Persevere Hebrews 10:19-39
The entire letter of Hebrews is written to the Jewish people shortly after Jesus’ death. It’s believed it’s written by one of Paul’s apprentices as it has many of the same themes as his authenticated letters but it uses different wording and structure than his other letters. And in the letter chapter 10 is one of its highlights. Last week we looked at the first half of this chapter. Today we are looking at the second half of Hebrews chapter 10.
Verse 198, “Therefore…since we have confidence to enter the Most High Place by the blood of Jesus…” Under the old system only the High Priest could come face to face with God in the inner sanctum of the Temple, and only after he purified himself with sacrificial blood. I’ve read that the others would tie bells on his robes and a rope around his ankle. If he didn’t consecrate himself properly, he could be struck dead at which time the bells would become silent notifying the others to pull his body out by the rope.
Mark 15:27-28, “With aloud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the Temple was torn in two from the top to bottom.” The curtain kept imperfect man from entering the presence of God and as we saw only a blood sacrifice would allow the High Priest to enter.
Hebrews 7:17, “For it is declared: ‘You are a priest forever…’” Jesus is our High Priest. By the shedding of his holy blood, God tore the curtain between himself and us; we know it was God because the curtain was torn from top to bottom. The barrier was removed from heaven to earth. All the sacrifices we could offer never removed sin from our hearts therefore there was always a barrier between God and us. Only God could remove it.
Verse 20, “by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain by his body,” Verse 22, “let us draw near to God with the full assurance that faith brings…” Through our faith in Jesus each of us can now come to God, we can talk to God with confidence and assurance that we will be accepted. Why is this so? Verse 22, “having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us…having our bodies washed with pure water.” The animal blood washed away sins for a limited time, Jesus’ sacrifice washes away our sins forever because it is done with pure blood. Once you accept this sacrifice as your own nothing can cause God to see you as anything less than Jesus’ perfection. Jesus alone is the one who brings us into God’s presence.
Verse 23, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess…” We learned before that Christian hope is the belief and trust in what has already happened, the cross. The author is telling us we can hold fast to the faith we claim, hold fast to what Jesus accomplished at the cross, hold fast to the promise of forgiveness by God. We can do all this because verse 23 tells us, “for he who promised is faithful.”
Numbers 23:19, “God is not a man, that he should lie,” 1 Samuel 15:29, “Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change his mind…” God cannot lie, what he tells us is permanent therefore we can hold fast to the truth of faith no matter what happens in our lives.
Verse 24 & 25, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together…but encouraging one another…”
We are told to be active with our Christian community. We are saved but our lives can still face hurdles. Satan can whisper to us and make us jealous or envious thus causing us hurt. We can be faced with the illnesses and obstacles of a fallen world. Alone we can be discouraged, together we can remind each other of the promises of the cross. Together we can help each other around, over, or through what life throws at us. When our son died it was the strength and prayer of our church that helped us through the trauma.
Back to verse 24, “…spur one another on toward love and good deeds…” We are told to help each other move toward love. This is another of the scriptures that the Holy Spirit directed me to when I was starting my ministry. Jesus tells us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Here we are told to help each other to do just that. This is why I say so often that we should not hate or hold ourselves apart from those who come from a different country or culture, or those who are LGBT, or even those who believe in different faiths. To do so goes against the very God and faith we profess to believe in.
Verse s 26-27, “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, only a fearful expectation of judgment…”
This one takes some thought. We all sin even after becoming Christian, does this verse mean we can still go to hell? No, not at all.
“After we have received the knowledge of the truth…” This is talking about the one who is told of sin, told of God’s punishment, told of Jesus and the cross, told of the forgiveness of sins through faith and understands the truth of it.
“Deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth…” If one is told the truth of the cross and makes the decision to push Jesus aside anyway, they can expect judgment from God. For those of us who have accepted Jesus our sins are forgiven and can never again be used against us. So contrary to what some say, this verse is not written to the believer but is written as a warning to those who continue to refuse Christ.
And I believe it is well for us to remember when dealing with family or friends or even strangers, we all have up to the moment of our physical death to accept Christ. I heard a story about a minister who came upon a car accident. A young man was thrown from the car he was in and it was apparent he was not going to survive. The minister ran up to the man and asked him if he knew Jesus, did he want to accept Christ? All the young man could do was grunt. The man died shortly after but the minister says he felt a calming presence around him and a deep knowledge that this young man became a Christian in that moment and entered heaven. The minister says that a feeling that strong about it could only come from the Holy Spirit and he looks forward to hugging that young man in heaven.
Verse 32, “Remember those early days after you received the light, when you endured a great conflict full of suffering.” I’ve said this before, it is hard for us to understand or fully appreciate what people give up for Jesus simply because we live in the United States. We are free to openly worship Jesus. In many parts of the world people are beaten, they lose their family, friends, jobs, and homes, sometimes they lose their lives, all because they see Jesus and the rewards of heaven worth it all. The author reminds us of all this here but he goes on; verse 35, “So do not throw away your confidence, it will be richly rewarded.” Whatever we lose, whatever we suffer for Christ, our reward is waiting for us. Heaven, eternal life healthy and whole, eternity in the presence of God, eternity in the presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus, and eternity in the company of all the saints; this is our reward. Be encouraged by your faith despite the hardships of this life.
I said in the beginning Hebrews 10 is a great chapter, so much is packed in it that can help others see the truth of Christ, so much is packed in it that can help each believer persevere in their faith.
Last week as we looked at the first half of the chapter. We saw how the animal sacrifice system was given by God and as such it was perfect. It was meant to remind men of their sins and to turn them to repentance. A perfect system by God made imperfect by imperfect men as they turned it from a reminder of sin into a “get out of jail free” card.
Jesus came to earth to be our perfect sacrifice. We saw how imperfect man could never stand before the perfect and holy God; Jesus came to earth perfect to stand before God in our place.
And perhaps most importantly we saw last week that Jesus came to earth to offer a way for our forgiveness, that through our faith and trust in him and the cross God doesn’t just forgive our sins, he doesn’t even remember them. And as a perfect God, when he says he doesn’t remember our sins they never enter his mind again, not even for a millisecond. Jesus came to earth so that through him we are free of our sin forever.
Today we looked at the second half of Hebrews 10. We see how through the cross Jesus did what we could not do ourselves, he made a perfect sacrifice to God for sins. Jesus alone opens the way for us to enter the presence of God, confident and assured of our acceptance.
We see that God never lies, that we can hold fast to the truth and be secure in God’s promises.
We see that we should be active participants in our faith community. Through this we can be upheld when our fallen world sends its barbs and trials toward us. And through our Christian commune we can and must help lead each other to the love Jesus beseeches us to extend to the world. Hate and prejudice, injustice and dismissal, separation and refusal all go against the faith we claim as our own through Jesus’ sacrifice.
We see that to know the truth and dismiss it leads to only one result, judgment and eternal torment.
And last, I want you all to be encouraged. Jesus came to earth for you. Jesus went to the cross for you. God’s promises are yours forever for he loves you more than can be expressed, and that love is the reason for Jesus and the cross. Whatever happens, whatever loss we face, Whatever troubles come our way; God and his love are always within you.
Amen.