“THE NEW AND LIVING WAY!”
BECAUSE OF THE CAUSE OF CHRIST
HEBREWS 10:19-25
Have you ever gotten a new thing before and have treated that thing as gold?
- no one could touch it
- no one can use it
- no one can look at it
- everyone is using it wrong once you do allow it
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ILLUSTRATION:
My new Car...
- I washed it and waxed it
- Cleaned it
- If you moved my floor mat, I had to fix it immediately
- I loved that car, BUT
Once the newness wore off, I let the wax jobs go for weeks, loads of people could pile into it, and I even let others drive it!
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Share a bit and relate it to our relationship with God.
Isn’t that the same that has happened to some of us and our relationship with the Lord?
- We used to cherish our time with Him so
- We had to tell others
- We enjoyed so much our time to worship Him
- We loved to go to church, and Sunday School, and Youth Group
- We loved others, and even the pastor was the greatest!
- Nothing was able to shake us, until…..
it got old and familiar.
Rev. 2:4-5
“But I have this against you, that you have left you first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I an coming to you, and will remove your lamp stand out of its place – unless you repent.”
Why is it church that I soon grew cold towards my car?
- It quickly lost it special place in my busy life, and my heart no longer found refuge in the care for my car, but rather it longed for a newer and more appealing automobile which was faster and more stylish and this is what I believe happens to us from time to time.
We have found our eyes and hearts looking to that which is more appealing and more stylish.
I John 2:15-17
“Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever.”
Church, I first want to ask you to not mistaken this message tonight as one of judgment and discouragement…
instead, my desire is to encourage and point you in the
NEW AND LIVING WAY!!!
Read Hebrews 10:19-25
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence (boldness) to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another -- and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
I want to share with you an exciting message of Christ and His accomplishment which has provided for us all a new and enthralling
facet to our Christian lives.
There is now a new attitude towards the presence of God!
Prior to this…
Only priests could have entered in to the Holy of Holies, but now that Christ has come and accomplished His work, we now have full access into the Presence of God. To Boldly enter into His Glory!
We now can enter in with confidence and being totally at home in the presence of our Lord.
This is “new” because it is obviously a new situation, and “living” because it is bound and sealed by the Lord Jesus Himself, Son of the Living God! Christ has taken a lowly place to make a way for man and God to commune.
The author here is wanting to encourage us in several things. These exhortations given through Jesus’ provision for a reconciliation to the Father.
He encourages us to:
1. Draw Near To God
2. Hold Steady To Hope
3. Spur One Another On
4. Continue Meeting Together
5. Encourage One Another
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Prior to this portion of Scripture…
The write of Hebrews gave us a picture of how incapable the Law was of cleansing and “making right” between man and God. It had to be done each year continually resounding the fact that the perfect, sin-removing sacrifice had not yet been offered for all of man-kind.
Yes…we know that the blood of bulls, and goats was unable to be that substitute for a human being, made in the image of God. They were only a mere temporary atonement and preparatory act which looked forward to the ultimate Sacrifice, given to us through a human sacrifice, sent by a Loving God, and accomplished through a willing and submissive man named Jesus!!! Praise be to God!!!
Having to be man, Jesus came born of a virgin…
to offer Himself up in our place.
Having to be sinless to take the punishment for sin…
and also adequately and perfectly satisfying the demand’s of God’s Holiness.
In contrast to the priest’s work, when Jesus came the sacrificial work was accomplished once and for all! For all time!
Can we thank God for His Son tonight! Thanks be to God for the substitute!
Jesus Christ, Savior of the World!
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Point One: DRAW NEAR TO GOD!
Verse 22
James 4:8
“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”
Faith, and drawing near to God are inseparable!
It is in God where you find grace, mercy, help, salvation, sanctification, and cleaning.
Just the very thought of what Christ has done should be enough to compel His people into action!
There are listed here four conditions provided to help us draw near to God:
1) We first must have a sincere heart.
The heart represents the inner most part of man, and it is important that we approach Him, and be right inwardly, with the right attitudes. We must approach God with a pure heart and be full of sincerity and have genuine worship.
An undivided allegiance in our being to Our Lord! When we pledge allegiance to the Flag we pledge to stand behind it, and give our all, even unto death to our country, and our Lord deserves none the less.
Matt. 5:8
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
Illustration:
Relate to gaining a friend from sincerity and one from obligation.
Like in CHURCH when new people come in, we must be genuine with them…
…and so should we be with God.
2) Second, we must have the full assurance of faith.
It is only by full trust in Christ who has provided us an avenue to full access to God. There is no longer any justifiable doubt of the available access to God. This is open to all who worship and take advantage of the “new way”. In fact, it is in the realm of “Full-Assurance” where the approach to God is made.
The Gospel tells us that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father, but by Him.
Our trust must be in Jesus and through the provisions he has made for us.
With the indication that our faith knows no hesitation in trusting in
and following Christ.
3) Thirdly, we must have our hearts sprinkled, and be free from a guilty conscience.
Freedom comes from the once and for all sacrifice of Christ, that brings the sense of guiltlessness.
The OT provided ways to remove and cleanse from guilt and sin, but now it is more than an act, it is a condition which can be obtained through Christ!
You can be free from guilt and your past tonight because of the new and living way!
4) Lastly, our bodies washed with pure water.
This is symbolic of an internal cleansing, rather than an outward act.
There is reference to this having a relation to baptism, which is an outward testimony to what has taken place inside. Christians are cleansed within by the Blood.
Just as the priests would cleanse and wash themselves to purity, so we too are to be cleansed with the “water” of God. We are made pure in Him
All of these conditions place a major emphasis on the inner man being pure and right before the Lord, and then will the Lord respond. Church, the inner man must be changed and translated into something new.
When Christ gets a hold of our being we have no other option,
but to be changed or denounce Him as Lord.
Where do you stand tonight?
Point Two: HOLD STEADY TO HOPE!
Verse 23
It is unusual that the author encourages us to hold to hope, since it would be a bit more common to hold to faith.
But hope has been described as the “anchor for the soul”.
Hope, actually, is even more thorough since it entails faith together with the promises it has for us.
Faith is the substance of things Hoped for, the evidence of things, not yet seen.
Tonight you may be discouraged and ready to turn back to your old way of “Survival”; ie. self, another god, drugs, or anything the world has to offer, but you are being encouraged to hold to your hope. Continue to trust the Lord! Don’t give up! Hold Tight and hang in there. Don’t relax your grip! There is no place in our Christian faith for a hope that is firm at one time, and shaky the next.
This message is not uncommon for a world whose standards are always a shifting.
Westcott comments that “faith rests completely in the love of God; Hope vividly anticipates that God will fulfill His promises in a particular way.”
God has not left you, hold true to God, don’t be as the Israelites, who when God seemed not to answer, built for themselves a golden calf to worship and serve as a god…Ex. 32.
Illustration:
I had hope for a little tractor that my dad promised me and did buy me.
Christians, we can hold fast to our faith in this fashion because behind our hope is a God in whom we can have a full confidence.
God is to be fully relied on!
Remember the element of holding to the promises of God.
God has taken the initiative in making the promise,
and He will infallibly fulfill the promise.
Return back to God wandering heart, hope in Him again wavering heart, hold steady to the unchanging hand of God saint!
Hold unswervingly, without doubt or hesitation
Hebrews 6:18-20
“that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
Illustration:
It is as if Jesus left us a rope to hang on which He carried back to heaven and placed the other end in God’s hand which cannot and will not be moved, or let lose. The anchor holds church!
Point Three: SPUR ONE ANOTHER ON!
Verses 24
Other versions say to provoke one another. Interesting how he uses what is normally a word, in our day, which could mean something bad, to mean good. Like “kicking” it into gear. The choice of a word like this makes the encouragement that much more stronger.
The activity of considering one another is something that gives the imagery of a mutual activity where believers encourage one another, not where there is a leader and he directs what the rest are to do.
We are all under one leader, Jesus, and we are to work together for the cause of Christ!
This should help abolish the petty fights that are trying to raise up, you follow Christ and Work together, if you refuse to do that then you are not obeying God. It isn’t the leader or pastor that you hurt, it is you and your relationship with the God that is destroyed.
CHURCH, Work together in harmony!
This also show us that we are to work together in helping others attain perfect love in Christ, and also, good deeds.
Again, this is only a product of Christian community, you may practice faith and hope alone, but you need others to exercise love. This is why verse 25 encourages us to continue to meet together; we need each other!
Point Four: CONTINUE MEETING TOGETHER
Verses 25
Don’t dessert or abandon the flock.
The Bible would describe you as a sheep among wolves if you abandon.
The reason so many things in life require numbers is because the Lord has placed a need in us for other people.
We need each other to make it, power in numbers, flocks stick together, schools of fish, and flocks of birds, to mention a few.
The author says to meet together, and all the more as the day approaches. Our desire should be growing stronger with the need to be with God’s people, not weaning or fading.
“Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together”
“I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord”
You may ask, why did the writer write this?
Maybe it was that the readers saw Christianity as just another religion to be patronized or left alone, but, Church, this is the New and Living Way!
Point Five: ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER
Verses 25
These last few all link together, but we must have a burning desire to be an encouragement to one another.
In this evil day that we live in we face many trials, persecution, and deception….it gets so intense that we do need to meet together to encourage one another and to find the mind of God from the preaching of the Word.
Hebrews 3:13
“but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”
While there is still time, be an encouragement. Help your brother or your sister stay on track!
Think also of the fact that not only do others need you, but you need others!
Again, we need one another…to think that you are above and beyond that is to have a false sense of pride. The day will come when you to will need someone for help and encouragement.
We need each other for encouragement and strength.
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People, Christ has made a wonderful New and Living way for us to live with one another!
We must first:
draw close to God
hold tight to hope
spur one another on
continue meeting together, and
encourage one another
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This chapter goes on with a warning of desertion and continual sin. Will there be any sacrifice for your sins remaining if we continue to follow our flesh? Do we sin so that Grace may abound? Certainly not!!!
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Then the writer goes on to reminisce.
Remember how it was when you first got saved…
when you first were persecuted and took great joy in it…
you were mistreated and thought that it was the greatest thing…
you were spit on and laughed at, it was the greatest thing, because it was for God…
BUT, it got old, fast…
it began to hurt and cut deep…
it got old and became personal…
somewhere in there you lost your focus…
Hebrews 10:37-39
“For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.
For yet in a very little while,
He who is coming will come, and will not delay.
But My righteous one shall live by faith;
And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him.
But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”
DON’T SHRINK BACK…NOW IS THE TIME TO COME ON ALL THE MORE STRONG!!!
I proclaim to you church of the living God, Army of God, Saints, Believers!
Now is the time to go forward in the Lord.
Now is the time to put on the armor of God and take more of the enemies territory!
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Where are you tonight?
Has your love cooled? And your heart wandered to another love?
Do you need to draw closer?
Do you need to continue to hold on?
Or Do you need to become part of the community again, and encourage or be encouraged?
Christ has made provision for us in these fashions, come to Him tonight and surrender to His will.
ALTAR CALL!
1)Draw Close to God
-Salvation
-Re-commit
2)Encourage - Spur One Another On
-Hope
-Encourage
3)To Go a Step Deeper
-It is time for you to take ground, it is for all of us!
