I wrote this sermon for Methods of Bible Exposition at Bob Jones University on April 26, 2002.
FCF – If you are not going forward, you may be in danger of apostasy.
Proposition – Because Christ is your High Priest, you must progress in your Christian experience.
I. Christ is your High Priest (vv. 19–21).
A. You have freedom to enter into the holiest (vv. 19–20).
1. The manner of entering: confidently (v. 19)
2. The place of entering: the presence of God (v. 19)
3. The basis for entering: the blood of Jesus (v. 19)
4. The way of entering (v. 20)
a. It is a new and living way (v. 20a).
b. It is a way through the veil (v. 20b).
B. You have a great high priest over God’s house (v. 21).
1. Christ is a great high priest (v. 21a).
2. Christ is over God’s house (v. 21b).
II. You must progress in your Christian experience (vv. 22–25).
A. You must draw near to God (v. 22).
1. The manner of coming (v. 22a)
a. With a sincere heart
b. With full assurance of faith
2. The reason for coming (v. 22b, c)
a. Your hearts have been sprinkled (v. 22b)
b. Your bodies have been washed (v. 22c).
B. You must hold fast your confession of hope (v. 23).
1. The way in which to hold it: unwavering
2. The reason to hold it: God is faithful
C. You must consider how to stir each other up (vv. 24–25).
1. The purpose of stirring each other up (v. 24)
a. To produce love
b. To produce good works
2. The means of stirring each other up (v. 25 a, c)
a. By not forsaking assembling together (v. 25a)
b. But by encouraging one another (v. 25c)
3. The reason for stirring each other up (v. 25b, d)
a. Some are leaving the assembly (v. 25b).
b. The day is drawing near (v. 25d).
Scripture Introduction: Turn in your Bibles this evening to Hebrews 10. We will be considering verses 19–25. This passage comes at what might be the climax or main transition point of the book. After the book’s longest doctrinal section, the author of Hebrews makes his transition to the practical exhortations that flow from the profound truths concerning the person and work of Christ. The logic of the passage is, because of all that has preceded about the person and work of Christ (at least back to 8:1, if not all the way back to the beginning of the book), which is summed up in verses 19–21, believers must go forward in their Christian experience, because if they do not, it is likely that they will fall into apostasy (see the following paragraph, 26–39). So you must consider the truths of this passage and live in obedience to these vital commands. This is a passage that no professing believer can afford to take lightly. Follow along closely in your Bible as we read our passage together, 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.”
Let’s all pray together now and ask for God’s help and blessing upon our time in His Word. Dear Father….
Sermon Introduction: Water sports are some of the most fun recreational activities to do, especially if you live in a hot climate. This past summer while over in Jekobpils, Latvia on a mission trip, we spent a week camping out by the river. We were in the peak of the summer, so it was very hot. We obviously had no air-conditioning and no cold beverages, so the river made for an excellent source of cooling and refreshment in the hot sun. We would swim sometimes two or three times a day to cool off. One thing about swimming in a river is often its strong current. We would play different games in a large part of the river, and the current was quite strong. You had to be continually swimming forward or you would get swept down the river. On numerous occasions I would swim across that river, but you couldn’t just swim straight across. You had to swim at an angle upstream in order to arrive at your desired destination. One afternoon, another guy from our team was swimming across the river and began to feel very weak. He lacked the strength to fight the current, and not paying close enough attention, he was being swept further and further down the river. He was starting to panic and was fighting to stay above water. Things did not look good for him. But fortunately someone saw him and went to help him safely to shore. It was a close call for him. But in the same way that he was in danger of the pull of the current and lacked the strength to go forward, you may be being pulled by the current of sin further and further down life’s river. And the worse thing is that you may not even know it. You see, just as in a river staying still is nearly impossible, so in one spiritual life you cannot remain neutral. And as our passage teaches us here, if you are not going forward, you may be in danger of apostasy. You must either be moving forward in your Christian experience, or you may be in danger of falling away from Christ. Now let me immediately clarify that I do not believe that a true believer can lose his salvation, but I certainly do not want to water down any of the strong warnings given here is this epistle to the Hebrews. This is the clear implication of this passage from what immediately follows (see as well Hebrews 5:11–6:8). But fortunately this does not have to be the case. You can go forward in your Christian experience. And here in this passage, Paul tells us the truth that enables us to do so, and then he gives the exhortations of what to do. Because Christ is your High Priest, you must progress in your Christian experience.
I. Christ is your High Priest (vv. 19–21).
Illustration: I used to love hunting. About ten years ago, my dad, brother, and I became very interested in hunting. My dad had hunted a lot growing up, but my brother and I had never hunted before. But, unlike the old days, you cannot just go out with a gun and start hunting. We decided that we would go and take the hunter’s safety course and pay to be certified. Well, we spent a very long day going through all the necessary training and all passed the test. Then we went out and bought hunting licenses. After the licenses came other gear. We needed hats and tags to hold our licenses in. We didn’t have enough guns to go around either, so we went out and spent a few hundred dollars more on a couple new shotguns. Then there was ammo—we needed to have some shells to shoot. Finally! We could go out hunting. Well, first we should probably go practice, so we went and got a membership at a gun club, bought some clay pigeons and a skeet thrower. Okay, that should about do it. Boy, we were really ready to go now. We went out a couple times that year for squirrel hunting, and we even got a few. They didn’t taste too good though. It’s hard to get rid of those BB’s and that hair. By the time the next year came around, we were busy with other things and didn’t have the same interest to go out and hunt. Actually, we haven’t been out since. We spent all that time and money to do what was necessary so that we could hunt, and then we didn’t even make use of the opportunity that we had. “That’s pretty foolish,” you might think. But yet you and I are guilty of a much greater failure to take advantage of the privileges granted for us. Christ has, at great cost to Himself, removed all the obstacles and opened the way for all repentant and believing sinners to approach him. Yet, how often we are distracted from making use of such a great privilege as this.
Application: God wants you to realize and make use of the fact that Christ is your High Priest. In the same way as it was pointless for us to spend all that time, effort, and money to be able to hunt and then not make use of it all, it is sad that so many Christian are not making use of the work that Christ has done for them and not living in light of all the doctrinal teaching about Christ that they have been able to learn. You must determine to make use of Christ’s work for you and approach God. Tomorrow morning your alarm will most likely go off, and you will have the opportunity to draw near to God. You can get up and turn your heart toward Him by reading His Word and praying to Him. You have free access to do this. But will you make use of it? Maybe your problem is not failure to make use of what Christ has done, but you approach him in fear. God says that you can come with boldness based upon Christ’s acceptance with God and your union with Him in that acceptance. Maybe you are just the opposite, you come to God thinking that your merit gains you your access to Him. You must renounce all such self-righteousness and come “by the blood of Jesus.” Seek for God’s grace to make use of the open access that you have with the Father, and ask him for the grace to be bold as you rely on the merit of Christ’s blood.
Transition: Now that we have seen the doctrinal teaching about Christ’s person and work, let us give consideration to the necessary implication of this truth to the Christian’s daily walk.
II. You must progress in your Christian experience (vv. 22–25).
Illustration: What follows is the testimony of Dan Barker, a former “Christian.” Dan grew up in a normal Christian home. He believed the Bible and was brought up in church. He became involved in ministry and was very active in Christian service. He said of Christianity, “I didn’t have any problems with Christianity — I loved my Christian life, I believed in what I was doing, and it felt right.” But he goes on to describe his movements away from the Christian faith, “I just got to the point where my mind was restless to move beyond the simplicities of fundamentalism.” He began a process of curious questioning which he described as an “irksome intellectual hunger.” This process, which he called his “first timid steps away from fundamentalism,” began in a questioning of the Bible. He admitted though, “When you are raised to believe that every word in the Bible is God-inspired and inerrant, you can’t lightly change your views on scripture.” Nevertheless, he began to question it. Next is what he described as a “a big step in the direction of tolerance.” He opened his mind to many divergent views of the Bible. He described this freedom saying, “I had become an independent… with no local church to answer to, [and because of this] I perhaps felt freer to experiment.” This process lead to theological liberalism and ultimately utter atheism. What was the problem in Barker’s life? Many things could be pointed out, but I can’t help but notice that it was for him a process of losing accountability to a local church and ceasing to hold with confidence the Christian faith. Most likely, he was not approaching God through Christ daily either. What a tragedy this man’s life is! And this is not beyond any of you who live in your own strength and fail to obey these three exhortations by the grace of Christ.
Application: Oh how important it is for believers to be fellowshipping together and encouraging one another! You must make it your habit to be walking closely with God and helping others to do the same. You need it, and so do they. This is how God has designed his Church to function and grow. Maybe you come to our services once a week. You skip Sunday school and slip out right after the morning message. You never come to the church fellowships. You never have other couples into your home. You don’t think it will make any difference in the church. But someone else may need your fellowship and encouragement. What’s more, you may be in desperate need of fellowship and encouragement from others. This is vital. Maybe for you, faithfulness to the services is not an issue, but there is no encouragement taking place in your life toward others. You are not functioning as a provoker to love and good works. You are not serving in the role that God has for you. Maybe you are not involved in ministry to others. Why not ask someone to go with you and visit some of the shut-ins from our church? God desires that for your benefit and the benefit of the rest of the church that you be a part of the assembling of the believers. Ask God to show you the importance of this and give you grace to go out of your way to minister that grace to others.
Conclusion: The work of Christ, especially as your High Priest, gives you a solid foundation and basis for moving forward in your Christian experience—by drawing near to God, by holding fast your profession of hope, and by stirring other Christians up to do the same. Back to the story about the guy on our mission team while we were over in Latvia—even after he realized that he was in danger and the drift was pulling him down stream, he was still powerless to remedy his situation. He tried to fight that strong current, but he was too weak, too worn out. Unless he got help, he was destined for serious consequences. I bring this up at this point lest you think that because you must progress and go on in your Christian life that somehow it depends on you. Yes, you must go on or you are in danger of falling away, but no, you cannot do it! You need Christ. He has accomplished everything for you already, but you also need His daily grace to live in light of what he has accomplished. Commit yourself to continually consider the work of Christ for you, and cast yourself upon Him for His grace to go on in Christian growth and obedience. He will enable you if you will seek Him.
I studied this passage out last year for a class. I think I used the following.
NICNT – Bruce
EBC
Lenski
NIGTC – Ellingworth
EGT