Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Opening Illustration: Bad Investment

Sam Bankman Fried was arrested late last year on fraud charges for deceiving investors into his crypto-currency company.

He had celebrities endorsing his company and was telling his prospective clients that investing with him was a “sure bet.”

At his high point, Sam Bankman Fried was was worth $15 billion dollars.

And then, overnight, it was disrupted.

If i understand the story correctly, one particular investor started looking at the books and realized the whole thing was a sham.

He pulled his money out, which caused other investors to pull their money out and the company went into freefall mode.

The aftermath is still being worked through, but we know that investors have lost fortunes, the whole thing was essentially a scam, and there is still between $1 and $2 billion dollars unaccounted for.

Personal

Life is full of investments.

Not just of money.

But more importantly of your time and your personal energy.

We all choose every day where we are going to invest our time and energy.

And in the midst of a culture that is screaming for your attention, the question we ought to be asking our selves is whether the places we are choosing to invest is the right investment strategy or not.

There are a lot of deceptive investments out there.

Scams, created and sold by the evil that do nothing but bankrupt you spiriutally.

They promise life, and deliver misery.

My passion in life, my whole aim as a Pastor, as your Pastor, is to see this Church, each of you hunger for God and invest your life well!

Context

Today we are going to be in Hebrews 10:19-25, and we are going to permit this text to drive help us become wise investors of our time and our energy.

The author of Hebrews lays out in this text the basis of how we should think about our time (a premise) and then provides three clear investment strategies.

Don’t waste your life.

Hebrews 10:19-25 “19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 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.

23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 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.”

The Premise

First, the premise and foundation.

Every good investment strategy needs a premise, something to ground reality in, in order for you to make wise decisions to guide your strategy.

Verses 19-21 provide our premise.

Hebrews 10:19-21 “19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,”

Twice in these verses we see the word since.

Verse 19 since we have confidence.

Then again in verse ‘since we have a great high priest...’ The author is setting up the ideas he wants to communicate by establishing his premise.

Since these things are true in your life, then these things ought to be true as well.

In other words, the three investments that we will discuss throughout the rest of this message, are natural outflows of a life that has truly understood the premise of these few verses.

Since We Have Confidence

First premise, “Since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus.”

This language may sound unfamiliar but it is of vital importance for the Christian.

The language hearkens back to the Old Testament, to the temple in Jerusalem.

Under the Old Covenant, the days before Christ, the vital question that the Old Testament tried to answer was how could a sinful people in relationship with a holy God.

How could a people who knowingly have broken many of God’s commands, maintain a relationship of love with God.

And the answer has always been—simply by God’s mercy.

He reaches out and invites us in.

God as Judge

It’s not quite that simple though, because God is a just God, a righteous God, a Holy God, there are legitimate and real consequence for every sin, great or small.

From the tiniest impure thought, to the most outrageous outward action, God as a good judge holds us accountable.

Under the Old Covenant God established a complex sacrificial system which was always designed to be a foreshadowing of a great sacrifice that would one day be made to put an end to all sacrifices.

The most important of all these sacrifices, was the Day of Atonement.

It was the day once a year when the High Priest would enter the Most Holy Place, a hidden room inside the temple that no one could enter except that one high priest on that one day to place blood on top of the Mercy Seat.

Nothing More Terrifying

This work of the High Priest was so terrifying that they used to tie a rope around the High Priests foot in case he died while in the presence of the Lord.

In Jewish tradition it is told of one High Priest who lit the incence the incorrect way and died immediately after.

It is also told that when a High Priest would finish his work in the most Holy Place, and come out alive, he would celebrate the fact that he was alive.

Illustration: I Don’t Deserve This

Now read our text again with me.

“Since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus.”

We have confidence to enter?

The holy place?

This is the heart of the gospel and its.

I heard a pastor recently anecdotally say that people in hell and people in heaven have one thing in common.

Both are saying, “I don’t deserve this.”

The person in hell is saying, “How unfair of God to put me here, I was good enough.”

But the person in heaven who sees the gospel clearly is saying, “How unfair of God to put me here, I didn’t deserve this.

This is sheer grace.”

The Gospel

See, the good news, the news that separates following Jesus from every religion in the world, is that in Christ you can have “confidence to enter the holy place.”

Why?

Every other religion provides a pathway for you to earn favor with God.

Visit this holy site.

Pray these prayers.

Do these acts of service.

The end result is never confidence, you’re always left wondering have I done enough?

I have said enough prayers?

Am I holy enough?

But this text tells us that Christians have a bold confidence because Jesus is both the High Priest who was perfectly accepted by God to make the final sacrifice.

And he is the final sacrifice.

His blood was shed on the altar, to fully forgive every sin: past, present, and future.

The work is done.

And God extends mercy freely to all who will receive it.

When you truly receive it, not just give lip service to it, but truly receive the free forgiveness of all of your sins, it changes you forever.

Perfect grace enters your life.

And you’re marked different.

It’s called being born again.

Someone who has been born again has a rich confidence.

Do you have a confident faith?

Do you have a firm faith?

This is the premise!

1 — Invest in Your Relationship with Christ

Now, with that premise, the author of Hebrews lays out three clear takeways, what I have labeled as three investments.

The first is that we must invest in our relationship with Christ.

Hebrews 10:22 “22 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.”

Draw Near

The text tells us to draw near.

To draw near is to approach something.

It is to intentionally veer the course of your life into a specific and certain direction.

In the context of this passage, it means to create meaningful time and space to enjoy God, to bask in his presence and the reality of the premise, that He has completed the work.

Full Assurance

How do we do this?

First, the text says to do this with full assurance.