Motives For Faithfulness
Hebrews Series
Heb. 10.1-25
June 8, 2014 Chester FBC, Chester, IL Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker
Introduction:
A There is a plaque that is devastating the modern church, unfaithfulness.
1 Over 40% of members in an average congregation never attend services.
a Among the faithful, they’ll miss 10 Sundays a year (over 3 months of missing church/a quarter of the year!)
aa When they’re gone they don’t make up their giving, tithe.
bb As if the weeks they miss, all ministry that the church takes that week off too.
b Another symptom is that we have “gypsy” Christians.
aa Make journeys from church to church, conference to conference and never settle into faithful service.
bb We are called not to be gypsies, but to be pilgrims, journeying together with the people of God.
2 Why should believers remain faithful?
a Hebrews 10 gives us four driving motivations for faithfulness.
aa There is a clear challenge to faithfulness for believers.
bb Jesus entered into a blood covenant with His people & that covenant comes with certain responsibilities.
b Those responsibilities can be summed up in one word, “FAITHFULNESS.”
B Prayer
I Our Great Salvation (vv.1-8)
Hebrews 10:1-10 (NASB) 1 For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? 3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, "SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME; 6 IN WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE TAKEN NO PLEASURE. 7 "THEN I SAID, 'BEHOLD, I HAVE COME (IN THE SCROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME) TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.'" 8 After saying above, "SACRIFICES AND OFFERINGS AND WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, NOR HAVE YOU TAKEN PLEASURE in them" (which are offered according to the Law), 9 then He said, "BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL." He takes away the first in order to establish the second. 10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
A We are saved from the guilt/condemnation of sin . . . heaven is our home . . . adopted as children into God’s family . . . friends of God . . . what greater reason do we have to be faithful to God than the simple fact that we have been saved.
1 The sacrificial system of the Old Covenant was incomplete.
a v.1, refers to this system as a shadow (lit. means contour/outline)
b The religion of the OT offered only a faint shadow of the reality of Christ’s coming sacrifice that would occur at Calvary.
2 The sacrifices of the OT were insufficient because they had to be offered every year . . . they never completed the work of atonement.
a Because they repeated the sacrifices, the worshipers were constantly reminded of their sins. (vv. 2-4)
b The sacrifices in the OT was an extension of the payment that breaking the Law required.
aa IL. You had a banker friend who made you pay an annual loan & at the end of the year you discovered you couldn’t pay it so your friend extends it another year.
bb Year after year, the loan & interest pile up as the note is renewed. This is exactly what was portrayed by the sacrificial system of the OT.
cc Each year the “sin note” was delayed another year looking toward Calvary.
B Paul reveals that the Levitical sacrificial system was inadequate by citing Ps. 40.6-8,
Psalm 40:6-8 (NASB) 6 Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; My ears You have opened; Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required. 7 Then I said, "Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. 8 I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart."
1 This Psalm gives us a glimpse of the eternal counsel where the plan of salvation was designed.
a Jesus agreed to take a human form in obedience to the Father offered the final sacrifice for our sins.
b The sacrifices offered by the priests at the Temple (& Tabernacle before it) could never take away sins (v.11).
Hebrews 10:11 (NASB) 11 Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins;
aa Religious works never have (& never will) remove sin.
bb By offering His blood, Jesus paid the debt and made possible a perfect/complete salvation (v.14).
Hebrews 10:14 (NASB) 14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.
2 In Christ we are perfectly sanctified (v.14).
a That means we are forever cleansed & what Jesus accomplished at the cross today.
b (v. 15-18), Our sins, which have been forgiven by God through Jesus, will never be remembered or brought up again.
Hebrews 10:15-18 (NASB) 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, 16 "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, 17 "AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE." 18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.
c Jer. 31 is quoted again as proof of this full & free pardon. . . this great salvation calls us to faithfulness!!
Jeremiah 31:33-34 (NASB) 33 "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.34 "They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
T.S.: Our great salvation calls us to faithfulness, but that is not the only motivator.
II Our Great Invitation (vv. 10-24)
Hebrews 10:10-24 (NASB) 10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; 12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, 13 waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. 14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, 16 "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, 17 "AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE." 18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. 19 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 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. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,
A In the OT, God seemed unapproachable/inaccessible to the average Israelite.
1 Once a year the High Priest (whom had a very precise pedigree) were allowed to enter the Holy of Holies annually on Yom Kippur.
a We have been invited into the Holy of Holies, granted access to the presence of God through the blood of Jesus!
b He invites His adopted sons/daughters to come sit on His lap on the Mercy Seat.
2 We are called to “draw near with a true heart” (v.22).
Hebrews 10:22 (NASB) 22 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.
a True heart? This phrase speaks to sincerity in worship.
b We are to come to Him in full assurance with a clean heart!
aa That looks like gladness, freedom, enthusiasm, bold appropriation of all the privileges of adoption.
bb Does our worship always look that? Mine doesn’t.
B Our Great High Priest has invited us to worship Him.
1 We have a continual audience if we desire too.
2 We can go in before Him and abide in His glorious presence.
3 Just knowing we are recipients of such a great invitation motivates us to be faithful.
T.S.; We have great salvation, great invitation that motivates us to remain faithful . . . but there’s more.
III Our Great Obligation (vv. 23-25)
Hebrews 10:23-25 (NASB) 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 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.
A The idea to “hold fast” is to have a firm hold on their faith in Jesus Messiah.
1 We are not to waiver in our commitment to live for Jesus.
a Regardless of what may come our way, we hold on to Jesus.
b Standing firm on the confession of hope in Him.
2 “Without wavering” is a reference to the Hebrews after they left Egypt.
a The first thing they wanted to do after they left the bondage of Pharaoh was to return to their former master.
b In Hebrews, they had left behind the sacrifices to move forward in Christ.
aa Once we come to Christ, there must be a concentrated effort on our part to stay in Him.
bb How often have you seen a new Christian go right back into their old life?
B The second obligation is to the church, the body of Christ.
1 v. 24 describes the purpose of church gatherings.
a Earlier the author described believers as “brothers” in the same family (3.14), and “members” of the same household (3.6; 10.21).
Hebrews 3:14 (NASB) 14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end,
Hebrews 3:6 (NASB) 6 but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.
Hebrews 10:21 (NASB) 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
b The Bible does not advocate a hermit-like lifestyle for the Christian; rather, we are to challenge, edify and encourage one another toward love & good works.
2 How do we best fulfill our “share” of the obligations of being brothers/members in the family of God?
a Faithful and active church attendance.
b Your attendance is needed not just to feed your spirit, but also to feed others!
c You bring something to the table that nobody else can . . . when your missing there is a piece of the picture missing.
T.S.: We have a great salvation, great invitation, great obligation, and finally.
IV Our Great Expectation (v. 25)
Hebrews 10:25 (NASB) 25 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.
A V. 25, ends with the phrase “and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
1 The closer we get to His coming, the more we ought to gather to worship.
2 We are called to faithfulness by the truth/fact of His second coming.
B As the church meets together, the members should anticipate, contemplate, and celebrate the fact that Jesus is coming soon.
Conclusion:
A We have been called to enter in, hold fast, draw near and come together.
B The church needs a fresh commitment of faithfulness to Christ today.
1 Please determine/decide/commit today to look forward in anticipation to His coming and encouraging one another in the faith.
2 Pray
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