The ABC of Christian Living
Heb 10:22-25
Last in series
Next week – start Colossians
Discipleship – encouragement to walk with Christ – this message is such a message – one which I trust the Lord will use to encourage you to a greater faithfulness to Him and His church.
Hebrews was written to Jewish believers, those who at some stage made a profession of faith in Christ, but are waivering, some may have turned away from following Christ and others were certainly entertaining the thought.
In the 1st century when a Hebrew converted to Christianity, that person was ostracized – cast out, treated as dead by the family.
SO the temptation and the pressure to renounce Christ and return to the age old traditions of Judaism was immense – after all was this not the way God prescibed He should be worshipped.
SO the author warns his readers against apostasy to Judaism, against falling away from faith in Christ and encourages them to continue in Christ
He does that by showing Christ superior in everyway in comparison with Judaism
Christ brought superior revelation (1:1-3)
Christ is superior to the angels (1:4-2:18)– strikes at the belief that angels were the
messengers of old the revalation.
Christ is superior to Moses (3:1-19)- Moses was a servant of God but Christ is the Son
of God who holds a and superior Office
Christ is superior to Joshua (4:1-13) - offering a superior rest than the shadow of rest
they had in entering the promised land.
Christ is the Jordan to eternal rest through Him
you enter into God’s Sabbath rest
Christ’s priesthood is superior (4:14-7:28) – an eternal priest hood
Christ’s priestly service is superior (8:1-10:18) His sacrifice was superior, it was
perfect and therefore had to be brought only once. Because ot that sacrifice we have the forgiveness of our sins and the cleasing of our conscience, something which the repeated animal sacrifices could never do.
Now coming to our passage the author is laying out the implications of the truth of Christ.
SO Often - What we have in Christ – then application – same here
Heb 10:19-25 – let’s read – Reality in Christ is:
You in Christ can enter with confidence, freely or even boldly , the holy place
q Referring to the Holy of Holies, the place that represented God’s presence - were the ark of the covenant was kept and the High Priest were allowed in only once a year – on the day of atonement to make atonement for the sins of Israel.
q The holy place was indeed HOLY and from the time Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron who God killed for their irreverence (Lev10) it was not a place where the High Priest chose to linger, It was a terrifying occasion when mortal, sinful man approach the most Holy God – so they performed their duties, and they they made sure they got out of there.
q God is holy and man is not and without following God’s prescibed way of approaching Him to the letter, was to be in a place of grave danger.
q But now in Christ you & I can come freely, with confidence – not only once a year, not only through the mediation of a high priest, but every day, all day. In Christ you have access to the very presence of God – and we can linger in the presence of God.
q Access which was secured by the blood of Jesus, by His death, His sacrfice
q That opened up a new and living way – new – because it had never been available before Christ and living in the fact that Christ is alive, it’s not a dead way of rituals and ceemonies - but a living way through the life of Christ.
q The author is affirming what John said that Jesus is the way the truth and the life.
q Now the holy of holies was separated from the holy place in the tabenacle and temple by a thick veil – and the synoptic gospels (Mt 27:51; Mk15:38; Lk23:45) tells us that when Christ died this veil was torn from top to bottom. Not from bottom to the top , but top to bottom for God tore open the veil as Christ’s body was torn on the cross, opening the way into the very presence of God.
q If you are in Christ, then Christ Himself acts as your Priest, your great Priest. The role of the priest is to represent the people to God. You in Christ have the Son of God, the living One serving you, by representation, being your advocate 1 Jn 2 tells us and intercession on your behalf before the Father. Heb 7:25 – Christ lives to make intercession for them. Those who draw near to God through Christ.
q If you are in Christ, you are under His headship. You are under His Lordship.
q Being In Christ means you embrace Him as Saviour with all the benefits and joys associated with salvation, but it also means you bow to Him as Lord.
The Author of Hebrews reminded his readers of the reality they now have in Christ
SO do not return to the old way of Judaism but live in light of you have in Christ
Likewise we also are reminded of the realities of what we have in Christ, and we likewise are exhorted in this passage to live the new life, a life marked by the touch of grace, the Christian life.
What are the hallmarks of the Christian’s life
What are the elementary expressions of one who is in Christ
What are the ABC’s of Christian living
I have found three for you in vv 22-25
A - Authentic Faith; B - Bold Hope & C - Compassionate Love
The ABC’s of Christian life – is Faith, Hope and Love
The presence of these three virtues in your life is what marks you as fully understanding and applying the Gospel to your life.
Since we have access to God, a High Priest and Lord
Let us worship Him in
Heb10:22 22 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.
Since we have access to God – let us draw near to Him. Let us approach Him, Let us Worship Him.
Christ has paved the way, He made it possible for the sinner to come before the thrice holy God, without His wrath consuming us – His wrath was appeased by the life and death of Christ. SO we are to draw near, but draw near with authentic faith.
Authentic faith presents itself in a changed heart = heart here representing the whole of the person – authentic faith dwells in the regenerate person and authentic faith allows you to draw near
q With a true heart, a confident heart and a purified heart.
A true heart, is the product of a confident heart – “ draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith”
q We may not be tempted by the the rituals of Judaism but often we are tempted by works. We believe we are saved by Christ, but somehow we often want to complete our salvation by earning merits through our good works- We’ll see later good works are essential to the Christian life, but motivated by gratitude not merit we may earn.
q Draw near to God with a authentic heart, a confident heart and with a cleansed heart.
“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.”
We read that Enoch was a man who the Bible said did not die – he walked and then was no more for God took him. Heb 11:5 tells us that before He was taken he was commended as having pleased God. Is that not one of the best and sweetest description of a man – that he pleased God.
I know I want to be pleasing to the Lord, I am sure you too – then verse 6 of chapter 11 continues “without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
If you want to please God, if you want to draw near to Him then come in faith, authentic faith. That is the first virtue we see present in one who knows the realities he has in Christ
The 2nd virtue of 2nd building block of the Christian life is B – a Bold hope
Heb 10:23 23 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful”
As a Christian you have great hope, real hope or even a bold hope.
The Believer has hope in Christ. Hope in the ressurection, hope in eternal life, hope in the fact that the good work that God had begun in you He will bring to completion at the day of Christ (Phil 1:6)
Now the Christian hope that is referred to here is not as our culture use the word hope. Hope for those without Christ is more – wishful thinking.
The Christian Hope contains three elements
Strength and endurance to endure, sometimes under much pressure and difficulty- but to patiently endure present in hope circumstances in hope of the fulfilment of that which we know will come to pass. It is a patient hope.
Rom 10:9:10 “, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
Jesus demands it
Mt 10: 32 “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
Many throughout the centuries have been pressured, persecuted, tortured even matyred for their persistant confession of the hope they have in Christ.
V The Apostles were martyred for the confession of their hope
V Many died for the refusal to bow before Ceasar
V Even in modern times examples abound
We today, here in Perth do not face persecution for confessing Christ.
So what are the things which may imperil your confession
The Realitiy is that Christ can set you free, can bring you back in the right relationship with your Saviour – But until you express authentic faith in repentance your sin will silence your confession through guilt.
Hold fast to the confesson of our hope for “He who has promised is faithful”
Build you faith, be men and women of faith – the righteous shall walk by faith – faith comes from hearing and hearing the word of Christ Rom 10:17
Believe the One who has spoken – stand on His promises – go and read and see how often believers recounted the mighty acts of God on behalf of His people – why because these people were great – No because He is faithful and will never, ever, never-ever fail to fulfill His promises. He promise that if you come to Him He will by no means cast you away.
His word is Sure Therefore Our Hope is Sure
A Sure hope translate into a bold hope – boldly confessing Christ, through word and deed- in the work place, at Home and in the Church.
Hold fast the confession of our hope for He who promised is faithful
The ABC of Chritian living is Authentic Faith, Bold Confession and now Caring Love
Heb 10:24-25 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 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 author says that believers, because of the confidence they have to enter the holy place, to approach the Father through Christ should consider how to stir up others to love and good works
How do you do that?
He gives us the answer - a twofold answer-
If you want to obey this command to stir up others, to stimulate and incite others to greater love – love for the Lord and love for others, love expressed in good works, benevolent actions which promote faith – then show you care – caring love is to be nvoved– be there, be present. Be in the game. You can shout and scream and rant and rave all you like from the sideline, You want to make a difference, get your spiritual kit on and get in the game. - Be part of the team.
It amazes me, in fact closer to the truth- it grieves me when Christians do not want to be in church, who do not want to be with other believers, or does not make it a priority. Where is their caring love
Many find all kinds of excuses - tiredness, busyness of life, offended or hurt by someone. What are you really saying – Lord I know you suffered for me by I am too tired to come to church to minister to your people. I don’t care for my need for rest is greater than the need of your people
Lord I know you died for me, but my life is a bit busy to serve your people right now? I am involved in so many things, so many programs, work is so demanding.
I am not insensitive to the demands of modernday life but remember – He is your life, don’t relegate Him to the fringes of your life.
He said: “I could not be happy without fellowship with the people of God, I wanted to be wherever they were, and if anybody ridiculed them, I wished to be ridiculed with them, and if people had an ugly name for them, I wanted to be called that ugly name, for I felt that unless I suffered with Christ in His humiliation, I could not expect to reign with Him in glory.
Really, but you cannot drag yourself out of bed to be at church. You cannot tolerate being tired in order to maintain regular fellowship with His people. Two meetings a week is too much for me to suffer.
You claim to be willing to go the extra mile for Christ, give your life for Him.
Where you lead Lord I will follow –
Well let me tell you, He is waiting for you just to get involved in the lives of His people at your local church. Follow me there first, before we dream of conquering the world.
Consider how to stir up one another to love and good deeds by first of all being involved.
But do not neglect to meet together – don’t let it become a habit.
Modern day conveniences, mobile phones, video phones, Skype, you name it, will never be able to replace personal face to face interaction - as a brother or a sister sitting next to you, crying with you, laughing with you, placing their hand on your shoulder and pray with you. Looking you in the eyes and seeing your desparation and saying, I see your pain, I sense your need, I’ll tell you what, let me help you.
That is how you encourage one another – By loving others and by doing good works that benefits them, by being an example, by being an encourager, an exhorter a rebuker when needed.
The Day of Christ return is immanent, it is fast approaching.
Will He find you faithful and active in the stewardship He entrusted to you.
The stewardship of your salvation.
In the parable of the persistent widow when Christ taught about persistence in prayer. He asked the question: When the son of man comes will He find faith on earth? Prayer is an act of faith. Obedience to His word is an act of faith.
You have heard this morning what the word of God asks of you, What your Saviour desires of you.
You who are in Christ. You to whom the realities of access to God applies, who have Christ as their High Priest and their awesome Lord
He is urging your today, do not succumb to the influences of the world or the desires of your fesh but be - authentic in your faith, be bold in your confession and be compassionate in your love. Be involved
The ABC of the Christian life is faith, hope and love and the greatest of these is love-
Amen.