Hebrews 10:19-25

Order of Service

• Scripture Reading — Hebrews 10:19-25
• Sermon
• Prayer of Closing

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Sermon Title: Possessions and Consequences for the Believer

Scripture: Hebrews 10:19-25

I. Introduction: A Weighty Therefore

A. The word "therefore" in Hebrews 10:19 carries unusual weight, closing the book's main doctrinal argument about Christ as high priest (begun in Hebrews 4:14) B. The pattern of the passage: two possessions (indicative) followed by three "let us" exhortations (imperative) C. Francis Schaefer and Rick Phillips: what a person believes is manifested in how they live; our manner of living must be consistent with our professed faith

II. Two Possessions We Have

A. Confident access to enter the holy places — Hebrews 10:19-20

1. Scripture traces an access problem from the fall: Adam and Eve expelled from the garden; Israel kept from Mount Sinai; only the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place, and only with blood
2. Christ's blood secures access — the blood of one who rose and lives forever to intercede, unlike the blood of dead animals
3. The curtain torn at Christ's death now becomes the way through; Christ's own flesh is the curtain torn open for us, so that by faith we have access to God
4. The hymn Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder: "He has washed us with his blood, he has brought us nigh to God… he has secured our way to God"

B. A great high priest over the house of God — Hebrews 10:21

1. Christ is the superior and sufficient high priest who ministers by his own sacrifice
2. Because our high priest is there at the right hand of the Father, we belong there too and can approach with confidence (Phillips)

III. Three "Let Us" Exhortations

A. Let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith — Hebrews 10:22

1. Having access means nothing unless we actually make use of it; we are called to draw near in worship
2. Phillips identifies a four-part guide for worship in this verse:
   • With a true heart — sincerity and faithfulness before God
   • With full assurance of faith — coming to God in faith, the only way to worship rightly
   • With hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience — fulfilling the promise of Ezekiel 36 that God would sprinkle clean water on his people; the blood of Christ sprinkled on the heart removes the filth of sin
   • With bodies washed with pure water — a reference to baptism, but chiefly to what baptism points to: the washing away of the heart's defilement (Calvin)
3. This call echoes Hebrews 4:14-16, where the same section began with "let us hold fast" and "let us draw near to the throne of grace"

B. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering — Hebrews 10:23

1. We are a confessing people; we must not waver from believing and confessing true doctrine
2. In the broad church today, too many are compromising on doctrinal truth; let us hold fast the whole counsel of God as it points to Christ and the gospel
3. The ground of assurance: "he who promised is faithful"

C. Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works — Hebrews 10:24-25

1. Christ's priestly ministry always has corporate consequences; the New Testament consistently addresses the corporate body, not merely individuals
2. We cannot stir one another up without knowing one another, which requires meeting together
3. Do not neglect meeting together as is the habit of some — outdoor solitude or family time must never replace gathered worship with the people of God
4. Encouraging one another all the more as the day draws near — the urgency increases as the return of Christ approaches
5. Colossians 3:16: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another… singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs" — corporate singing is mutual ministry