells His Audience to Hold on Tight

To What?

The Confession of Our Hope

Confession = an Expression or Statement of Allegiance

Our Hope is Founded Entirely Upon Our King and Priest, Jesus

The Author Encourages Us to Hold on Tight, Without Wavering, to Our Allegiance to Jesus, Our Hope

Why Should We Hold on to Our Hope in Christ?

Because He Who Promised is Faithful

This is One of the Most Common Descriptions of God in the Bible

He is Faithful/Trustworthy/a Promise-Keeper

Psalm 110 Showed Us that God Swore that Jesus Would Be a High Priest Forever

God Does Not Break His Promises

Everything that the Author has Told Us About Jesus’ Priestly Ministry Were Promises From God

And They are Promises He is Going to Keep

So We Have No Reason to Forsake Our Hope in Jesus

Hebrews 10:24–25 (NASB95)

and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 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.

The Author Now Calls Us to Consider/Contemplate Something

How to Stimulate One Another

“Stimulate” is Only Found in One Other Place in the NT

It’s the Same Word for the “Sharp Disagreement” Between Paul and Barnabas in Acts 15

It Means to Stir Up or Provoke

Here it’s Used in a Positive Sense

We’re to Contemplate on How We Can Provoke Each Other to Love and Serve Each Other

Some Were Beginning to Forsake the Christian Gatherings

This is Not Talking About Missing the Sunday Gathering Every Now and Then…

Due to Circumstances of Life

This is Talking About the Person Who is Making it Their Custom…

To Abandon the Assembling of the Church

I Think We All Understand There’s a Big Difference in…

Missing Something and Forsaking/Abandoning Something

This Passage has Been Miss-Used as Much, if Not More, Than Any Other

Many Use this Passage to Teach a Checklist Christianity

As Long as I Assemble, I’m Faithful

In Fact, We Judge Faithfulness Based Solely Upon a Person’s Attendance

Not the Fruit of the Spirit in Their Lives or Their Christ-Likeness

I’ve Known Lots of People Who Assemble Every Week, But Don’t Have an Ounce of Jesus in Them

This Passage has Been Used By Those of a Christian-Checklist Mentality…

To Bully Others Whom They Deem Less Pious Than Themselves

I’ve Even Recently Miss-Used this Passage

I’ve Taught that this Passage Teaches How We Need to Assemble with Our Siblings in Christ…

Because We are in Need of Encouragement to Stay Faithful

I Believe that is True, But it’s Not What this Passage is Directly Teaching

This Passage Doesn’t Teach a Checklist Christianity

It Doesn’t Teach Assembling Together for the Purpose of Being Encouraged

It Teaches Assembling Together for the Purpose of Encouraging Others

It’s Not About What the Assembly Offers to You

It’s About What You Offer to the Assembly

You Shouldn’t Forsake the Assembly:

Not Because You Will Eventually Succumb to the Pressures of the World

But You Absolutely Will!

You Shouldn’t Forsake the Assembly:

Because You Have a Responsibility to Your Siblings in Christ

It is Your Job to Encourage Them to Draw Near to God, Hold On Tight to Their Hope, and Love/Serve Each Other

When the Church Assembly is Done Right, You Will Leave With:

A New Resolve to Be Closer to God

A Firm Grip On Your Allegiance to Jesus and Confidence in Your Hope

An Excitement to Love and Serve Your Neighbor

The Knowledge that You Helped Others Toward These Goals as Well

Are We Doing the Assembly Right?

Ask that as an Individual Question of Yourself

Am I Encouraging My Siblings to Draw Near to God?

Am I Encouraging My Siblings to Hold Tight to Their Hope?

Am I Encouraging My Siblings to Love and Serve Each Other?

Ask that as a Collective Question of the Entire Church

Does Assembling Here Encourage You to Draw Near to God?

Does Assembling Here Encourage You to Hold Tight to Your Hope?

Does Assembling Here Encourage You to Love and Serve Others?

Invitation

Hebrews 10:22–25 (NASB95)

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. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 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.

One Commentator Put the “Let Us” Passages Like This:

Let Us Look Upward By Drawing Near to God

Let Us Look Inward By Holding Tightly to Our Confession of Hope

Let Us Look Outward By Encouraging One Another