Well, as we open this new year, I would like to have you open your New Testaments to the letter to the Hebrews. Letter to the Hebrews, that's near the end, last big letter before Revelation. Our text is found in chapter 10 of that letter, beginning at verse 19, Hebrews chapter 10, verse 19, you'll find that on page 1,283 in the Pew Bible. 1, 2, 8, 3. Even though we can mark time as the world does through the cycles of days and weeks and months and now years, that's really not the calendar that we are called to live by as God's people. Through faith in Christ we're called and equipped to live with the knowledge that each and every day is one day closer to the last day. That we live in the last days between Christ's coming, inaugurated when He came in the flesh that we celebrate at Christmas, to be closed out when He comes again in glory to judge the nations. This is the time in which we live. Unbelievers scoff at the idea that Christ is coming again to end time. We believe and we confess from the word of God that the day is nearer now than it was when we first believed. That it will come when we least expect it like a thief. And that when it does we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. But now we stand at the turning of another year. Another year has come. Another year is gone. And still, He's not come back. And we may be tempted, as saints in every age have been tempted, to doubt that He's coming, at least not very soon. To lose our focus as His people and to waver, to drift from our commitment to Christ and our commitment to His people. The church. I believe we live in an age where this is rampant. The church is not very high on anyone's mind. This letter to the Hebrews was written to saints, to believers, some of whom wavered, struggling with unbelief. And like them, some of you are simply going through the motions in worship. Not really engaged. Not really drawing near to the Lord. Some feel that God is against you. And you lack assurance that Christ gave his life for you. Some are unsure of what exactly the gospel is, let alone how to say it. And some just lack interest in and care for those around you. You're not the first, and you won't be the last to struggle in these ways. And for one reason or another, some who struggle with these things find themselves developing a habit. A habit of not assembling for worship. A habit of not assembling and therefore stagnating, ceasing to grow in faith and in hope and in love. Now I know myself, and I know you, well enough to know that with all the saints of all the ages, we must pray, Lord, we believe. Help our unbelief. Our text this morning answers this prayer, at least in part. In chapter 10, verses 19 through 25, we are urged to strive against unbelief, motivated by what we already have, and directed in how we can strive against it. Our text begins in verse 19 with, therefore. to bring to mind what's already been said. And so we're going to turn back and consider a few things that were said. So turn one page back in your Bibles to chapter 8. We'll begin reading it, verse 1, for a few verses. Hear now the word of God. Now the point in what we are saying is this. We have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven, A minister in the holy places in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices. Thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God saying, See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain. But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better since it is enacted on better promises. Now turning forward one page again to chapter 10, we'll pick up in verse 12. Rereading and reminding ourselves of our assurance of pardon this morning, which is the framework within which we enter our text today. Verse 12. When Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, waiting for that time until His enemies should be made a footstool for His feet. For by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. The Holy Spirit also bears witness to us after saying, For after saying, this is the covenant that I will make with them, after those days, declares the Lord, I will put my laws on their hearts and write them on their minds. Then he adds, I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more. When there's forgiveness of these, there's no longer any offering for sin. And now our text. 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 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 promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good deeds, 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. So ends the reading of God's Word this morning. Well, in order to strive against the unbelief that we all struggle with from time to time, sometimes more than others, we need to be reminded and motivated for the fight by what we already have. Verses 19 through 21, the author addresses us as brothers to have us remember something. He calls us brothers because we have gained access to God through Jesus Christ so that we have entered into a new relationship with God as our father and with one another as brothers. Therefore, brothers, he says, remember these two things we already have. We have confidence, verse 19, and we have a great priest, verse 21. Now when he says we have confidence, he's not saying that we necessarily feel confident. You and I both know how often we don't. But what he is saying is that as brothers in Christ, we have been granted a confidence, granted a boldness, an authorized ability to act in ways that we couldn't act before. Let me illustrate. Now that I've been granted pre-TSA status, when I go to the airport, I get to go to the front of the line. Now, I may not remember to use it. I may not choose to use it. I may not feel very bold when I use it. In fact, I might feel a little uncomfortable because of all the people looking at me. But whether I feel it or don't, whether I use it or don't, I have been granted access. That's what we're being told here, that as brothers in Christ, we have been granted authorized access into the very presence of God. Now, whether we draw near or not, or whether we feel bold or confident when we do draw near, we have this boldness. We have this confidence. We have this access that can never be revoked and never taken away. What follows in verses 19 and 20, then, is an allegory to help us get a picture of what this boldness entails. Now, many have debated the details of these two verses. Especially whether the flesh in verse 20 represents the curtain or the way through the curtain. We're going to leave that all on the shelf this morning. Because I believe if we step back and let the ambiguity of the language that the author uses stand, we'll see something bigger and more important here. We'll more easily see how verses 19 and 20 speak of the same thing from two different perspectives. Verse 19, we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus. Verse 20, by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain that is His flesh. These verses speak of three things. Each of them speak of three things. First, the way. verse 19 tells us that we have boldness to enter the way verse 20 tells us that this way is new and that it's living the second thing it tells us is what is gained through the way where it leads, where it goes and through the way we gain access to the living God we gain access to eternal life in the presence of the living God and that's symbolized in the Old Testament temple by the holy places, verse 19, that could only be accessed through the curtain, verse 20. And the third thing they speak about is the price of admission, the cost of access. And that, of course, is the once and only sacrifice of Jesus Christ, referred to in verse 19 as the blood of Jesus, and in verse 20, through his flesh. So there's really only one thing being said here in two different ways. From our perspective, verse 19, we have boldness to enter. We have boldness to enter the holy places through the blood of Jesus. And from Christ's perspective, verse 20, we enter by the new and living way that He opened for us through the curtain that is His flesh. This picture is to help us see that what the Old Testament priest did imperfectly, figuratively, and repeatedly, offering sacrifices to go through the curtain into the Holy of Holies, into the presence of God. Christ is accomplished perfectly. Actually. Once and for all. And has opened a new way of access to life with the living God. And he's opened it not only for himself as our great high priest. As our forerunner, he has opened it for everyone who is joined to him with faith. This is what we have. And we not only have boldness to enter into the very presence of God because of the finished work of Jesus Christ, according to verse 21, we also have a great priest. That is a high priest. A high priest over the house of God. The point here is that Jesus as high priest has gone before and he remains before. He's still in heaven. He ministers there and he ministers for us. He intercedes for us before the Father. And he rules over us as his people. We're not alone in this world. We're not alone in his church. We have a great priest ministering over us in the household of God. It is he who is building his church as we reflected upon this morning. In order to strive against unbelief, we're not left to our own resources. We have none. If left to ourselves, we would not believe. We would drift. We would waver. We've been given resources in Christ that are as boundless as He is. And because of that, we need nothing other than Christ. We need nothing more than Christ. We need nothing in addition to Christ. We have all that we need to strive against unbelief. Verses 19 through 21 remind us of what we already have. verses 20 through 25 now are used to direct us in how we can strive against unbelief it gives us things to do in the resources that we have now throughout the New Testament we hear about faith hope and love in the church you think of a couple familiar places 1 Corinthians chapter 13 where Paul reminds the church that of all God's gifts, faith, hope, and love abide and the greatest of these is love. And perhaps you remember 1 Thessalonians 1 when Paul writes to tell them that he's been praying to God, remembering before God their work of faith, their labor of love and the steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. Faith, hope, and love. That's what the Christian life is about is faith, hope, and love. And here in our text this morning, verses 23 through 24, we're directed in how we should and how we are now able to strive against unbelief together by drawing near to God through faith, by holding fast to the confession of our hope, and by considering one another to promote love. So here we have it. In these verses, verses 22, 23, and 24, each one begins with the exhortation, let us. That's not a wish. That's a compelling invitation to join together with the writer, to join together with the preacher, join together with one another in worship and in the context of worship, as we'll see, to do these things. According to verse 22, we strive against unbelief when we draw near to God in worship through faith in Jesus Christ. Did you know that today, by your presence here, we are striving together against unbelief, which is always at the door, always gnawing at our soul, always trying to draw us away. This is an act of striving to be here to worship the Lord in faith. The way into God's presence has been opened to us, so let us draw near, he says. Let us draw near together. And let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. Now we can read that and we can get discouraged because we can think that it's up to us to get our hearts true and our faith assured. And that's not what he's saying. He's not saying wait in the bullpen until you get it all together and then come into worship. Draw near with these things and we need to know what these things are and we need to know how we gain them. 1 Kings chapter 8 tells us that our hearts are true to the Lord when we are living according to His will instead of our own. That's the mark of a true heart. A true heart follows the way of the Lord, not our own way. This is always the case, but it's especially the case when we draw near to worship. The Lord has told us how He wants to be worshipped. He told the Samaritan woman that God is spirit and those who would worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth. We must worship according to His will. To draw near in full assurance of faith is to draw near with a faith that is true, a faith that is anchored in the right object, Jesus. Not in ourselves, not in our birthrights, not in our families, not in anything else but in Jesus. And that faith can be true even when it doesn't feel very sure. We confess in Heidelberg 21 that this deep-rooted assurance is created in us. by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel. And by it, we trust that Christ has opened the way not only for other people, but for me too. We believe that Jesus Christ has opened the way for me too. We can come in full assurance of faith. Even if today, my sins testify against me and my conscience accuses me and I'm not so sure. What follows in verse 22 now is another allegory, another picture taken from the Old Testament, this time of the priesthood, to show us that it is God who prepares us with these things that we might draw near. Before Old Testament priests could enter into the presence of God, they had to be sprinkled with blood and washed with water. Or they would die. They were sprinkled with blood when they were ordained to symbolize that those who draw near to God that must have their sins pardoned at the price of blood in order to be justified once and for all. That was never repeated in the life of a priest. They were washed with water on the day of their consecration and every time they served in the temple. And that was to symbolize that those who draw near to God must be washed clean of sin's pollution to be sanctified not once and for all but throughout their lives. You should be hearing things you've heard before, our justification and our sanctification, our sprinkling with blood for the forgiveness of sins, our washing with water for the washing away of our sins and its pollution. What the sprinkling and the washing symbolize must be accomplished in reality in anyone who would enter and draw near to God. No hypocrite, no pretender, No unrepentant person can draw near to God. They can go through the motions. They can be here. They can't draw near to God unless these things are done. But with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience by the sprinkled blood of Jesus so that they're justified. And with our bodies washed with pure water by the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit so that we're being sanctified. Let us draw near. Let us draw near to worship God with a true heart and a full assurance of faith. It's God who makes you ready and it's God who bids you draw near. In verse 23, we find that we can strive against unbelief when we hold fast the confession of our hope. Well, to hold fast to something is to hold it tight. Something that we already have. Someone that we already have. So as to not let them go. They're precious to us. We cherish them. It's not something that we need to take hold of anew. It's something that we have and we are called to keep near. So just as we hold fast our children to keep them from danger, let's hold fast the confession of our hope. Let's hold past the confession of our hope, especially when we gather together for worship. Our hope is anchored to Christ. Our hope is born of faith in Christ. This faith that trusts the promise of God, trusts in Jesus who was promised, and it is a faith that we make known to others. And if we have that faith, and our faith is in Christ, our hope is in Christ, and we confess it. We make it known. Not only do we believe in our hearts, we confess with our mouth. And we do that every time we gather here together. Every song that we sing, every prayer that we raise is a confession. If not of the hope exactly, it's grounded in that hope. Let's hold past the hope, the confession of our hope. This hope that we have is unwavering because it is backed by the promise of God. He who promised what we hope for is faithful. In fact, he said in chapter 6 of this same letter that he not only promised it to all who trust in Jesus, he also guaranteed it with an oath. So that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge in Jesus have strong encouragement to hold fast the hope set before us. We have every reason to hold fast because it won't shift. It won't move. It can't be undone and it can't be lost. Our hope is unwavering. But our confession of that hope can waver. It can drift. If we don't count it precious, if we neglect to guard it, to teach it to pass it along to the next generation to attend to his proclamation our confession will waver it doesn't take much to look across the history of the church and see where the confession of this hope was lost in churches that no longer gather for the gospel and no longer believe the gospel we no longer know the gospel. Therefore, let us together hold fast the confession of our hope. Let's count it precious. And let's exert ourselves to know the promise of the gospel. Know it well enough that we can say it. Love it well enough to sit under it. Be eager for it enough to read and to study the word of God. Let's hold fast the confession. of our hope. According to verse 24, we strive against unbelief when we consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. Yes, I changed the order of the words there if you were following along. I changed them back to what the writer said. Let us consider one another. Let's lift our eyes and look and see and hear and understand and grow to appreciate one another. Let's pay attention to one another. Let's take notice of one another. What are their circumstances? How are they doing? This requires real commitment and significant effort. More than it takes to say, how are you? As you walk by on Sunday morning. And more than it takes to answer, I'm fine, as you keep on walking. We gather together to worship together. It's not the same as sitting in front of your television screen with someone and watching a movie together. Or you're both just watching a movie in the same place and at the same time by yourself. We gather here together to worship together. To be concerned for one another. To encourage one another. To mourn with those who mourn. To rejoice with those who rejoice. To have our lives mingled with other saints. And chained. And to be used to chained one another. Our consideration for one another is to serve this purpose. which is to stir up love and good works. And when love is stirred up for another person, good works toward that person will follow. You won't do good for someone you don't love and you won't love someone that you don't know. Let us be concerned for one another. In Christ we've been set free from sin, which means we've been set free from the self-centered bondage of sin that keeps us turned in on ourselves. And so, in light of that, Paul tells the Galatians something that we need to remember here, that we're not to use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, that is, not as an opportunity for ourselves to do what I want more. That's what we want to do with it. No, use your freedom through love to serve one another. Therefore, let us be looking for opportunities in the lives of one another to promote love and care here in this congregation. Let us exercise our faith. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope and let us be concerned one another to promote love. If the author were to stop there, we might go home today thinking that this is something that we are to do on our own. In the privacy of our own homes. Or in the echo chambers of our own minds. He does not stop there. He proceeds in verse 25 to show us that all of our striving will be losing unless it's grounded in and strengthened by our worship together here as a congregation. It's hard to see in our English translation, but verse 25 is actually the end of a long sentence that began in verse 19. This has all been one thought, this whole text. And what he says here in verse 25 is not a tack-on, it's not something new, it's not something other. It is to be the character of our life together that undergirds and informs and strengthens all these things that we can do through Christ who strengthens us. And in verse 25 we find two contrary opinions of the importance of being present when the congregation gathers together for worship. Some, he says, believe it's not important and have a habit of neglecting to meet together. The author, inspired by the Holy Spirit, warns against that opinion and encourages us, urges us, to encourage one another to meet together. That's the point of this last verse. Don't neglect meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encourage one another, implied, to meet together. This is how the whole sentence flows. Since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near. Let us draw near in full assurance of faith. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope and let us consider one another to promote love and good deeds and all the while not neglecting to meet together but encouraging one another to meet together. The language here is stronger than it sounds in English. The word neglect is pretty tame. To neglect to meet together for worship is to forsake, to abandon, to turn your back, not only on the congregation, but also on the God we have gathered together to worship. It is a do and about face. That's the strength of that word. It's not a neutral act. It's not a ho-hum habit. Just as it was a habit of some when this letter was written, it was a habit of some when John Calvin was a minister, it's a habit of some today. and while the author to Hebrews does not name names or identify specific reasons he does go on to warn in the next section that the road to apostasy the road out of the church is paved with this neglect it's an easy habit to fall into it's an easy habit to fall into when we have something more entertaining to do or when we're too tired and would rather rest our bodies than be refreshed in spirit. An easy habit to fall into when we're simply not interested enough to come. It's an easy habit. Some have more pious sounding reasons for neglecting to meet together. They see themselves as so mature and so spiritual they no longer need the church. I've known people this way. I suspect you do too as well. or they find something lacking in the congregation or its worship and excuse themselves from it. Now, these may go do some church shopping. They may do some fence hopping, as it's called. But more often than not, they end up alone in what I call the Holy Church of One, which is no church at all. Behind all these reasons for neglecting to meet together is the wrong-headed and hard-hearted idea that the church is somehow a hindrance to my spirituality. And it's a refusal to believe that to fight the good fight of the faith, we need the church. And the church needs us. It's a refusal to believe that participation in the life and worship of the church is necessary for my personal growth in faith, in hope, and in love. It's easy to see, just looking at ourselves, while we all need this encouragement from this text to encourage one another to meet together to worship. Sometimes we ask, when's the last time you invited somebody to the church? When's the last time you invited someone who belongs to this church to come to church? To encourage them to come. To grow in faith, in hope, and in love. And, the author says, because faith keeps its eye on the horizon, remembering the time in which we live, remembering that the last day is drawing near, we know that we must do this all the more, for time is growing shorter day by day. No matter how long it feels it's going to go on, the day is short, the time is short. And as we see the day approaching, let's encourage one another. more and more meet together that together we might grow in our faith and our hope and our love because all that Christ has done for us that we may draw near to him faith only father we thank you for your word this morning the word spoken to the church written in a day to a particular church or group of churches Lord but still timely for us today for we are but men saints through faith in Christ and yet still sinners with habits of the heart. We've been reminded today, Lord, of all that you've done for us in Jesus Christ, all that we have in him that we might draw near to you, the very basis for us being here today. Lord, help us to battle against the unbelief that plagues our hearts, to know that in the context of worship here in the church with your people before the throne of grace is the place where we can grow in our faith grow in our hope mature in our love this is the fertile ground that you've given to us for this purpose and that to step away to neglect being here is to to shrivel and perhaps die be revealed as one who never really trusted in Christ at all Lord help us to be eager to encourage one another for life as your people in the body of Christ. It's in his name we pray. Amen.