uh this morning uh we switched the series so we've been going through hebrews at night and looking at joshua in the morning tonight we'll come back and look at the great passage where the sun stood still in joshua chapter 10 but um this morning i thought hebrews chapter 10 verses 19 through 25 since we're there is a very appropriate passage as we anticipate coming to the table so i invite you to turn to hebrews chapter 10 and that's found on page 1194 and we'll read together verses 19 through 25 let's give our attention this morning unto the word of the lord therefore brothers since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of jesus by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain that is through his flesh and since we have a great priest over the house of god 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 let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promises faithful and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works 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 and there will end the reading of god's word well as we come to the lord's table this morning i thought uh this study in hebrews provides a wonderful perspective for us uh this morning as we come as to what this is all about and what jesus said even in the supper that the supper is a communion of his body that fellowship and communion is very important and something the scriptures give a lot of attention to the passage before us is just about that it's about fellowship and communion in the body of christ and and what it looks like what it is to be what we are to enjoy and i want to make sure that i emphasize that this is this is an enjoyment that god gives us and i say that this morning that this is so important for us as we look at this because my experience as a pastor knowing even my own heart is that we generally do not appreciate as we should the special privilege that we have to be members of the body of christ we generally approach the church as consumers deep within us naturally is a kind of dissatisfaction that is never really happy with the church that struggles with the church something that just naturally comes out of us as sinners this institution we don't we we fight against in many different ways and one of the great reasons for that is is because we have made the church about our likes and our dislikes that's an important thing to say we are in many ways today intoxicated with dopamine you know if you have always dopamine highs that high gets really boring did you know that think of how people approach the church today what are they asking when they choose the church what what what what is the foremost question on people's minds as the surveys go 80 percent say uh these questions rate their their choice of church involvement in things like top category being the friendliness of the people second is children's programs third and the real big one is the music fourth is at the bottom of the list is sermons and pastors pastors i guess get to the bottom we're so programmed today to think of the church as a commodity something that i i am sovereign over in deciding what i like and what i dislike and i can say that without any hesitancy most church involvement today and attendance when it rests on these questions is full of narcissism and self-serving attitudes it's no wonder people don't grow no wonder people uh don't grow and remain infants in the faith this is a great offense to the lord i have to say that up front this is this whole mentality of american church that whole mentality is a great offense to him something that will have serious consequences not only on your level of christian maturity and faith in christ but whether you are indeed becoming more christ-like himself in sanctification you should know pretty much by now that any way you naturally evaluate something because you're a sinner and involvement in christ's kingdom will be directly encountered and countered by the wisdom of the Lord. The question is, will you listen to it? He tests us. He tests where people are. Where they are in the faith. As Hebrews says, as it already said before, there are many, many people who are involved in the kingdom of God who after all these years, even being raised in it, are still on milk when they should be chewing on a lot of meat by now. well that's where we are today in this great passage and i want to consider this with you as we look at this wonderful section that demonstrates what i think is is so beautiful about what is true and and true faith and it really gets to the nitty-gritty of the christian life what we have here today is the godly mindset of how we are to look at and evaluate the church involvement in God's kingdom the mindset he wants us to have not the mindset that we naturally try to push on it what are the responsibilities of being members of Christ's church and that is really before us today so we're considering that we're we're looking at that it's important i say again because if involvement in christ's kingdom is based on our wants and our desire desires there will always be a lingering dissatisfaction that remains in you that is really driven by the dopamine that doesn't promote growth in the faith or what involvement in the kingdom of god should be so that's why we have to give our careful attention to the scriptures on this great point and there's three you'll notice here in the heart of this three imperatives that he's giving with the let us let us let us and if you could summarize those three let us responsibilities it would be let us have faith let us have hope and let us have love let us have faith and let us have hope and let us have love and that's how you can break down this great passage today i believe as others have noticed and you'll see here that as we work through it in verse 19 we have one of the great therefores in the scripture you know when the writers do this they're drawing important conclusions and this is probably one of the most important therefores in the book of hebrews we have the great therefore the author is now applying christianity we have so wanted that in our day the question is will we accept the application as god gives it therefore this is the proof of proof of true and genuine faith not superficial faith this is true faith this is genuine faith remember this was the great struggle in the book many of the the members were ready to give up on the christian faith due to hardship in life due to persecution in the first century we considered and the fact that what the Christian faith was offering to them what the reign of Christ was offering to them just didn't seem that powerful it didn't provide the best sensory experience for them at least in the old covenant you could see and touch and handle things they thought there was more to it this worship in spirit and in truth doesn't afford us the power of what we think the kingdom of god should have this is the same problem that we deal with today well he's gone after all this systematically by working through old testament types and shadows to explain that in the new covenant the blessings of the new covenant you have the realities now you have what all those things spoke of you have what all those things in foreshadowed and in form spoke of the reality that is what has come to you in the new covenant that is what is given to you in the new covenant now you recognize that if he has to keep explaining this to such a degree this is hard for us to accept in something that we naturally fight against so he begins by summarizing everything he's been developing in this book and he summarizes the incredible blessings of the new covenant with sort of a culmination here of explaining what this means for the people of god today therefore brethren having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of jesus by a new and living way which he consecrated for us through the veil that is his flesh and having a high priest over the house of god that is a mouthful his focus here i want to make sure and and you see where he's aiming to go with this comes in verse 25 so it kind of brings it full circle where he says what he's after is and what he was concerned about was is that many of the members attitude toward the church was listen i don't want you to forsake the assembling together as is the manner of some assembling is an important word here for the author in hebrews it means for him the regular gathering of christians for worship that was practiced all throughout the centuries on the first days of the week and it wasn't even so divided out into two services like we do it was a full day of gathering in the early church they spent their day as much as possible together he he is in his mind thinking about meeting together as the body of christ that that principal way we meet together that most important way that we meet together is in worship it includes the other activities that we do and the fellowship that we have but on his mind is this all-important day set aside on the first day of week for worship and rest and enjoyment of one another there has always been in the history of the church a problem of those who are very loosely involved with this project those who make an excuse to neglect the coming together those who don't find the value in it those who have tried to find reasons to stay away from it i mean you just think in our day what is some of that reason what is some of that reasoning well we'll just slap it you know legalism on anything to get an excuse to get out of something this was the habit of some they saw no value in the church their attitude to the church was distant and isolated they did it for a variety of reasons but but but notice it was always a real chance he sees emphasizing here to be away from the body of christ to be distant from the body of christ to be separated from the body of christ to be isolated from the body of christ it's ironic because we all know that in our our day of of sort of selfish individualism many think that isolation is a way of happiness nothing is more contrary to the truth we hear it almost incessantly today in christian circles i don't need to go to church to be a christian that has some sort of pious sound to it i remember rc sproul somebody said that to him years ago and he responded i don't know how you could claim to be a true christian and not love and gather with the body of christ that he died for i don't know how that's possible the author would see this mentality as not christian so so this is important but i love how he approaches them how he approaches them is he doesn't really beat them up for the bad attitude he gives them a moving pastoral encouragement to inspire them to change the thinking change your thinking change your world therefore brothers as if to say i don't want to think that way of you i think better of things of you as he said earlier in the book of hebrews he sets before them the ultimate motivation to challenge them in that natural response to the church and the kingdom of god this is why i always said we give almost all of our attention to every other gathering to find more importance in it naturally than we would to the public gathering because here we are really forced with facing the lord and the most important questions of life have you heard he says what i've been saying to you do you know what god's done for you in the new covenant therefore having boldness to enter the holiest through the blood of jesus by a new and new and living way that could have never been said in old covenant worship and i would say in many forms of christian worship today that still is not being said having boldness to enter the holiest through the blood of jesus by a new and living way when israel came to worship they of course had tons of external stimuli you know the psalms will even celebrate something like psalm 150 and all the instruments that were used we don't quite know how that all went in old testament and old covenant worship but but in worship in spirit and in truth the author sees something that's a much better new and living way in the old covenant nobody could come in the throne room of god there were boundaries there was a veil it was six inch thick veil sewn together that no man could tear all those barriers coming into in the tabernacle to come to the throne of god worship was indeed a danger zone but he says do you know when you come together have you really thought about what we're saying to you have you accepted it do you know what's happening do you know what did happen jesus's flesh when his very body in the incarnation was torn in his sacrifice on the cross, you were actually given direct access into the most holy place. A new and living way has been opened up to you. You are living in the time of the new and the living way. Worship in spirit and in truth? you have the privilege to come with boldness because he's your high priest, your friend. God has brought you near to the blood of his son. Now you could imagine if we all thought of worship and our fellowship together this way, that's precisely what everyone is confused about today. So what we've done is what we've tried to do is to create a better experience of this to make us feel that we're close to God. If we could just feel it better, we'll get there. That's the mentality behind it. If I could just feel this a little bit better, I can get there. And the determination of me getting there is based upon how I feel. It's almost how everyone looks at the church today. We're not listening. We're still not listening. All of our music and all of our excitement and the things we think bring us close to God is exactly what got Israel into trouble in the Old Covenant. Because it was an attempt to manipulate God, to bring God to them their way. Paul goes after this in Romans 10. When you gather, listen to what he's saying. You are before his face. you are before his face when all the noise is taken away and you actually have to think and be calm reverence follows all follows which is what he's going to say in hebrews 13 when you come to worship worship with reverence and with all because you're not only you're before the face of God, it's because he is indeed a consuming fire and he's not consuming you. You're communing with him. You're fellowshipping with him. Jesus has secured in his body the bringing of us before the face of God. I say, if only we could see right now what's happening. i've said it so many times if you could see right now all the angels gathered you could see that you're lifted up into heaven in the spirits worship and spirit and truth is and that you're actually gathered with the heavenly host right now praising god before the face of god because jesus is risen you'd look at this all the different the new testament presents the worship of the saints as the direct gathering of christ's body together with the heavenly beings in heaven who worship him day and night so after rehearsing this open veil through his flesh he says you have responsibilities if your faith is true and your faith is genuine you have responsibilities and here's three of them that are really important for you first let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. Put away childness. It's time to grow up. You are now to genuinely come. That other way and what you're pursuing is not genuine. It's phony. It's fake. I want you to come with a certain kind of dedication. I think true heart here is so important, don't you? I mean, that was the big issue with Jesus and the religious community of his day. It was the problem of the Pharisees who worshipped God with their lips, but their heart was far. He said that. In vain do they worship me. They worship me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. It was a superficial display, a cultural display. It wasn't true because the heart wasn't cleansed. That's what he connects it with. Notice that. hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and your bodies washed with pure water. He's been talking a lot about this in Hebrews, that what the gospel actually intends for you is actual cleansing. This is what baptism signified today. And some have wrestled with this. Was this on his mind in the author of Hebrews? Was he thinking about baptism? Whatever the case, it signifies it. It's talking about the inward heart cleansing that we all need that produces true Christianity, not fake Christianity. And what he's saying here is, that should animate you. That should animate you. Where you see true worshippers, they are those living in assurance of the forgiveness of their sins. Where you see true worshippers, you see people captivated by the gospel. What's it worth when you gather to hear, I'm not holding your sins against you? That was the promise of the new covenant. I will sprinkle water on you and you shall be clean, Ezekiel 36, from all your uncleanness. Why do people really stay away? Why do people really stay away? It's really one reason. They struggle with their right standing before God. And a struggle with many is that in the heart they've not been born again yet. This is what Jesus said to Nicodemus. Are you a teacher in Israel and you've not yet been born again? You don't have a new heart? A new heart is captivated by the assurance given to him of God's favor and love. Most expressed in drawing near. In worship. You get to come with boldness believing. Your sins are washed away. You already get to enjoy right now the truth. You're not under judgment. You're already in his presence with favor. Why would someone stay away from that? Do they believe it? And when that truth overtakes you, you realize this is not about entertaining me. There's something with far more value happening than the entertainment I get in the world six days a week, which is usually cheap. It's about enjoying my reconciliation with God. The inner reality of what Hebrews has been after in the gathering of the saints I get to enjoy. Only those will truly worship God and draw near to them are those who are by faith believing and trusting in the sacrifice of Christ to forgive their sins. Otherwise, it's just a duty. That's not a true heart. that's not a true heart. That's the first let us, responsibility. Second, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. And you think, are these burdensome things to us? These are not burdensome. What is he telling us to do? He's telling us that when you come, see the whole mind has to be reoriented to thinking about the church. He who promised is faithful. Since we have Christ as our high priest, I want you to draw near in hope. Hope's not wishful thinking. Why do people neglect worship and the fellowship of the body? Let's be clear. It's because they don't have any hope and they don't really care about it. Hope inspires worship. What is hope? Well, he'll say, faith is the assurance of things hoped for. What we'll get there in Hebrews 11, He who promises faithful, promised what? Eternal life. We don't neglect the gathering together of the saints because the day is approaching and we have hope. It all anticipates that. God is so faithful. He promised that when He comes, it's not, end of chapter 9, to deal with our sins but to give us salvation. That's hope. And your minds have to be constantly refreshed in that. Our involvement in the kingdom of God is the very evidence that we're living in hope. And that He will not fail to give us any good thing that He promised. You know, when you're on your deathbed, and things get real serious, and all the games stop, What are you asking for? What are you asking for? Not the things that you probably sought in life that were about you. What you're asking for is the hope that is set out before you, maybe as Machen said, of the active and passive obedience of Christ because there is no hope without it. It's hope that drives us. And hope drives your involvement because you're believing the promises. Finally, there's one more responsibility. Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. This one probably challenges us the most. We approach involvement in the church and the kingdom of God solely on our terms. What do I like? What do I dislike? Recently I had someone say to me, we're going to a different church because we don't like the people. I said to him, I don't know that I've ever heard a more selfish reasoning for involvement in the kingdom of God. You mean you might actually have to love sacrificially people God puts you among that you don't think are very lovely? I guess you think pretty highly that you're the lovely one, so you better use that gift. The author here is appealing to have a deep love and commitment to the fellow members of Christ's body whom he died for. Yeah, some of us are weird, you know. My dad and I used to always say that about some of us. That guy's different. And one day I said to my dad, you know, maybe we're the different ones, you know. Everything is pulling you away from the most important bonds that God has set up for you. Do you know that? Everything. We have all kinds of people here in different places. We have some wandering. We have some not growing. Some are just here for the culture. We have some who are facing afflictions. We have some who have not been born again. We have some who are really struggling with pain. We have some who are suffering affliction. I mean, go right down the line. Do you know the bonds of Christian fellowship are either strengthening or weakening? everything's pulling you away from it. God shows his love to his people through you. All of us are needy. The author here is deeply concerned about a deficient perspective of love in the body of Christ. Totally unconcerned for the well-being of those who should be our greatest concern. The church, the kingdom. These people God saved next to you who are going to heaven with you. Did you know that? One author said, it's all evidence of self-concern and egocentricity. Selfishness and self-centeredness goes hands in hand for self-love. And here's what he said, it breeds a spirit of isolationism. Self-love is isolating. that's its fruit. But true love, like Christ's kind of love, is sacrificial. He is encouraging and trying to stimulate and advance that kind of love in the body. How many people need encouragement here? How many people need comfort? How many people need a word fitting in due season? That's the kind of selfless, sacrificial love that is Christ-like. Our Lord wasn't on the sidelines. He wasn't asking about His own interests. You enjoy a love by Him toward you who were totally unlovely to Him. And He was deeply involved in loving His body and caring for the widows and the orphans and the afflicted. You know, think about it. We gather twice a week on Sunday. Soup suppers are great. I love soup suppers. This church makes the best soup I've ever had. But there's nothing more special than this. I've had this challenge because we do something and you don't ever want to sound arrogant trying to push, well, evening worship's important. No other church seems to do it. So, you know, what we've done is we've said, it's legalism. Lord doesn't expect that. We don't need to do that. How do you square that with Hebrews 10? Two hours a week, fellowshipping with your body on a day of rest. You have a few options. One, it's happy hour. You just don't want to come. One, you don't think it's important at all. Others, you're not born again. You don't care. Maybe there's some who can't get here because, you know, it's late and it's dark. Maybe we should have help to bring people who want to come and can't come. There are legitimate reasons. I'm not saying there aren't. but i'm trying not to pastorally be i'm trying to say look at what's being promoted here in this strengthening your faith encouraging you in hope and training you to be christ-like and serving someone not yourself that's what's being promoted here and that takes place in the context of the gathering only the most selfish self-serving heart would see that as a burden and we all struggle with it without appreciating the immensity of the sacrifice of what christ has done for us when his intention for us is joy and blessing see why i said we need to have an entire different mindset with regard to the church we need true hearts with regard to the church. Born again hearts with regard to the church. Then it would be the craziest idea in our minds to neglect such a privilege to gather together with the brothers and sisters that Christ actually shed blood for. The day is approaching, says the Lord. When Jesus gave his supper, He said, this is my body. This is a communion of my body. And the day is soon approaching where we're going to get to eat and drink anew in the kingdom with him together, not in isolation. He's coming and he's calling us to live in faith and he's calling us to have hope and He's calling us to love. That's no burden, beloved. That's the greatest privilege He could give you. That is how love and sanctification will be most advanced in our lives, if you want to be sanctified. By giving ourselves to involvement in His church and His kingdom because He's brought us right into the throne room and before the face of God. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for so great a salvation and thank you for inspiring and inciting in us in the new covenant, changing our attitudes to love the body of Christ. Remove all selfish ambition and attitudes of isolation and thinking that we know best for ourselves. And let us find delight in worshiping you and the beauty of your holiness as expressed here in faith and hope and love. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.