Full Living

Today we find ourselves in the book of Hebrews. I did a message a while back that talked about why we were at church, the fact that we are not here to get but to give. Well today we are going to find out a little bit more about what should motivate us to be sitting here this morning. What is important to us, the why to our how and what. I just finished reading a book by Simeon Sinek, he is a speaker that focuses on business, and how to help companies do a better job at taking care of not only business but their employees as well. He came up with the idea of the golden circle. You may be wondering what does a business model like this have to do with us, and the church, well I believe it can be translated over into the church, at least the basic concept of it. Last week Bro. Bobby taught about what it means to have a relationship with Jesus. He had several points that tie into what we are going to be learning this morning. 1. Communication is Key and in that point that listening requires intimacy and familiarity, listening leads to following, listening aids in spiritual growth. 2. Intimate knowledge, Jesus knows us comprehensively, His knowledge of us defines ownership and relationship. 3. Follow Christ, following Christ involves obedience, and following Christ reflects intimacy and reflects transformation, following Christ also affects our witness. As brother Bobby pointed out you hear him and myself say this all the time, you must have an intimate relationship with Christ. Well when we look at what it means to have an intimate relationship with Him, it is more than just our personal relationship, it also involves our corporate worship. Why are we here, is it important that we come to church? We live in a country that affords us the opportunity to worship freely. Many people face severe persecution even to the point of death to worship together with their brothers and sisters in Christ.

Okay here is the golden circle. It is a very simple model to follow, and as we move forward I hope you see how this plays into what we are talking about today. The most important part of the circle is the Why, this is the foundation for the rest of the circle. Without a why, you can still have a how and a what but it will not last long, it will crumble without that foundation. Why are we here today, what are we doing, and how are we doing it as a church. Well lets look at Hebrews chapter 10 to find out. The author of Hebrews is shifting from the explanation of the superiority of the person and work of Christ to the application of it in the lives of the storm tossed church, from doctrine to duty. I am going to read the entire section then we will go through each verse. Now lets dive in.

Hebrews 10:19–22 ESV

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.

Hebrews 10:23–25 ESV

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.

Christ’s Sacrifice Opens the Way to God

It is through Christ that we have direct access to God, through our relationship with Him.

The Why

Hebrews 10:19–20 ESV

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,

the author speaks of a confidence we have, a confidence because of Jesus’ work on the cross. Remember before Christ died for us, it was the high priest who entered the Holy of Hollies on the Day of Atonement to offer sacrifices for the sins of the people. But now things are different, we ourselves can enter “the holy places” because of Christ’s blood. Direct access to the Father because of the Son.

The curtain in the temple was torn from top to bottom at Jesus’ death. Through His sacrifice we are allowed Access. This gives us as mention in Hebrews 4:16 “confidence to draw near to the throne of grace”. A deep confidence in access to God.

Hebrews 10:21 ESV

21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,

God had instituted the priests to be the advocates for the people, someone who would support them, speak on their behalf. Well now we should have an even greater confidence knowing Jesus is our advocate. He is the greater High Priest. And our “Advocate” as mentioned in 1 John 2:1. We have access to God through our new High Priest Jesus, and He is there interceding continually, not just once a year like the priests of old. We see a dual source for our confidence, our access and our advocate. These should strengthen us for Jesus is both the “curtain” (our access), and the “priest” (Our advocate). Christ’s torn body and shed blood provides our access to the Father, and in our access He is our perpetual priestly advocate. As one commentator states this was meant to give the church confidence “to point our ship into the high seas with strength and power. To boldly and confidently buck the waves.” This was to help the church face persecution boldly. Remember the Golden circle, well these three verses point to our Why. It is Christ, and our relationship with Him.

The What

Hebrews 10:21–22 ESV

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.

In light of the confidence we should have a Christians the author gives three exhortations the First is draw near to God. it is because of our great High Priest Christ that we can draw near to God. It is because of Him that our hearts are sprinkled clean. This is a reflection of how the people were sprinkled with blood in Exodus 24:8 to symbolize the covenant they had with God. In the New Covenant when people come to saving faith in Christ their hearts are sprinkled with Christ’s blood cleansing them, and sealing the New Covenant with Him. Jesus changes everything and it starts with our heart. With a relationship with Christ. Our relationship with Christ should penetrate every aspect of our lives. We cannot pick and choose the parts we like or don’t like, we must be wholeheartedly in. This is a part of our What, but it is much more, for the Christian our What is all we do for Christ, how we live our lives.

Hebrews 10:23 ESV

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

When we draw near to God it predisposes us to obey this command, the command to hold fast, or persevere in hope as some translations say. We should not waver because our hope is founded in God not man. For we hope in His faithfulness not our own. As Paul tells us in Romans 8:31-39 “ If God is for us , who can be against us” Our hope, our faith, our strength, our salvation are all founded in God and God alone. Read Romans 8:31-39. There are so many people in our world today just getting by, and I don’t mean monetarily. They have no hope, because they have no relationship, a true saving relationship with God. But for those who have that saving relationship, we have a hope and confidence like no other that is anchored in Christ. Read Hebrews 6:19-20.

The How

Hebrews 10:24–25 ESV

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.

Here in verse 24 we see part of our How. We are to stir up each other to love and good works. Here we see the importance of our corporate worship. There is no such thing as a lone Christian. Satan would love it if we all tried it by ourselves, because we are easier prey when we are alone. That is why we see in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 Read. As brothers and sisters in Christ we are commanded to help each other. These good words are the things God calls us to, as well as commands us to do.

In verse 25 we see more of our How, we are to meet, encourage each other. Remember “yes it is true you don’t have to come to church to be a Christian. It is also true you don not have to go home to be married either. But in both cases if we do not, we will have poor relationships”. Being here is a part of our relationship with Christ, it is about obedience, remember these are not just suggestions, they are commands from our Lord. We also see an urgency placed on this. “All the more as the Day draws near”. Well that day is still drawing near, so what are we waiting on. The Christian life is one lived with a sense of urgency, a sense of direction found in God’s word.

Full Living

What is the point of me covering this today. Well I think in our world today for many people attending church is not important. Lets be clear sitting here in these pews is not what saves us, but as we have seen from these verses today we are commanded to meet together. Why, because God knows the importance of meeting together for our spiritual health. It helps us grow in our relationship with Christ, and remember what we learned from Bro. Bobby last Sunday obedience is a part of our relationship with Him. We are blessed to live in a country where we are free to meet and worship, according to Open Doors there were 4,998 Christians killed for their faith last year. Some countries are not allowed to meet publicly they meet in secret, they do not have Bibles readily available so they teach from memory. But here in our country we don’t come to church sometimes because it is an inconvenience for us, or the weather is not the best, its to late. We come up with numerous excuses. Lets get back to the Golden Circle, why are we here, what are we doing and how are we doing it. Our Why should be because of our relationship with Christ, our What should be us drawing near to God through Christ which leads us to obedience, and our How is partially by corporate worship. Meeting together and encouraging, stirring each other up. We should be full of confidence because of Christ, and what God has done through Him. We should not be afraid to be different than the rest of the world. C.S. Lewis said “When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind.”

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