Well, I saw perched this week, a picture, I guess you could call it a portrait. This portrait drew sadness out of me. It's a picture of me. It's a picture of me several years ago. I think I can recognize that it's me, but I had to face the ravages of time. I would actually like to think I look like this, but that's delusional. It's a portrait, but it's a fuzzy distant portrait of me. I could look at the portrait, and I can say, "Yes, that's me-but." Well, I would like to paint for you a portrait this morning--a portrait of what it means to actually live like you really do believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ; not just that you celebrate that on Sunday, or you think of it in your more theological moments, but what does it mean to actually live a life that only makes sense if you believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ?
Hey, That's Me
My prayer would be, as I paint this portrait, you would say, "Hey, that's me!" Turn, if you would, in your Bible to Hebrews, chapter 10. That's page 1007 in your church Bible; from the fourth chapter to the 10th chapter of Hebrews, the author of Hebrews has been building this case that Jesus is a superior High Priest. And He is not just the High Priest to offer sacrifice, He, Himself, is the sacrifice, and His sacrifice is the final sacrifice that ends any need for further sacrifice. And that reaches, that discussion reaches a crescendo in the first several verses of Hebrews 10.
Then the writer of Hebrews turns to ask the question, "Okay, if these gospel realities are true, what does it actually look like to live them?" Let me read for you, beginning with verse 19. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 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.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, all the more as you see the Day drawing near. For if we deliberately sin after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.
Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of Grace? For we know him who said, 'Vengeance is mine; I will repay.' And again, 'The Lord will judge his people.' It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. What the writer of Hebrews does, beginning in verse 19, is to summarize this discussion of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, of the efficacy of His sacrifice, the sufficiency of His grace, by pointing us to two amazing redemptive realities.
Here's the first one. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way that he opened for us through his curtain, that is, through his flesh. Because of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, because of His sacrifice, because of His shed blood that satisfied the requirements of God and purchased my forgiveness, I now have access to God. I am welcomed into the presence of God. Broken, weak, failing as I am, I can live in boldness before God--what an amazing thing!
If you understand the history of redemption, you understand that much of the history of redemption is a history of separation. Oh, that stunning moment when Adam and Eve are driven out of the garden where they enjoyed the sweetness of the presence of God. What a horrible moment! That scary moment when Israel gathers at Mount Sinai, and the cloud of God's glory comes down, and the mountain quakes, and the Israelites are told, "Don't you dare touch this mountain of God's glory because, if you do, you'll die."
In the tabernacle, where the Shekinah glory of God dwelt and you can see the separation there of people from God's glory in the holy and the holy of holies that only the high priest was able to enter--it's a story of separation. And what an amazing thing that, because of the work of Christ, I am now welcomed to live in the presence of God. God welcomes me; He hears me; He cares for me; He invites me; He communes with me. I could never have achieved this. That is only the result of the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ; His broken body is the curtain that opens the way for me into God's presence.
Losing Our Awe
I am so afraid for myself and so afraid for you that we will be used to these things, that we will lose our sense of awe of this amazing truth that we've just now considered. I can walk into the presence of a Holy God. He welcomes me there. He wraps arms of love around me because of what Jesus has done. There's a second thing there in verse 21, and since we have a Great Priest over the house of God, I not only have access to God, I have advocacy before God in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus has ascended, and He now sits on the right-hand of the Father, and He's there speaking for my benefit.
He argues my case, not based on the merits of anything that I would do, but based on the merits of what He has done. I just love the way this is talked about in Hebrews 4, beginning with verse 14. I invite you to turn there, page 1003. Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. (Oh, these words are so dear.) For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in a time of need. The One who represents us is not unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. Maybe the word weakness there should be translated, "our humanness, the human condition." This Person took on flesh; He became a man. He lived in the middle of all the hard realities of life in this fallen world. He faced all the temptations we face, and so when we go to Him for help, He understands what we're facing, and we can be assured that not only will we receive His sympathy, but mercy and grace that's appropriate to our moment of need.
How sweet! Now turn back to (page) 1007, Hebrews 10. Notice the construction here, "Therefore...since," verse 19; "And since," verse 21; verse 22 begins with, "let us"; notice verse 23, "Let us"; verse 24, "let us". What does it look like to believe in the gospel that we've just rehearsed? That by grace, I now have access to God. By grace, there is a High Priest who understands, Who offers me mercy to help me in my time of need. Well, here's the first thing, "...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."
Here's the first word. I want to give you four words that really do paint this portrait for us. The first word is 'devotion.' If I really am living based on the gospel that I received, my life will be a life of devotion. I am very concerned the way modern Christian culture tends to talk about and think about this world, this life of personal devotion. It seems sometimes that we've reduced our personal times of worship down to a brief reading of a passage of Scripture, a quick prayer, and we've sort of done our Christian duty for the day.
There is something very different being described here. Notice the words, "...let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith." Listen, Christianity is not first a matter of those kinds of duties and those kinds of habits. Those duties and habits first flow out of a heart that is owned by Christ...that the deepest, fullest passion of my heart is Him; He is my purest, most priceless treasure. He has my love; He has my desires; He has my purposes; He has my motivations. I wake up in the morning, and I want to spend time with Him, or I end the day, wanting to spend time with Him, not because it's an assigned Christian duty, but because I love Him; He owns and rules my heart.
And I'm not trying to squeeze relationship with Jesus into a heart that's really owned by the idols of the surrounding culture, all those materialistic and experiential dreams that are held before us every day that say, "This is the good life." Brothers and sisters, that has never been the good life. This is the good life, and I celebrate as I come again and again, the cleansing I've received through His body and His blood. And the way I celebrate that is...I come and I make heartfelt confession again and again, oh, that every desire of my heart and every action of my body would be done in an act of service and worship of Him.
A Life of Worship
I start every day confessing how deep my need is, and how deep my celebration is, of what I've been given. It's a matter of the devotion of my heart that results in a life of worship. As I say these words, brothers and sisters, do you say, "Hey, that's me?" Do you? The second word I would give you is 'action,' not just devotion, but action. "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful." You say, "Well, Paul, why would you use the word 'action', this is talking about holding on to your confession?"
Oh, we must understand that your confession of your faith is never just something you do with your brain. It's never just something you do with your lips; it always will be something, if it's true belief, that you do with your life. And so this is a way of living that's based not on the relationships that are around me, or the circumstances that I'm in; it's based on one thing, hear this, hear the words, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, (here it is) for he who promised is faithful."
I'm doing what I'm doing, not because circumstances are easy, not because you're affirming me, not because my finances are working, not because my body is healthy. I do what I do for one reason--Jesus has promised and Jesus is faithful. And I believe it. Now, I think that's as practical as it gets. Because if you're married, I'm going to be so bold as to say it, "The person you live with is not always going to be lovable." You're not always going to have reciprocating romance. There'll be days when that person is a bit irascible, a bit irritable, not nice to live with, and in that moment, your marriage needs the gospel of Jesus Christ!
And you need to believe, for this moment, I have Jesus and He is faithful and I will love and I will be gentle and I will be kind and I will be good, not because you're nice but because Jesus is faithful! That's the hope of Christian marriage. If you're a parent, you need prayer, because you've given birth to a little self-sovereign. And this will not always be easy. Some of us talk about having strong-willed children; the Bible has a name for that...'sinners'. And you know you've been through a day where it seems like every directive has been resisted.
And you're tired, and you're facing the next day and the alarm rings and you go in to wake up that little one and before they say the first word, you want to say, "Don't start, just don't start." What's going to get you up to have that conversation again and again and again and again? This one thing, the One who promised is faithful. Maybe it's a struggle with a private area of sin, and you've made personal commitments of reformation again and again and again, and you've fallen once again, and you throw your hands up, and you say, "Is it worth it?
Is the gospel true?" You'd better have this inside of you that moment. Although, there have been 1,000 failures, I will get up tomorrow and I will resist this evil because I believe that Jesus is faithful. Action! When you hear me say that, do you say, "Hey that's me?" There's a third 'let us' here. "...let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 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."
Gospel Amnesiac
You see, if I really do take the gospel seriously, one of the things that I encounter very early, and it's a theme for me, is how easy it is to be a 'gospel amnesiac.' How easy it is in the press of the duties and responsibilities and schedules of everyday life to forget who you are, to forget what you've been given. And so, the whole message of Scripture is this: Your walk with God is a community project. Now look at the words here, "Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encourage one another, all the more as you see the Day drawing near."
You cannot reduce those words down to just a reminder to attend church on Sunday. Now is that in this passage? Sure it is, but this is profoundly more than that. This is a call to intentionally intrusive, Christ centered, grace driven, redemptive community. Why do I say, "...intentionally intrusive?" Because if that community is going to exist, we have to determine we will no longer live in terminally casual relationships and call them 'fellowship' because I need help, and we're going to step over the normal boundaries of Western culture.
We are in a shockingly individualistic culture, in case you didn't notice. We have big boundaries between our private lives and our public personas. We love the stories of the self-made individual, captured by that great Frank Sinatra song, do you know it? You're mumbling it. I've never said this to a group that didn't know it, "I did it (my way)"...I can't say these words. We have to resist this and give ourselves to the kind of community that flows out of believing the gospel; let us consider how to do what?...to stir up one another to love and good deeds.
You do not have the ability of Christ to read another person's heart. Don't try. And so, the only way you can minister is to build a relationship with that person. You cannot minister to that which you do not know. How is it that this person needs to be stirred up to love and good deeds? I then live in the body of Christ knowing that I'm needy and knowing that I'm called to meet the needs of other needy people, and together we minister to one another because we believe the gospel. Where do you need comfort?
Where do you need encouragement? Where do you need warning? Where do you need guidance? And it's not about being peoples' private detective. This is not a ministry of the law. This is grace, driven by the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and driven by a recognition of how easy it is, in the midst of a Tuesday or a Wednesday or a Thursday evening, to forget who you are in Christ, to forget what you've been given. And how sweet it is to live with people who know you and remind you and have accepted the responsibility that they have to be part of what God is seeking to do in your life.
Are you living in that kind of community? Do you look at that portrait and say, "Hey that's me?" There's a fourth thing in this passage. There are some commentators that call this the fourth 'let us'--even though the words 'let us' are not there. It is this warning that's in verses 26 to 31; devotion, action, community...fourth word, 'seriousness.' It is a call to take sin seriously. I don't think that you could have stronger words in the English language than are in this passage. Look at what it says in the beginning, "For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins."
What is that about it? If after hearing the gospel, I take my life back, I set my own rules; I do what I do because I want to do it, when I want to do it, where I want to do it, how I want to do it. If I become the ruler of my life, I am rejecting the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and I am rejecting the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no hope of forgiveness for me because He is the only place where I can find forgiveness. It's very, very important, and I don't have time to unpack all of these words, but it's very, very important to understand how sin is talked about in this passage.
An Affront to a Triune God
Sin is not presented in this passage as some abstract breaking of some kind of abstract law. It's presented as a direct affront to a Triune God. Sin is rejecting God's position. It's rejecting His grace, and it's choosing rather to rule my own life. Notice, it's characterized here as spurning the Son of God, profaning the blood of the covenant of the Father, outraging or insulting the Spirit of grace. Any time I treat sin with a lack of seriousness, any time I choose my own way, I'm insulting the Spirit of grace.
I'm profaning the blood of the covenant; I'm spurning the Son of God. That's why David says in Psalm 51 as he's confessing his adultery, "Against you, you only, have I done this sin." Now we have a problem and we need to recognize it. We live in a culture that long, long ago quit seeing sin as serious. The seriousness of sin will not be reinforced to you by your culture. We think sin is funny. We think it's powerful advertising. We think sin is entertaining. We think sin isn't so bad after all. And if you believe the gospel, you have to believe in the seriousness of sin because, because of sin, God harnessed the forces of nature and controlled the events of human history, so that He, at one moment, would sacrifice His only Son in a cruel death so that we would be forgiven and delivered.
You can't understand the gospel without understanding that sin is serious. And there is a temptation in all of us to minimize our sin, to minimize its rebellion, to minimize its hold on our hearts, to minimize its consequences, to take sin less than serious and so this warning for us. Do you look at that call to be serious about sin and say, "Hey that's me?" Living the gospel means devotion; it means action; it means community; it means seriousness. And as you've been hearing this, what have you been thinking?
I can tell you what I've been thinking, "Oh yes, by God's grace, I see myself in there, but it's a blurry, dark portrait. I can't really say with enthusiasm, 'Yes, that's me!'" Sometimes my heart really is a heart of devotion, and there's nothing I'd rather do than worship, but not always. Sometimes my life is propelled into action by a belief that Jesus is faithful, but not always. There are times when the circumstances beat me down, and I'm tempted to give up; there are times when I esteem the essential ministry of the body of Christ, but not always; there are times when I'd rather hide; there are times when sin is a very serious thing to me, but there are times when I'm actually attracted by it.
It doesn't seem such a bad thing. And so, what we pray this morning is, "Thank you, thank you, thank you for the mercy that's given us access; thank you, thank you, thank you. Oh, Great High Priest, that You're sympathetic to our struggle. But, oh, we need more of that grace that we would live in a deeper, more consistent devotion, more motivated to gospel action, more open to humble, honest fellowship, more protected by a heart that embraces the seriousness of sin. Thank you, Lord, for Your grace.
May that grace continue to do its work." Let's Pray: Lord, how thankful we are for the beautiful message of Hebrews, of the sufficiency and finality of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ that ends the need for any other sacrifice because sin has been atoned for, sin has been defeated; eternal life and righteousness have been given to all who believe. Thank you for this clear portrait of what it looks like to live the gospel in a life of devotion and action and community and seriousness. May this portrait be one that growingly looks like us that we would look like what is described here?
We pray this not only for our sake, but for the furtherance of Your kingdom, and ultimately for the sake of Your glory. In Jesus name, Amen.
