Draw Nigh To The King (Hebrews 10:19-25)
INTRODUCTION:
Imagine if you will of being summoned to appear before a great world leader, how would you prepare yourself for this meeting? As I thought about this, I considered how I would prepare. This has never happened to me, I have never met anyone who would even be considered famous, let alone one who would be called a world leader. But if I were summoned, I would want my clothes to be just right, I would want my appearance to be clean and well groomed, and I would want to have the right words to speak.
In the Old Testament we have two people that I think of in particular that were summoned to appear before the world leader of their day. The first is in Genesis 41 where Joseph is summoned to stand before the Pharaoh of Egypt and interpret his dream. Joseph isn’t even given any advance notice, but we do read that when he was summoned that he shaved himself and changed his clothes before coming into the presence of Pharaoh. The second person I thought of was Daniel who was to appear before Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, the world ruler of his day. Daniel received news that he was to be killed because no one could tell the king his dream and interpret it, Daniel asked to be given a chance. We read in Daniel 2 that before he went before the king, he and his three Hebrew companions spent the night in prayer. Both Joseph and Daniel were by God’s help able to interpret the Pharaoh’s and king Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams.
As believers in Jesus Christ, we do have a summons to appear before the Great King of the Universe, this summons has come from God to draw near to Him for fellowship, but He not only tells us to draw near, but tells by what means we are to draw near and how we draw near to enter into His presence. Let’s pray and then get into our passage for this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
If you have a Bible, please turn to Hebrews 10:19-25. The author of this letter was writing to Jewish believers who were coming under increasing persecution and were being tempted to abandon their faith in Christ and return to the teachings of Judaism. The author appeals to them to remain faithful because Christ is the fulfillment of the Law and the perfect and final sacrifice for sin. Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along while I read.
Hebrews 10:19-25,
“Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 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. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 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.” (Hebrews 10:19–25, NASB95)[1]
CONFIDENCE TO ENTER (Hebrews 10:19-21)
Verse 19 begins with the word “therefore” and my dad used to always say that if we come upon this word in Scripture we have to look and see what it is there for. If you look at the immediate context, the preceding verses of this chapter you see that the author was writing about the once for all sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The author writes that Jesus Christ came to do the will of God the Father and in verse 10 he tells us what that will was, he writes, “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10, NASB95)[2] The author is saying that the will of God the Father is that we are made holy by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ once for all. It does not have to be done again; we are made holy in Christ.
Therefore, because we have been made holy in Jesus Christ we have confidence, we have boldness to enter the holy place. This phrase in Greek is plural “the holy places” and refers to the tabernacle or the temple, not the earthly one, but the true one in heaven. The tabernacle on earth was just a copy of the true one in heaven. Remember the tabernacle had two sections, the holy place where the table of show bread, the lampstand, and the golden altar of incense were, this is where the high priest and the priests ministered every day. Behind this area hung a thick curtain that separated the holy place from the holy of holies, or the most holy place where the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat which covered the ark were housed. This area could only be entered once a year by the high priest and only if he came with blood on the Day of Atonement. This was the place where God dwelt among the people of Israel. The author of Hebrews tells us that we have confidence, or that we can boldly without fear enter into the heavenly tabernacle, we can go into the holy place and through the holy place we can enter into the holy of holies to have fellowship with God.
Why can we enter with boldness and confidence because we enter by the blood of Jesus Christ, this is the only way into the holy of holies, only by blood. The human high priest approached and entered the holy of holies with fear and trembling, for fear, that like others he might die in the presence of God. But you and I can draw near with glad confidence by the blood of Jesus Christ, because we know that the way to the holy of holies has been opened once for all by the omnipotent power of the blood of Jesus and it remains open because Christ’s blood shed for sin is forever sufficient, no more sacrifice, no more blood is ever needed again. God is infinitely satisfied with the sacrifice of His Son, otherwise the way would not be open, the veil would still remain.
The passage goes on to explain for us that Jesus Christ instituted a new and living way for us to approach God. “New” is a Greek word that means “recent,” the way is new or recent because the covenant is new. It is not a way provided for by Judaism and the Levitical system, but it was a new covenant provided by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It is a “living way.” This new covenant is the path to eternal life, but it was not opened by Christ’s sinless life—it required His death. When Christ died the temple curtain that symbolically separated men from God’s presence was torn in two from top to bottom. Christ’s flesh or body is like the curtain, and it had to be removed by His death. On the Day of Atonement when the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies, the people outside waited for him to return. When Jesus Christ entered the heavenly temple, He did not return. Instead, He removed the curtain and exposed the Holy of Holies so that we could follow Him into the presence of God. Because the way into God’s presence was made through the death of Jesus Christ we enter with confidence because Jesus is forever there as our great high priest over the house of God. We do not need to fear, are hearts should not tremble when we are summoned to draw near to the presence of God. Jesus Christ, our great high priest has gone before us, He has made the way and He waits to welcome us into the presence and fellowship of God. He has borne our human nature in His body into the presence of His Father and is ever there as the pledge and pattern of what we are to become. Because of His sacrifice on our behalf, we can with joyful confidence draw near into the holy of holies into the presence of God to enjoy sweet fellowship with the Father.
LET US DRAW NEAR WITH A TRUE HEART (Hebrews 10:22)
The author tells us how we are to draw near to the presence of God. First, he writes that since we have this great high priest, Jesus Christ, over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith. This word translated “sincere” literally means “true.” A true heart is one that has had an encounter with the Word of God and realizes that all loyalty belongs to Christ. It is a heart that is without hypocrisy, and it is single-minded, focused only on Christ, always seeking to follow Him wholeheartedly. This word translated as “sincere” or “true” is a word that carries the idea of pure, untainted, cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ, atoned for by His blood.
This heart is a believing heart, a heart in full assurance of faith. To be cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ requires faith. Faith is the means by which our hearts are made true and pure. If we want to enjoy full fellowship with God, we must be fully assured that the way of access to God is open, we must be fully assured that the blood of Jesus Christ was sufficient to open the way into God’s presence. We must also believe that God means what He says when He bids us to draw near. It was this lack of full assurance of faith which drove man from the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve doubted God’s Word, rather than being confident, fully assured that God’s Word was true, and they lost the fellowship they had with God when He came to walk with them in the cool of the evening. There is nothing God loves more then to see us drawing near to Him in full assurance of faith. God is delighted by our faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
Having already spoken of having a pure heart, the author speaks of having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. The imagery in this verse is taken from the sacrificial ceremonies under the old covenant. As you enter the compound of the tabernacle the first things that you see are the brazen altar and the brazen basin of pure water. The altar was where the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled and where the sacrifice was burned. The act of sprinkling the blood is a sign of cleansing, for our hearts to be pure we must be sprinkled with the blood of our sacrifice, the Lord Jesus Christ. When by faith we believe that the blood of Jesus Christ paid the penalty required for our sin it takes away the evil conscience that condemns us and makes us shrink back from the presence of God. But now we can draw near to God’s presence because our hearts are pure having been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb of God.
Next, we must come to the brazen basin before entering the tabernacle where we have our bodies washed with pure water. The priest ministering before God had to wash before entering the tabernacle. What is this pure water that cleanses the body? It is the Holy Spirit purifying a person’s life by means of the Word of God. Paul wrote of this washing in Ephesians 5:25-26, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,” (Ephesians 5:25–26, NASB95)[3] Christ makes us holy through the cleansing power of the Word of God. Paul speaks of the Spirit as the agent in this cleansing in Titus 3:5, “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,” (Titus 3:5, NASB95)[4] With hearts of faith we are cleansed by the blood of Jesus and made pure and holy by the Word of God so that we might draw near to God holy, blameless and without blemish.
LET US HOLD FAST THE CONFESSION OF OUR HOPE (Hebrews 10:23)
The author of Hebrews gives us another way in which we draw near the presence of God, into the holy of holies. Not only do we need a true heart, cleansed by the blood and a life made pure by the Holy Spirit cleansing us through the Word of God. He writes, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;” (Hebrews 10:23, NASB95)[5] The Jewish believers that this book was written to were being persecuted for their faith, and they are told here to persevere, to keep a strong grip on their hope. What was their hope? The Lord Jesus Christ and His appearing to take them home. They are told to keep their focus on that and to continue to confess without wavering their faith in God’s promises because He is the faithful God who keeps His promises. The apostle John wrote about this hope in his first epistle in 1 John 3:1-3 he writes, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” (1 John 3:1–3, NASB95)[6] Why were these Jewish Christians being persecuted? Because the world did not know them, because they did not know God. But like the author of Hebrews, John says that we are the children of God and when Jesus Christ appears we will be like Him, we will be changed in an instant, our bodies will become imperishable and incorruptible like His own glorious body. John says persevere, keep this hope fixed on Him and seek to be pure as He is pure. We have a faithful God who has proved Himself by faithfully fulfilling everything promised about the first advent of Jesus Christ. With the knowledge of God’s faithfulness, we can hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, even in the face of persecution, because we know the end of history and we know God is faithful. Our hope is in the faithfulness of our God who died and gave His life for us and has promised to return and take us home.
As we persevere, we draw nearer to God because we learn to trust Him more and more.
LET’S US CONSIDER HOW TO STIMULATE ONE ANOTHER (Hebrews 10:24-25)
The author gives us another way in which we draw near to God’s presence and into sweet fellowship with Him and it is through mutual encouragement to serve God. “…and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 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.” (Hebrews 10:24–25, NASB95)[7] As a community of believers we must not only look inward at our own selves, but we must consider others in our community, we must seek to stimulate them, to stir them up, to provoke them to love and good works. Part of persevering, of holding fast to the confession of our hope is mutual encouragement to be sharing our love of Christ by the good works that He has prepared for us to do. Our good works are the result of salvation, not the means of salvation. Remember Paul’s words in Ephesians 2:8-10, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8–10, NASB95)[8] Salvation is by grace through faith, a gift of God, both the grace and the faith. Salvation comes first, then as God’s workmanship, as God’s masterpiece of salvation, we are created anew in Christ Jesus for good works. The good works we are to do God prepared before our salvation so that when we are saved by His grace through faith the result is that we will walk in the good works He has prepared. Often, we need encouragement, especially if we are struggling or feeling the pressure of persecution, we need encouragement as a stimulus to get our focus off our circumstances and back on our hope which will result in love and good works.
We are not created to be alone in this journey, we are to be in community, we are to assemble together for worship, for mutual encouragement, for support. It seems that some of the Jewish believers were trying to go it alone, pulling away from the local assembly of believers, but the author says don’t do that, you need each other, and you will even need it more as you see the day approaching. What day? The day of the Lord, the Second Coming of Christ which begins with the rapture of the church and then we will enter bodily into the presence of God.
CONCLUSION:
We have been summoned into the presence of the King of the universe, not only have we been summoned but have been called to draw near for fellowship. There is only one way in which we can draw near to the King and that is by the blood of Jesus Christ. His blood has opened the way, a new and living way because He was the perfect, final, and once for all sacrifice for sin. Through faith we can draw near to God with a true heart, a believing heart, a heart purified by the blood of Jesus Christ and our life washed clean by the Holy Spirit applying the Word of God. Because our God is faithful, we can draw near through perseverance, by knowing that our hope is sure. Finally, we draw near as we mutually encourage one another to keep on going to continue in love and good works even as the day draws near, and the world grows darker and darker around us. Our hope for that day is sure because we rest in the faithfulness of the God who bids us to draw near, into His presence for fellowship with Him.
[1]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[2]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[3]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[4]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[5]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[6]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[7]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995
[8]New American Standard Bible : 1995 Update. La Habra, CA : The Lockman Foundation, 1995