May 28, 2025 • 50 mins
As members of the new covenant, Christians can enter God’s presence with full assurance through faith in Jesus Christ, and they have a hope that is as sure as God’s faithful character. But these privileges are not private blessings for isolated individuals. In this message from Hebrews 10:19–25, David Platt shows us the privilege and responsibility we have to gather regularly with the church and encourage our fellow members to press on in following Christ. As a community of faith, we are to stir up one another to love and good works, particularly as the day of Christ’s return draws near.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are listening to David Platt Messages a weekly
podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author and
teacher David Platt.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
There's two foundational truths that we're
seeing here in Hebrews, chapter10.
The first one we looked at lastweek we were recipients of a
new covenant.
Last week what we looked at iswe saw how the new covenant in
Christ changed everything,revolutionized everything.
We didn't just dive into OldTestament history and theology
for the fun of it, because wedidn't have anything else better
(00:30):
to do on a snowy day.
We dove into that picture tosee the important, eternally
important, eternally relevantimplications of what we see in
Scripture for our lives.
This is why, even to go back towhat we were talking about
earlier with Bart, why it'snecessary for us to have solid
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biblical, theologicalfoundations in the local church
and in each of our Christianlives.
Because when we face trials inthis life, when we go through
different struggles, facedifferent situations in this
life, we don't want to face themstanding on sand that is
sinking beneath us.
We want to face them standingon a rock.
When you get unexpected newsfrom your doctor, when that
(01:17):
tragedy hits your home that younever could have imagined
happening, when you're facingforeclosure, or when your job is
gone, when things are notworking out in marriage the way
you had envisioned them, youdon't want sand to stand on
during those days.
You want a rock to stand onduring those days, and so that's
(01:42):
why we study theology and studythe Word and go deep, because
we want to stand strong.
We want to.
We don't just want to knowstuff.
We don't look at what we lookedat last week.
We don't talk about oldtestament priests having bells
sewn in the hem of the garmentjust so we can have a cool old
testament fact when the quizcomes up to share at parties or
something.
That's not the point.
(02:02):
The point is so that we knowwhat an awesome thing it is to
go into the presence of God andwe realize we've got direct
access there whenever thattragedy strikes.
We've got direct access thereat any moment of every day.
That's why we study deeptheology Recipients of a new
covenant and as a result ofbeing recipients of a new
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covenant and as a result ofbeing recipients of a new
covenant, second truth, whatwe're going to dive in today is
that we're members of a newcommunity.
Recipients of a new covenant,members of a new community.
What I want to show you inHebrews, chapter 10, verse 19,.
We're going to read from verse19 through 25.
I want you to see in thispassage, in this paragraph here,
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one foundation that the authorof Hebrews we don't know exactly
who wrote this, but the authorof Hebrews gives us one
foundation and threeexhortations based on that
foundation.
So three calls to action basedon this foundation.
See if you can identify thefoundation and then the
exhortations.
Listen to verse 19.
Therefore, brothers, since wehave confidence to enter the
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most holy place by the blood ofJesus, by a new and living way
open for us through the curtainthat is His body, and since we
have a great priest over thehouse of God, let us draw near
to God with a sincere heart andfull assurance of faith, having
our hearts sprinkled to cleanseus from a guilty conscience and
(03:29):
having our bodies washed withpure water.
Let us hold unswervingly to thehope we profess, for he who
promised is faithful, and let usconsider how we may spur one
another on toward love and gooddeeds.
Let us not give up meetingtogether, as some in the habit
of doing, but let us spur oneanother on toward love and good
deeds.
Let us not give up meetingtogether as some in the habit of
doing, but let us encourage oneanother, and all the more as
you see the day approaching,foundation, since we have
(03:54):
confidence in the most holyplace by the blood of Jesus, by
new and living ways, since wehave a great priest over the
house of God.
That's the foundation.
Because of these things, now wego.
These three directions Call toaction, three exhortations Let
us first draw near to God.
Then verse 23,.
Let us hold unswervingly to thehope we profess.
Then verse 24, let us considerhow we may spur one another on
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toward love and good deeds.
And in the NIV, the translationthat I use, verse 25 looks like
a couple of additional ones,but really they are based off of
that verse 24, let us considerhow we may spur one another on
toward love and good deeds.
So what you've got is threecalls to action based on the
foundation, as a result of whatChrist has done in the new
(04:39):
covenant.
This is huge Christ's work forus in the new covenant.
This is huge Christ's work forus in the new covenant.
What we looked at last week doesnot just have ramifications for
our relationship with God.
Christ's work for us in the newcovenant has ramifications for
our relationships with eachother, because Christ shed His
blood to make it possible foryou to go into the presence of
(05:02):
God.
Let us, let us, let us do thesethings.
Let us do these things to oneanother.
That phrase one another.
This is the only time theauthor of Hebrews uses that
phrase in the entire book.
And so what the author ofHebrews is showing us is that
Christ's work for us on thecross doesn't just radically
transform our relationship toGod.
Christ's work for us on thecross radically transforms our
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relationships with each other,recipients of a new covenant,
members of a new community.
You look in verse 21, since wehave a great priest over the
house of God.
He's not just a great priestfor you and he's not just a
great priest for me.
He's a great priest over us asthe house of God.
Hold your place here.
Go back to chapter 3, verse 6.
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It's the only other time we seethis phrase used in the book of
Hebrews, this phrase house ofGod.
Who's the house of God?
What's the house of God about?
Look at Hebrews, chapter 3,verse 6.
The author says Hebrews 3, 6,christ.
This is what we didn't get tolast week in our notes, that
we're going to kind of fill out.
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We're not going to be able tocamp out very long here we're
going to fill out the end of thenotes that we didn't get to
last week Verse 6, hebrews 3,.
Christ is faithful as a sonover God's house and we are His
house if we hold on to ourcourage and the hope of which we
boast.
We are the house of God thepeople, not a building.
We are the house of God, peopleof God are the house of God.
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What does that mean?
That we have a great priest whois over the house of God.
Well, it means, number one, wehave a king.
It's in your notes there whatwe didn't get to last week.
We have a king who foreverrules us.
Remember, end of chapter.
Midway through chapter 10, verse12, christ went and sat down at
the right hand of the throne ofGod and all enemies are at His
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footstool.
He is a King whose dominionreigns over all.
He is seated at the right handof God.
Just as a side note here, can Iremind you that when we go
through economic troubles or weface uncertain economic times or
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we face uncertain globalsituations, our hope is not in a
president.
We pray for our president andwe pray for our political
leaders, but our hope is not inthem.
Our hope is in the king, who isover every president and every
king and every dictator, everyprime minister, every secretary
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of the treasury and secretary ofthe state and secretary of
whatever else.
He's over them all.
His dominion reigns and there'sconfidence in that.
We have a king who rules overus and we have a priest who
forever represents us, a priestwho we saw in Hebrews, chapter 7
, intercedes for us and this isthat picture.
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We have the New Testament.
That does give us strength whenwe face trials, when we walk
through struggles.
It's Romans 8.
If God is for us, who can beagainst us?
He who did not spare his ownson but gave him up for us all?
Will he not also, along withhim, graciously give us all
things?
Who will bring any chargeagainst those whom God has
chosen?
It's God who justifies.
Who is he that condemns ChristJesus, who died More than that,
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who was raised to life and isnow?
Romans 8 says, is now at theright hand of the Father,
interceding for us?
Nothing can separate us fromHis love.
Nothing at all, heaven on earth, anywhere under the earth, can
separate us from His love,because we have a priest who
represents us before God atevery moment of every single day
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, his name is Jesus.
Now, that has hugeramifications for what it means
to be the people of God, thehouse of God under His
priesthood.
And so that's what I want us todive into the implications of a
new covenant for a newcommunity.
And I want us to look at thesethree exhortations that the
author in Hebrews gives us.
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First, because of the newcovenant, together we draw near
to God in faith, because we haveaccess to God.
We draw near to God Now.
This really sums up what wetalked about last week the fact
that we have access before Godand an advocate before God.
Therefore, we come boldly,confidently, into the presence
(09:26):
of God, the most holy place.
Now, the author here gives usfour conditions, or four
supporting clauses to describehow we come into the presence of
God.
How do you draw near to God?
Well, first, we come before Himwith sincere desire.
We come before Him with sinceredesire.
Let us draw near to God with asincere heart.
(09:47):
Part of the background of thebook of Hebrews and we're going
to see this more next week isthe author is recounting the
history of the people of Israel.
In fact, turn back to chapter 3, or maybe you're already still
there, but look at chapter 3,verse 7.
Part of the background of thisbook is the author of Hebrews is
talking about how in the OldTestament, the people of God
hardened their hearts and theywould turn away from God.
(10:10):
And the author of Hebrews issaying don't do that.
Listen to Hebrews 3, verse 7.
As the Holy Spirit says today,if you hear His voice, he's
quoting here from the OldTestament do not harden your
hearts as you did in therebellion during the time of
testing in the desert, whereyour fathers tested and tried me
(10:30):
and for 40 years saw what I did.
That is why I was angry withthat generation and I said their
hearts are always going astrayand they have not known my ways.
So I declared on oath in myanger they shall never enter my
rest.
Listen to verse 12.
Based on that history in the OldTestament, see to it, brothers,
that none of you has a sinful,unbelieving heart that turns
(10:51):
away from the living God.
Did you catch that?
Don't turn away, draw near toGod.
And the implication here isreally startling when you think
about it.
Implication here is reallystartling when you think about
it, even in light of the newcovenant and the fact that we
have access to God.
The author of Hebrews is sayingthere's still temptation for
(11:19):
you to turn away.
Even though you have the waypaved for you to go directly
into the most holy place beforeGod, there's a temptation for
you to turn away.
So the author says draw near,draw near with a sincere heart.
Pursue God, come to God,intimacy with God, desire God,
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long for God.
Samuel Chadwick said Brethren,the crying sin of the church is
her laziness.
After God, tozer, who you hearme quote a good bit, said come
near to the holy men and womenof the past and you will soon
feel the heat of their desirefor God.
They mourned for Him.
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They prayed and wrestled andsought for Him day and night, in
season and out.
And when they had found Him,the finding was all the sweeter
for the long-seeking.
One of my favorite books onprayer is by EM Bounds.
It's called Power ThroughPrayer, a little book.
In one chapter he goes throughdescribing men and women of God
(12:27):
who have been long in prayer andwho have sought Him and drawn
near to Him and have been usedpowerfully by Him.
He mentions Adoniram Judson,one of my favorite missionaries
from church history.
Listen to this.
Judson wrote.
Arrange your affairs, ifpossible, so that you can
leisurely devote two or threehours every day, not merely to
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devotional exercises but to thevery act of secret prayer and
communion with God.
Endeavor seven times a day towithdraw from business and
company and lift up your soul toGod in private retirement.
Begin the day by rising aftermidnight and devoting some time
amid the silence and darkness ofthe night to this sacred work.
Let the hour of opening dawnfind you at the same work.
(13:12):
Let the hours of nine, twelve,three, six and nine at night
witness the same.
Be resolute in His cause, makeall practicable sacrifices to
maintain it.
Consider that your time isshort and that business and
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company must not be allowed torob you of your God.
Impossible, say we, boundsrights, fanatical directions.
Dr Judson impressed an entireempire for Christ and laid the
foundations of God's kingdomwith imperishable granite in the
heart of Burma.
He was successful, one of thefew men who mightily impressed
this world for Christ.
I read that and, if I can behonest with you, I'm not there,
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but I want to be there.
I want us to be a peoplescripture tells us to be a
people who are there, who drawnear to God.
This is it.
We want Him.
We don't want to be big, wedon't want to have stuff.
(14:21):
We don't want to have morethings.
We don't want to have moreactivities.
We want more of God.
If we're not careful, we canfind ourselves playing games and
not seeking after God, runningafter God, longing for God
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individually and as a people.
Together, we draw near to Godwith a sincere desire, a heart
that longs for Him.
We have to be very, verycareful.
We live in a day where we havecreated a whole host of means
and methods for doing churchthat, in the end, require little
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, if any, help at all from theSpirit of God.
We don't have to fast and prayfor the church to grow, because
we have marketing to do that.
We don't have to pray to bringthe crowds in.
We have publicity for thosethings.
No absolutely not.
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God.
Make us a church that drawsnear to you, that longs to know
you more and more and more andmore, because we know the
privilege we have and we don'twant to neglect it, looking for
more stuff and more activities.
Come before Him with sinceredesire.
We come before Him with sinceredesire.
We come before Him withconfident assurance.
(15:48):
Come before Him with a sincereheart and full assurance of
faith, confident that you belongthere Even when you fail, even
when things are not going theway they should be going in your
life.
You come before God withconfidence because you are not
there based on your own merit.
(16:08):
You are there based on themerit of Jesus Christ.
So be confident in what he hasdone.
What he has done is sufficientand there's nothing you can do
to be sufficient.
So trust in what he has doneand have confident assurance in
what he's done for you.
Come before Him with cleansedhearts.
We talked about this last weekOur hearts sprinkle with the
(16:29):
blood of Christ to cleanse usfrom a guilty conscience.
We come before Him with heartsthat know that we're not guilty.
We come before Him with a cleanconscience, a heart that says
yes, I am justified before youand able to stand before you.
We come before Him withcleansed hearts and we come
before Him with purified bodies,our bodies washed with pure
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water.
Now, side note, here there is atension.
We know Scripture's teachinghere.
We have confidence to enter themost holy place by the blood of
Jesus.
So you have confidence to comebefore God boldly.
At the same time, we know thatall of us in this room still
(17:11):
struggle with sin.
So how do we bring these twotogether?
And the picture that Scripturegives us?
And this is so key?
Three words these are not inyour notes, this is just no
extra charge, but three wordsthat are so crucial for
understanding our salvation.
First, we've talked about thisbefore, but just a reminder
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justification we are justifiedbefore God.
It's what we're seeing here inHebrews 10.
It's what we saw when westudied Galatians.
We are justified, what we sangabout earlier, the song that
Stephen wrote we're justifiedbefore God, we are declared
righteous before God.
When you and I stand in thepresence of God, he looks in us
(17:53):
and he sees us clothed with thevery righteousness of Jesus
Christ, justified before Him.
At the same time, we are beingsecond word sanctified.
Sanctification we're beingsanctified, we're being made
holy.
There's still areas of our life, facets of our life where the
flesh, the sinful nature, isstill at work and we're asking
(18:14):
God to purify us more and moreand more and more.
So we have a right standingbefore God.
At the same time, in practice,we are being made holy, we're
being made pure more and moreevery single day.
It's a process calledsanctification.
And then the third word we'regoing to be glorified one day.
Glorification.
There's coming a day when sinwill be gone from our lives, we
(18:36):
will not struggle with sinanymore and our salvation will
be complete and we will be withHim and dwell with Him forever.
Be glorified, so we'rejustified, we're being
sanctified and we will beglorified.
And so when we talk aboutHebrews, chapter 10, coming
before God, confidently knowthat we can do that because
we're justified.
We've got to guard againstthese thoughts that the
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adversary will put in our mindsthat says, well, you're not
worthy enough to go before God.
Do you see what you did lastnight?
You know what you did last week, last month?
You can't go before God.
You're justified, you're notguilty.
No condemnation for those whoare in Christ.
At the same time, we don't say,well, I'm justified, so all
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right, I guess there's nothingelse to do in Christianity.
I'm just going to coast my wayinto heaven.
No, we're being sanctified andwe're working out our salvation.
Philippians, chapter 2.
We're being purified more andmore every single day.
It's a process and we're goingto dive into that next week, but
just keep that in mind when wetalk about coming before God in
faith.
First thing we do together, wedraw near to God in faith.
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Based on the new covenant, wedraw near to God in faith.
Second, together, we hold fastto God in hope.
We hold fast to God in hope,verse 23,.
Let us hold unswervingly to thehope we profess, for he who
promised is faithful.
(20:02):
Wow, what a verse.
Now there's a little problem.
This morning, when I submittedthe outline that you have in
your hands earlier this week, Igot things a little backwards,
and so we're going to have toswitch things around a little
bit.
You've got the basis for ourhope and then the barriers to
our hope.
We're going to switch thosearound.
This shouldn't be too difficult, but we're going to look at the
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barriers.
We really need to understandthe significance of the barriers
to our hope before weunderstand the glory behind the
basis in our hope.
So we'll start with thebarriers to our hope.
And this is the context of thebook of Hebrews and in our lives
today we will face.
First barrier to our hope, wewill face trials.
First buried our hope, we willface trials.
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The author of Hebrews is writingto a group of people in a day
where it was not easy to be afollower of Christ.
Readers were predominantlyJewish Christians.
They were facing persecutionfrom all sides.
On one hand you had the threatof Roman persecution.
On the other hand, you had Jewswho would persecute you or
ostracize you or make threatsagainst you because you were
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leaving Judaism to go toChristianity.
And you see this struggle allthroughout the book of Hebrews.
Because the people are tempted.
These Christians were temptedto go back into Judaism.
It's safer there.
You had them facing trials.
Look down in chapter 10.
You had them facing trials.
(21:28):
Look down in chapter 10.
Look at verse 32.
Listen to this picture of whatthey were facing.
It gives us a little context.
Remember those earlier daysChapter 10, verse 32.
Remember those earlier daysafter you had received the light
, when you stood your ground ina great contest, in the face of
suffering.
Sometimes you were publiclyexposed to insult and
persecution.
At other times you stood sideby side with those who were so
treated.
You sympathized with those inprison and joyfully accepted the
(21:51):
confiscation of your propertybecause you knew that you
yourselves had better andlasting possessions.
Did you catch that?
Insults, persecution,imprisonments?
They were facing all kinds oftrials because of their faith,
and not just trials.
We face trials and we facetemptations.
All throughout this book we seethem tempted because of these
(22:13):
trials many times to drift awayfrom God, to drift away from
their faith.
We see in the context of thepassage that we're studying here
, in verse 24 and 25, that manyof them were tempted not to
gather together with otherbelievers for worship because of
what it might cost them Facingtrials and facing temptations.
(22:34):
And the author is saying overand over again throughout this
book hold on to the hope thatyou have.
Hold unswervingly, hold tightly.
Same word he uses.
Go back to Hebrews, chapter 3.
We're going to be all over thebook here and I want you to see
this picture, this theme of hopeand even this word of holding
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fast to God.
Look at Hebrews, chapter 3,verse 6.
You might circle it.
I'm going to show you two timeswhere that same word hold on,
just like we saw.
Hold unswervingly the hope weprofess in Hebrews 10, 23.
Look in Hebrews 3, 6.
Christ is faithful as a sonover God's house.
We read this earlier and we arehis house.
If we what we hold on, circleit there.
(23:17):
Hold on to our courage and thehope of which we boast.
Same word that's used over inchapter 10, verse 23.
Then you get to verse 14, samechapter, chapter 3, verse 14.
We have come to share in Christif we hold firmly.
Same word there.
Hold firmly till the end theconfidence we had at first.
(23:39):
You get over to the next chapter, chapter 4, verse 14, and it's
not the exact same word in theoriginal language of the New
Testament, but it's a synonym,very similar word.
He says, therefore, since wehave a great high priest who has
gone through the heavens, jesus, the Son of God, let us, here
it is, hold firmly, circle itthere to the faith we profess.
He's telling them over and overagain hold on, hold on, don't
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let your faith slip away.
How do you hold on?
Well, because you have hope.
Look in the next.
Well, two chapters later,chapter 6, verse 11.
I want you to see the emphasishe places on the hope that we
have.
You just circle every time yousee the word hope.
I'll show you real quickly.
Chapter 6, verse 11.
We want each of you to show thesame diligence, to the very end
(24:26):
, in order to make your hopesure.
Circle it right there, then goover to verse 18, same chapter.
God did this so that, by twounchangeable things in which it
is impossible for God to lie, wewho have fled to God to take
hold of the hope offered to usmay be greatly encouraged.
There's the hope right there,verse 19,.
(24:47):
We have this hope there.
It is again as an anchor forthe soul, firm and secure.
We have a hope in God that isan anchor for our soul.
Keep going to the right andyou'll come to chapter 7, verse
19.
We'll start in verse 18.
This is contrasting OldCovenant, new Covenant.
Listen to verse 18.
This is contrasting OldCovenant, new Covenant.
Listen to verse 18.
The former regulation is setaside because it was weak and
(25:09):
useless, for the law madenothing perfect, and a better
hope is introduced by which wedraw near to God.
We draw near to God.
See the relationship betweendrawing near and hope here in
chapter 7, verse 19.
And then you see it in chapter10, verse 23.
Then look to chapter 11, verse19.
And then you see it in chapter10, verse 23.
Then look to chapter 11, verse1.
Hebrews, chapter 11, the greatfaith chapter, and we get
(25:33):
somewhat close to a definitionof faith here in Hebrews,
chapter 11.
What does it say?
Faith is being sure of what wewhat Hope for, sure of what we
hope for and certain of what wedo not see.
So what's happening in the bookof Hebrews is the author is
saying to a group of people whoare facing all kinds of trials
(25:53):
and all kinds of temptations intheir lives, he's saying hold on
, don't let go, because you havehope, you have hope, you have
hope.
Hold on and hope in God.
Now, why, on what basis, do wehope in God?
When we face imprisonment, whenyou come home and all of your
property has been stolen orburned, when men, your wife and
(26:19):
your kids are threatened becauseyou're following Christ, what
kind of hope enables you to holdon in those moments?
What kind of hope enables youto hold on in those moments?
What kind of hope keeps youfrom lapsing back into what's
safer, what's easier?
What kind of hope helps youwalk through that kind of time,
(26:39):
he says the basis is twofold.
First of all, our hope is basedin the faithfulness of God to
His promises.
God is faithful to His promises.
Let us hold unswervingly to thehope we profess, for he who
promised is faithful.
Here's how you can hope.
Look at the character of God,see the character of God and
(27:03):
know that he is worthy of yourtrust, that he is worthy of you
placing all of your hope in Him,everything in Him.
Back in chapter 6, what we readjust a second ago.
It talked about how God it'simpossible for God to lie
chapter 6, verse 18.
The reality is 6, verse 18.
(27:25):
The reality is when you hearpromise from God, how do you
know that God is going to keepthat promise?
You know he's going to keep itbecause if he doesn't, then he
contradicts his very nature andhe lies about who he is and it
diminishes his glory and he isno longer God.
(27:48):
If God lies, then he is nolonger God.
So think about rock-solidconfidence.
That way, as long as God is God, then whenever you see a
promise from Him, it's going tobe kept.
It's even better when you getto the end of chapter 6, and he
talks about His promise to raiseup Christ as a high priest.
(28:09):
The order of Melchizedek.
Melchizedek's a strange figurein Scripture that causes all
kinds of questions.
We're not about to get intothat today, but the picture is
God promises to raise up Christas the high priest and to keep
Him there forever.
And the reality is, all of thepromises we receive from God are
(28:29):
promises we receive throughChrist, and so we can know those
promises are sure.
As long as Christ is at theright hand of the Father, as
long as Christ is reigningsupreme, then we can know those
promises are true for us.
Think about this.
You hear a promise, maybe likeHebrews 10, 17, when God says I
will remember your sins no more.
How do you know that?
How do you know that one dayGod's not just going to say I've
(28:53):
had it?
This has been going on for fartoo long.
It's time to bring all of thatold stuff back out to the
forefront and count it againstyou.
How do you know God's not goingto do that?
You know God's not going to dothat because he has said to you
I will remember your sins nomore.
And he has bound up thefulfillment of that promise with
His very own character and Hisvery own Son.
(29:15):
And as surely as God is God andas surely as Christ is exalted,
he will remember your sins nomore In the same way.
Hebrews 13, 5,.
When God says I will neverleave you or forsake you, you
can know that for sure.
As surely as God is God andChrist is exalted, you can know
that you are never alone,brother or sister.
(29:36):
Hebrews 12.10,.
God promises that he will usethe pain you're going through
for good.
How do we know that?
How do we know that, in the end, this trial that I'm walking
through is not just going to bewasted?
Well, you can know for sure,because surely as God is God, as
Christ is exalted, he is goingto bring good out of your pain.
Christ is exalted, he is goingto bring good out of your pain.
(29:58):
He who promised is faithful.
Faithfulness of God to hispromises.
But then second don't miss thisthe return of Christ for his
people.
Hebrews 10, 25,.
You get down a little farther,the end of this whole
exhortation picture.
Let us encourage one another,and all the more as you see the
(30:19):
day approaching.
Now.
Scholars debate what the day is, and some scholars think that
the day is referring to thedestruction of Jerusalem, the
temple in Jerusalem.
Some scholars think that theday is referring to kind of a
general just the day of judgmentDay is referring to kind of a
general just the day of judgment.
But it seems in the context ofthis book the day is very
(30:41):
clearly pointing us to thesecond coming of Christ.
Look back at the end of chapter9, verse 27.
Chapter before this.
Let's know what the author ofHebrews said there.
And it's interesting, just as aside note, the only other time
we see this word for meetingtogether in the New Testament,
like it's used here in Hebrews10,.
(31:01):
The only other time we see thisword meeting together is in 2
Thessalonians 2, verse 1, whenit says we meet together and
it's a reference there togathering in the presence of
Christ at His second coming.
But even in the book of Hebrewshere, look at Hebrews 9, 27.
Just as man is destined to dieonce and after that to face
judgment, so Christ wassacrificed once to take away the
(31:23):
sins of many people and he willappear a second time not to
bear sin but to bring salvationto those who are waiting for Him
.
So the author of Hebrews saidthe chapter before this, he's
coming back.
You get to the end of thischapter, chapter 10, look at
verse 35.
After he's talking about allthey've been through in the past
(31:47):
, listen to what he says.
Do not throw away yourconfidence.
It will be richly rewarded.
You need to persevere so thatwhen you have done the will of
God, you will receive what hehas promised For in just a very
little while.
He who is coming will come andwill not delay.
But my righteous one will liveby faith and if he shrinks back,
I will not be pleased with him.
But we are not of those whoshrink back and are destroyed,
(32:09):
but of those who believe and aresaved.
Here's the reality.
Scripture teaches there iscoming a day when Jesus, who is
seated at the right hand of God,will rise and come back for His
people and will take us to bewith Him.
(32:33):
And that's how you deal withbeing imprisoned for your faith.
You deal with being imprisonedfor your faith by looking out
and knowing there's coming a daywhen Christ is coming back for
you, and that's how you walkthrough confiscation of your
property.
It's just stuff.
(32:54):
You've got a savior who'scoming back for you.
This is….
Now I know some of you arethinking.
Well, that was in the firstcentury and it's the
twenty-first century.
It's still not back.
You know what that means.
We're that much closer.
(33:18):
Yesterday, heather and Icelebrated Gotcha Day with Caleb
.
It was two years ago yesterdaythat we stood before a judge in
Kazakhstan.
After spending four weeks goingand visiting with him for an
hour twice a day, just agonizing.
(33:40):
It seemed like it would neverend.
We wanted to bring this childinto our family and he was
living in this orphanage.
And we went day after day afterday to this orphanage and that
day before gotcha day, we lookedat him.
He was 10 months old.
He didn't understand this, hedidn't even know our language at
(34:00):
that point.
But we looked at him and wesaid we're coming back tomorrow
and tomorrow we're going to takeyou home to be with us.
And so the next day, two yearsago yesterday, we went before a
judge and that judge declaredthat Caleb Thomas Blatt belonged
(34:20):
to us and this child that hadlived in this orphanage now had
a home.
And Heather and I it's one ofthose surreal moments where you
realize and first, parents,you've been there before like
what have we done?
Like we're about to have achild in our home and we're in
Kazakhstan.
What have we done?
Like we're about to have achild in our home and we're in
Kazakhstan, what do we do?
And so we started making thepreparations ready, getting
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everything ready before we wentto get him and to bring him in
our home.
And I want to remind you,brothers and sisters, I don't
know the challenges that you'rewalking through and I don't know
the trials that you're facingor the temptations that are very
(35:03):
real in your life at thismoment.
I do not know how hard it is,but I do know this you have one
who has gone before the holyjudge of all the earth and he
has paid the price for you andyou have been declared His, and
in a short while, he's makingpreparations.
(35:25):
In a short while, gotcha day iscoming and he is coming back for
you and he is going to take youto be with Him, where there
will be no more crying or pain,or mourning, for the old will be
gone and the new will have come.
So live live in anticipation ofthat day.
(35:48):
Hold on, hold on, hold fast,don't drift away.
Hold fast in the middle oftrials, hold fast in the middle
of temptations.
God is faithful and Christ iscoming back, all right.
Third exhortation Hold fast toGod in hope, draw near to God in
(36:09):
faith.
And third together we motivateone another to love.
Now it's interesting.
Up to this point we might betempted to think, well, I can do
those first two things on myown.
I can draw near to God and Ican hold fast to God.
But that's not what the authorof Hebrews is saying.
The whole picture here.
Don't miss it.
(36:29):
Let us do these things.
Let us do these things.
This is in the context ofcommunity.
Drawing near to God is acommunity project.
Holding fast to God is acommunity project.
Holding fast to God is acommunity project.
We need each other to draw tohelp us draw near to God.
We need each other to help ushold fast to God and we need
each other that's the wholepicture to motivate one another
(36:50):
to love.
It's really interesting when weget to verse 24, and it says
let us consider how we may spurone another on toward love and
good deeds.
That's the best Englishtranslation that we could get
for this sentence in theoriginal language of the New
Testament, but it missessomething really important.
I want to show it to you here.
(37:11):
Hold your place and go backwith me to Hebrews, chapter 3,
verse 1.
Chapter 3, verse 1.
Hebrews, chapter 3, verse 1.
I want to show you that wordconsider in Hebrews 10, 24.
It's used one other time in thebook of Hebrews.
Now follow with me here Oneother time, and it's talking
(37:33):
about how we consider Jesus.
Look in Hebrews 3, 1.
Therefore, holy brothers whoshare in the heavenly calling,
fix your thoughts on Same wordthat's used over here.
It's translated fix yourthoughts on it's consider over
here.
Same word in the originallanguage of the New Testament
Fix your thoughts on Jesus.
So the picture is considerJesus, fix your eyes on Jesus,
(37:54):
fix your thoughts, yourattention on Jesus, focus
yourself on Jesus.
Well, we get the exact samephrase over here, except instead
of saying Jesus, it says oneanother.
And so in Hebrews 10, 24, reallythe way this verse reads in the
original language of the NewTestament.
It says let us consider oneanother.
(38:17):
Just like it said considerJesus back here.
Focus on Jesus, consider oneanother, focus on one another,
how we may spur on toward loveand good deeds.
Now, that sounds weird if wewere to translate it that way
Let us consider one another, howwe may spur on to love and good
deeds.
That doesn't make sense, so weswitch it around.
But if we're not careful wemiss the point.
(38:38):
What the author of Hebrews saysis, in light of the fact that
you have access to God and anadvocate before God, as you draw
near to Him and you hold fastto Him, you focus on each other,
you fix your thoughts on eachother, look at each other,
consider each other, think abouteach other.
(39:00):
The picture here is clear.
The author of Hebrews isshowing us that what Christ has
done for us has hugeramifications for the focus of
our lives on the people aroundus.
And the author of Hebrewsdoesn't tell us here, be loving
and do good deeds.
Now, it wouldn't be wrong if hesaid that.
(39:23):
Obviously we see that in otherparts of Scripture, but that's
not what the author of Hebrewssays.
The author of Hebrews doesn'tsay now, go out and be loving
and do good deeds.
What does he say?
Consider others and spur themon to love and good deeds.
Spur them on to love and gooddeeds.
(39:44):
Think about what he's sayingthere.
Fix your focus on others andconsider how to help them be
more loving, how to help them dogood deeds, how to spur them on
towards that.
That word spur on it's usuallyused in a negative context.
It literally means to irritateor to provoke, to exasperate.
You know, as our kids grow alittle bit older, it's funny how
(40:10):
they're beginning to learn eachother's buttons and they know
how to provoke the other one.
And they know you press thisbutton and you get this reaction
and they just press it over andover and over again.
And that's the picture here theauthor of Hebrews is saying
look at each other.
This is deep community.
Focus on each other so that youknow what buttons to press in
(40:34):
their life that result in thembeing loving and doing good
deeds.
This is fascinating.
Think about that.
You ever been around people?
That just being around maybe acertain person just makes you
better, more love, more desire.
(40:56):
You spend a few days with menand women who are serving
starving children in the slumsof northern India.
You walk away wanting to lovemore, wanting to love better.
And that's the picture the NewTestament church, the author of
Hebrews, is giving us A peoplewho make one another better.
(41:20):
In the way we love one another,we spur one another on.
Just by being around each other, we're provoked to be loving
and to do good deeds.
Listen to one email that I gotfrom a random person.
Dear Dr Platt, about two weeksago a member of your church was
visiting in New Orleans, in theFrench Quarter.
I won't ask where you weregoing in the French Quarter, but
(41:43):
where our son works part-timeas he is putting his way through
school.
Somehow, as the lady from yourchurch conversed in the jewelry
store with our son, she learnedthat he was studying in school.
The lady left, but came back alittle while later and placed an
envelope in his hand as he waswaiting on someone else and left
(42:03):
Later.
He opened it to find a largesum of money.
As he shared this experience, wepraised God.
He is Jehovah Jireh.
I don't think we were supposedto know this person's name, only
that we are to let our lightshine before men, that they may
see our good deeds and glorifyour Father in heaven.
God used this person to testifyto our son and to the many
(42:24):
people that I have shared itwith.
God is so good.
We just wanted you to know whathappens when a community of
faith is spurring on that kindof activity amongst each other.
This is what the church is about, intended to be, and that's why
the author says don't give upmeeting together.
We gather with one anotherregularly.
(42:44):
Why?
Why do we need to gather withone another regularly?
Because if we're going to beloving and do good deeds
apparently the New Testament istelling us we need others to
spur that on in us.
Did you catch this?
The implication here in Hebrews10 is you will not be near as
loving and do good deeds to theglory of your Father in heaven.
(43:08):
You will not do those things ifyou're living Christianity in
isolation.
You will miss out on the lifeof love and service that God has
designed and formed you for ifyou're not walking in the
context of Christian community.
You know this picture ofgathering one another regularly
sometimes is used Well, thatmeans you need to go to church.
(43:31):
Most often people think well,this verse is telling us to get
together in a room like thisevery Sunday morning, and I
think that's a possibleapplication of this passage,
that we should gather togetherfor worship around the Word with
each other.
But I think it's much deeperhere, this picture of focusing
on each other, considering eachother, fixing your thoughts on
(43:52):
each other.
That's a lot deeper thansitting next to each other in a
seat.
This is intimate involvement ofeach other in each other's
lives, and it's something that,quite honestly, can't be
accomplished in a room this sizeonce a week.
It's why we talk all the timeabout small groups and why we
(44:13):
encourage every member of thisfaith family to get plugged into
a small group, a group ofbelievers where you are sharing
life with each other, whereyou're able to focus on each
other, where you know peoplewell enough, you know what
buttons to press in their lifeto cause them to bring glory to
God.
You know how to spur them on.
(44:34):
That's the context of what theauthor of Hebrews is telling us
here.
We gather with one anotherregularly and we encourage one
another continually.
Let us encourage.
Another reason why I don'tthink this passage is just
referring to a corporate worshipgathering like this, because
this is mutual encouragementthat's going on here and sure in
(44:55):
a room like this.
We encourage one another withour singing and every once in a
while there's an occasionalencouragement from an amen in
the crowd or something for thepreacher, but on a whole there's
not a lot of mutualencouragement.
We're not really focusing oneach other's lives.
When I gather together with mysmall group this afternoon, we
sit around and we talk about thetrials we're going through and
we talk about the struggles orthe temptations we wrestle with
(45:16):
and we pray for each other andwe learn about what's going on
in each other's lives.
This is what this picture ofencouraging one another is all
about.
We encourage one anothercontinually and the Bible's
saying here very clearly everybeliever in this room you will
face trials, you will facetemptations, you will walk
through all kinds of things inthis life and you're not
intended to do one of them alone.
(45:37):
You're intended to do them inthe context of community, a
community that is helping youdraw near to God in faith,
that's helping you to hold fastto God in hope, and a community
that's encouraging you, spurringyou on to love.
None of those things can beaccomplished apart from the
context of community.
You see the ramifications of anew covenant for a new community
(46:01):
.
The last few weeks have beeninteresting, in some ways
challenging, for Heather and me.
About two weeks ago we got acall from Atlanta that Heather's
grandfather had passed away.
He was 98 and a half years oldIncredible life, incredible
(46:22):
legacy.
And so he went to be with herfamily.
And then, on Thursday of thislast week, my mom called me
incredible life, incrediblelegacy.
And so he went to be with herfamily.
And then, on Thursday of thislast week, my mom called me and
my grandmother had passed awayand she was 101 years old.
It was going to be 101 thismonth my dad's mom and my last
grandparent.
And I remember.
(46:43):
I remember when my firstgrandparent passed away, it was
my granddad, my dad's dad.
I was young, I didn't realizeeverything that was going on
around me, but I remember.
I remember, like it wasyesterday, one particular moment
.
I remember walking out of thatfuneral home behind that casket.
I remember seeing my dad, and Ihad never seen my dad cry
(47:09):
before and I look at him andhe's just bawling, he's weeping
over the loss of his dad, and Ididn't realize everything was
going on.
And so I was able to.
I'd held it together prettygood up until that point, but
when I saw my dad crying likethat, it was heart-wrenching.
(47:29):
You know that feeling, don'tyou, when you see somebody you
care about and your life is sointertwined with in such a way
that, when they weep, you weep.
When they laugh, you laughBecause your lives are so linked
(47:56):
together in an intimacy thatreally transcends time and space
.
This is the picture.
This is it.
Brothers and sisters, we arerecipients of a new covenant,
each of our hearts sprinkledwith the blood of Christ and, as
a result, our heartsintertwined with one another,
(48:20):
linked together A body.
1 Corinthians 12 says a bodysuch that when one part of the
body suffers, the whole bodysuffers with it.
When one part of the body ishonored, the whole body rejoices
with it.
You can't manufacture that kindof relationship, you certainly
(48:45):
can't manufacture it on anassembly line of programs, and
you can't manufacture itovernight.
This takes time, it takesvulnerability, it takes work.
It's not easy, but it's worthit.
It's what God has designed usfor worth it.
(49:11):
It's what God has designed usfor, and so, as the church,
let's be careful.
Let's be careful not to settlefor sitting shoulder to shoulder
in a room once a week.
We're the people of God,recipients of a new covenant,
members of a new community.
Let's share life together.
(49:32):
The Bible doesn't say go out andlive your life and hopefully
run into some brothers orsisters you can encourage every
once in a while or interact withyour brothers and sisters here
and there.
This isn't intentional.
Get together, be together,share life together and, in the
process, draw near to God andhold fast to God and keep one
(49:52):
another from drifting away andmotivate one another to love,
because there's a lost and dyingworld that needs the greatest
love they can receive from thebody of Christ, that needs the
greatest love they can receivefrom the body of Christ.
So this is our corporateconfession.
The covenant, by which webelong to Christ, creates a
(50:12):
community in which we belong toeach other.
It's good, it's infinitely good, to belong to Christ, but it's
also infinitely good to belongto Christ, but it's also
infinitely good to belong toeach other.
Speaker 1 (50:28):
We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of
David Platt Messages.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
radicalnet.
You are listening to David Platt Messages a weekly
podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author and
teacher David Platt.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
There's two foundational truths that we're
seeing here in Hebrews, chapter10.
The first one we looked at lastweek we were recipients of a
new covenant.
Last week what we looked at iswe saw how the new covenant in
Christ changed everything,revolutionized everything.
We didn't just dive into OldTestament history and theology
for the fun of it, because wedidn't have anything else better
(00:30):
to do on a snowy day.
We dove into that picture tosee the important, eternally
important, eternally relevantimplications of what we see in
Scripture for our lives.
This is why, even to go back towhat we were talking about
earlier with Bart, why it'snecessary for us to have solid
(00:51):
biblical, theologicalfoundations in the local church
and in each of our Christianlives.
Because when we face trials inthis life, when we go through
different struggles, facedifferent situations in this
life, we don't want to face themstanding on sand that is
sinking beneath us.
We want to face them standingon a rock.
When you get unexpected newsfrom your doctor, when that
(01:17):
tragedy hits your home that younever could have imagined
happening, when you're facingforeclosure, or when your job is
gone, when things are notworking out in marriage the way
you had envisioned them, youdon't want sand to stand on
during those days.
You want a rock to stand onduring those days, and so that's
(01:42):
why we study theology and studythe Word and go deep, because
we want to stand strong.
We want to.
We don't just want to knowstuff.
We don't look at what we lookedat last week.
We don't talk about oldtestament priests having bells
sewn in the hem of the garmentjust so we can have a cool old
testament fact when the quizcomes up to share at parties or
something.
That's not the point.
(02:02):
The point is so that we knowwhat an awesome thing it is to
go into the presence of God andwe realize we've got direct
access there whenever thattragedy strikes.
We've got direct access thereat any moment of every day.
That's why we study deeptheology Recipients of a new
covenant and as a result ofbeing recipients of a new
(02:23):
covenant and as a result ofbeing recipients of a new
covenant, second truth, whatwe're going to dive in today is
that we're members of a newcommunity.
Recipients of a new covenant,members of a new community.
What I want to show you inHebrews, chapter 10, verse 19,.
We're going to read from verse19 through 25.
I want you to see in thispassage, in this paragraph here,
(02:44):
one foundation that the authorof Hebrews we don't know exactly
who wrote this, but the authorof Hebrews gives us one
foundation and threeexhortations based on that
foundation.
So three calls to action basedon this foundation.
See if you can identify thefoundation and then the
exhortations.
Listen to verse 19.
Therefore, brothers, since wehave confidence to enter the
(03:08):
most holy place by the blood ofJesus, by a new and living way
open for us through the curtainthat is His body, and since we
have a great priest over thehouse of God, let us draw near
to God with a sincere heart andfull assurance of faith, having
our hearts sprinkled to cleanseus from a guilty conscience and
(03:29):
having our bodies washed withpure water.
Let us hold unswervingly to thehope we profess, for he who
promised is faithful, and let usconsider how we may spur one
another on toward love and gooddeeds.
Let us not give up meetingtogether, as some in the habit
of doing, but let us spur oneanother on toward love and good
deeds.
Let us not give up meetingtogether as some in the habit of
doing, but let us encourage oneanother, and all the more as
you see the day approaching,foundation, since we have
(03:54):
confidence in the most holyplace by the blood of Jesus, by
new and living ways, since wehave a great priest over the
house of God.
That's the foundation.
Because of these things, now wego.
These three directions Call toaction, three exhortations Let
us first draw near to God.
Then verse 23,.
Let us hold unswervingly to thehope we profess.
Then verse 24, let us considerhow we may spur one another on
(04:17):
toward love and good deeds.
And in the NIV, the translationthat I use, verse 25 looks like
a couple of additional ones,but really they are based off of
that verse 24, let us considerhow we may spur one another on
toward love and good deeds.
So what you've got is threecalls to action based on the
foundation, as a result of whatChrist has done in the new
(04:39):
covenant.
This is huge Christ's work forus in the new covenant.
This is huge Christ's work forus in the new covenant.
What we looked at last week doesnot just have ramifications for
our relationship with God.
Christ's work for us in the newcovenant has ramifications for
our relationships with eachother, because Christ shed His
blood to make it possible foryou to go into the presence of
(05:02):
God.
Let us, let us, let us do thesethings.
Let us do these things to oneanother.
That phrase one another.
This is the only time theauthor of Hebrews uses that
phrase in the entire book.
And so what the author ofHebrews is showing us is that
Christ's work for us on thecross doesn't just radically
transform our relationship toGod.
Christ's work for us on thecross radically transforms our
(05:25):
relationships with each other,recipients of a new covenant,
members of a new community.
You look in verse 21, since wehave a great priest over the
house of God.
He's not just a great priestfor you and he's not just a
great priest for me.
He's a great priest over us asthe house of God.
Hold your place here.
Go back to chapter 3, verse 6.
(05:47):
It's the only other time we seethis phrase used in the book of
Hebrews, this phrase house ofGod.
Who's the house of God?
What's the house of God about?
Look at Hebrews, chapter 3,verse 6.
The author says Hebrews 3, 6,christ.
This is what we didn't get tolast week in our notes, that
we're going to kind of fill out.
(06:07):
We're not going to be able tocamp out very long here we're
going to fill out the end of thenotes that we didn't get to
last week Verse 6, hebrews 3,.
Christ is faithful as a sonover God's house and we are His
house if we hold on to ourcourage and the hope of which we
boast.
We are the house of God thepeople, not a building.
We are the house of God, peopleof God are the house of God.
(06:30):
What does that mean?
That we have a great priest whois over the house of God.
Well, it means, number one, wehave a king.
It's in your notes there whatwe didn't get to last week.
We have a king who foreverrules us.
Remember, end of chapter.
Midway through chapter 10, verse12, christ went and sat down at
the right hand of the throne ofGod and all enemies are at His
(06:52):
footstool.
He is a King whose dominionreigns over all.
He is seated at the right handof God.
Just as a side note here, can Iremind you that when we go
through economic troubles or weface uncertain economic times or
(07:14):
we face uncertain globalsituations, our hope is not in a
president.
We pray for our president andwe pray for our political
leaders, but our hope is not inthem.
Our hope is in the king, who isover every president and every
king and every dictator, everyprime minister, every secretary
(07:36):
of the treasury and secretary ofthe state and secretary of
whatever else.
He's over them all.
His dominion reigns and there'sconfidence in that.
We have a king who rules overus and we have a priest who
forever represents us, a priestwho we saw in Hebrews, chapter 7
, intercedes for us and this isthat picture.
(07:58):
We have the New Testament.
That does give us strength whenwe face trials, when we walk
through struggles.
It's Romans 8.
If God is for us, who can beagainst us?
He who did not spare his ownson but gave him up for us all?
Will he not also, along withhim, graciously give us all
things?
Who will bring any chargeagainst those whom God has
chosen?
It's God who justifies.
Who is he that condemns ChristJesus, who died More than that,
(08:20):
who was raised to life and isnow?
Romans 8 says, is now at theright hand of the Father,
interceding for us?
Nothing can separate us fromHis love.
Nothing at all, heaven on earth, anywhere under the earth, can
separate us from His love,because we have a priest who
represents us before God atevery moment of every single day
(08:41):
, his name is Jesus.
Now, that has hugeramifications for what it means
to be the people of God, thehouse of God under His
priesthood.
And so that's what I want us todive into the implications of a
new covenant for a newcommunity.
And I want us to look at thesethree exhortations that the
author in Hebrews gives us.
(09:03):
First, because of the newcovenant, together we draw near
to God in faith, because we haveaccess to God.
We draw near to God Now.
This really sums up what wetalked about last week the fact
that we have access before Godand an advocate before God.
Therefore, we come boldly,confidently, into the presence
(09:26):
of God, the most holy place.
Now, the author here gives usfour conditions, or four
supporting clauses to describehow we come into the presence of
God.
How do you draw near to God?
Well, first, we come before Himwith sincere desire.
We come before Him with sinceredesire.
Let us draw near to God with asincere heart.
(09:47):
Part of the background of thebook of Hebrews and we're going
to see this more next week isthe author is recounting the
history of the people of Israel.
In fact, turn back to chapter 3, or maybe you're already still
there, but look at chapter 3,verse 7.
Part of the background of thisbook is the author of Hebrews is
talking about how in the OldTestament, the people of God
hardened their hearts and theywould turn away from God.
(10:10):
And the author of Hebrews issaying don't do that.
Listen to Hebrews 3, verse 7.
As the Holy Spirit says today,if you hear His voice, he's
quoting here from the OldTestament do not harden your
hearts as you did in therebellion during the time of
testing in the desert, whereyour fathers tested and tried me
(10:30):
and for 40 years saw what I did.
That is why I was angry withthat generation and I said their
hearts are always going astrayand they have not known my ways.
So I declared on oath in myanger they shall never enter my
rest.
Listen to verse 12.
Based on that history in the OldTestament, see to it, brothers,
that none of you has a sinful,unbelieving heart that turns
(10:51):
away from the living God.
Did you catch that?
Don't turn away, draw near toGod.
And the implication here isreally startling when you think
about it.
Implication here is reallystartling when you think about
it, even in light of the newcovenant and the fact that we
have access to God.
The author of Hebrews is sayingthere's still temptation for
(11:19):
you to turn away.
Even though you have the waypaved for you to go directly
into the most holy place beforeGod, there's a temptation for
you to turn away.
So the author says draw near,draw near with a sincere heart.
Pursue God, come to God,intimacy with God, desire God,
(11:43):
long for God.
Samuel Chadwick said Brethren,the crying sin of the church is
her laziness.
After God, tozer, who you hearme quote a good bit, said come
near to the holy men and womenof the past and you will soon
feel the heat of their desirefor God.
They mourned for Him.
(12:03):
They prayed and wrestled andsought for Him day and night, in
season and out.
And when they had found Him,the finding was all the sweeter
for the long-seeking.
One of my favorite books onprayer is by EM Bounds.
It's called Power ThroughPrayer, a little book.
In one chapter he goes throughdescribing men and women of God
(12:27):
who have been long in prayer andwho have sought Him and drawn
near to Him and have been usedpowerfully by Him.
He mentions Adoniram Judson,one of my favorite missionaries
from church history.
Listen to this.
Judson wrote.
Arrange your affairs, ifpossible, so that you can
leisurely devote two or threehours every day, not merely to
(12:48):
devotional exercises but to thevery act of secret prayer and
communion with God.
Endeavor seven times a day towithdraw from business and
company and lift up your soul toGod in private retirement.
Begin the day by rising aftermidnight and devoting some time
amid the silence and darkness ofthe night to this sacred work.
Let the hour of opening dawnfind you at the same work.
(13:12):
Let the hours of nine, twelve,three, six and nine at night
witness the same.
Be resolute in His cause, makeall practicable sacrifices to
maintain it.
Consider that your time isshort and that business and
(13:33):
company must not be allowed torob you of your God.
Impossible, say we, boundsrights, fanatical directions.
Dr Judson impressed an entireempire for Christ and laid the
foundations of God's kingdomwith imperishable granite in the
heart of Burma.
He was successful, one of thefew men who mightily impressed
this world for Christ.
I read that and, if I can behonest with you, I'm not there,
(13:57):
but I want to be there.
I want us to be a peoplescripture tells us to be a
people who are there, who drawnear to God.
This is it.
We want Him.
We don't want to be big, wedon't want to have stuff.
(14:21):
We don't want to have morethings.
We don't want to have moreactivities.
We want more of God.
If we're not careful, we canfind ourselves playing games and
not seeking after God, runningafter God, longing for God
(14:42):
individually and as a people.
Together, we draw near to Godwith a sincere desire, a heart
that longs for Him.
We have to be very, verycareful.
We live in a day where we havecreated a whole host of means
and methods for doing churchthat, in the end, require little
(15:05):
, if any, help at all from theSpirit of God.
We don't have to fast and prayfor the church to grow, because
we have marketing to do that.
We don't have to pray to bringthe crowds in.
We have publicity for thosethings.
No absolutely not.
(15:27):
God.
Make us a church that drawsnear to you, that longs to know
you more and more and more andmore, because we know the
privilege we have and we don'twant to neglect it, looking for
more stuff and more activities.
Come before Him with sinceredesire.
We come before Him with sinceredesire.
We come before Him withconfident assurance.
(15:48):
Come before Him with a sincereheart and full assurance of
faith, confident that you belongthere Even when you fail, even
when things are not going theway they should be going in your
life.
You come before God withconfidence because you are not
there based on your own merit.
(16:08):
You are there based on themerit of Jesus Christ.
So be confident in what he hasdone.
What he has done is sufficientand there's nothing you can do
to be sufficient.
So trust in what he has doneand have confident assurance in
what he's done for you.
Come before Him with cleansedhearts.
We talked about this last weekOur hearts sprinkle with the
(16:29):
blood of Christ to cleanse usfrom a guilty conscience.
We come before Him with heartsthat know that we're not guilty.
We come before Him with a cleanconscience, a heart that says
yes, I am justified before youand able to stand before you.
We come before Him withcleansed hearts and we come
before Him with purified bodies,our bodies washed with pure
(16:50):
water.
Now, side note, here there is atension.
We know Scripture's teachinghere.
We have confidence to enter themost holy place by the blood of
Jesus.
So you have confidence to comebefore God boldly.
At the same time, we know thatall of us in this room still
(17:11):
struggle with sin.
So how do we bring these twotogether?
And the picture that Scripturegives us?
And this is so key?
Three words these are not inyour notes, this is just no
extra charge, but three wordsthat are so crucial for
understanding our salvation.
First, we've talked about thisbefore, but just a reminder
(17:32):
justification we are justifiedbefore God.
It's what we're seeing here inHebrews 10.
It's what we saw when westudied Galatians.
We are justified, what we sangabout earlier, the song that
Stephen wrote we're justifiedbefore God, we are declared
righteous before God.
When you and I stand in thepresence of God, he looks in us
(17:53):
and he sees us clothed with thevery righteousness of Jesus
Christ, justified before Him.
At the same time, we are beingsecond word sanctified.
Sanctification we're beingsanctified, we're being made
holy.
There's still areas of our life, facets of our life where the
flesh, the sinful nature, isstill at work and we're asking
(18:14):
God to purify us more and moreand more and more.
So we have a right standingbefore God.
At the same time, in practice,we are being made holy, we're
being made pure more and moreevery single day.
It's a process calledsanctification.
And then the third word we'regoing to be glorified one day.
Glorification.
There's coming a day when sinwill be gone from our lives, we
(18:36):
will not struggle with sinanymore and our salvation will
be complete and we will be withHim and dwell with Him forever.
Be glorified, so we'rejustified, we're being
sanctified and we will beglorified.
And so when we talk aboutHebrews, chapter 10, coming
before God, confidently knowthat we can do that because
we're justified.
We've got to guard againstthese thoughts that the
(18:58):
adversary will put in our mindsthat says, well, you're not
worthy enough to go before God.
Do you see what you did lastnight?
You know what you did last week, last month?
You can't go before God.
You're justified, you're notguilty.
No condemnation for those whoare in Christ.
At the same time, we don't say,well, I'm justified, so all
(19:18):
right, I guess there's nothingelse to do in Christianity.
I'm just going to coast my wayinto heaven.
No, we're being sanctified andwe're working out our salvation.
Philippians, chapter 2.
We're being purified more andmore every single day.
It's a process and we're goingto dive into that next week, but
just keep that in mind when wetalk about coming before God in
faith.
First thing we do together, wedraw near to God in faith.
(19:41):
Based on the new covenant, wedraw near to God in faith.
Second, together, we hold fastto God in hope.
We hold fast to God in hope,verse 23,.
Let us hold unswervingly to thehope we profess, for he who
promised is faithful.
(20:02):
Wow, what a verse.
Now there's a little problem.
This morning, when I submittedthe outline that you have in
your hands earlier this week, Igot things a little backwards,
and so we're going to have toswitch things around a little
bit.
You've got the basis for ourhope and then the barriers to
our hope.
We're going to switch thosearound.
This shouldn't be too difficult, but we're going to look at the
(20:24):
barriers.
We really need to understandthe significance of the barriers
to our hope before weunderstand the glory behind the
basis in our hope.
So we'll start with thebarriers to our hope.
And this is the context of thebook of Hebrews and in our lives
today we will face.
First barrier to our hope, wewill face trials.
First buried our hope, we willface trials.
(20:48):
The author of Hebrews is writingto a group of people in a day
where it was not easy to be afollower of Christ.
Readers were predominantlyJewish Christians.
They were facing persecutionfrom all sides.
On one hand you had the threatof Roman persecution.
On the other hand, you had Jewswho would persecute you or
ostracize you or make threatsagainst you because you were
(21:08):
leaving Judaism to go toChristianity.
And you see this struggle allthroughout the book of Hebrews.
Because the people are tempted.
These Christians were temptedto go back into Judaism.
It's safer there.
You had them facing trials.
Look down in chapter 10.
You had them facing trials.
(21:28):
Look down in chapter 10.
Look at verse 32.
Listen to this picture of whatthey were facing.
It gives us a little context.
Remember those earlier daysChapter 10, verse 32.
Remember those earlier daysafter you had received the light
, when you stood your ground ina great contest, in the face of
suffering.
Sometimes you were publiclyexposed to insult and
persecution.
At other times you stood sideby side with those who were so
treated.
You sympathized with those inprison and joyfully accepted the
(21:51):
confiscation of your propertybecause you knew that you
yourselves had better andlasting possessions.
Did you catch that?
Insults, persecution,imprisonments?
They were facing all kinds oftrials because of their faith,
and not just trials.
We face trials and we facetemptations.
All throughout this book we seethem tempted because of these
(22:13):
trials many times to drift awayfrom God, to drift away from
their faith.
We see in the context of thepassage that we're studying here
, in verse 24 and 25, that manyof them were tempted not to
gather together with otherbelievers for worship because of
what it might cost them Facingtrials and facing temptations.
(22:34):
And the author is saying overand over again throughout this
book hold on to the hope thatyou have.
Hold unswervingly, hold tightly.
Same word he uses.
Go back to Hebrews, chapter 3.
We're going to be all over thebook here and I want you to see
this picture, this theme of hopeand even this word of holding
(22:54):
fast to God.
Look at Hebrews, chapter 3,verse 6.
You might circle it.
I'm going to show you two timeswhere that same word hold on,
just like we saw.
Hold unswervingly the hope weprofess in Hebrews 10, 23.
Look in Hebrews 3, 6.
Christ is faithful as a sonover God's house.
We read this earlier and we arehis house.
If we what we hold on, circleit there.
(23:17):
Hold on to our courage and thehope of which we boast.
Same word that's used over inchapter 10, verse 23.
Then you get to verse 14, samechapter, chapter 3, verse 14.
We have come to share in Christif we hold firmly.
Same word there.
Hold firmly till the end theconfidence we had at first.
(23:39):
You get over to the next chapter, chapter 4, verse 14, and it's
not the exact same word in theoriginal language of the New
Testament, but it's a synonym,very similar word.
He says, therefore, since wehave a great high priest who has
gone through the heavens, jesus, the Son of God, let us, here
it is, hold firmly, circle itthere to the faith we profess.
He's telling them over and overagain hold on, hold on, don't
(24:00):
let your faith slip away.
How do you hold on?
Well, because you have hope.
Look in the next.
Well, two chapters later,chapter 6, verse 11.
I want you to see the emphasishe places on the hope that we
have.
You just circle every time yousee the word hope.
I'll show you real quickly.
Chapter 6, verse 11.
We want each of you to show thesame diligence, to the very end
(24:26):
, in order to make your hopesure.
Circle it right there, then goover to verse 18, same chapter.
God did this so that, by twounchangeable things in which it
is impossible for God to lie, wewho have fled to God to take
hold of the hope offered to usmay be greatly encouraged.
There's the hope right there,verse 19,.
(24:47):
We have this hope there.
It is again as an anchor forthe soul, firm and secure.
We have a hope in God that isan anchor for our soul.
Keep going to the right andyou'll come to chapter 7, verse
19.
We'll start in verse 18.
This is contrasting OldCovenant, new Covenant.
Listen to verse 18.
This is contrasting OldCovenant, new Covenant.
Listen to verse 18.
The former regulation is setaside because it was weak and
(25:09):
useless, for the law madenothing perfect, and a better
hope is introduced by which wedraw near to God.
We draw near to God.
See the relationship betweendrawing near and hope here in
chapter 7, verse 19.
And then you see it in chapter10, verse 23.
Then look to chapter 11, verse19.
And then you see it in chapter10, verse 23.
Then look to chapter 11, verse1.
Hebrews, chapter 11, the greatfaith chapter, and we get
(25:33):
somewhat close to a definitionof faith here in Hebrews,
chapter 11.
What does it say?
Faith is being sure of what wewhat Hope for, sure of what we
hope for and certain of what wedo not see.
So what's happening in the bookof Hebrews is the author is
saying to a group of people whoare facing all kinds of trials
(25:53):
and all kinds of temptations intheir lives, he's saying hold on
, don't let go, because you havehope, you have hope, you have
hope.
Hold on and hope in God.
Now, why, on what basis, do wehope in God?
When we face imprisonment, whenyou come home and all of your
property has been stolen orburned, when men, your wife and
(26:19):
your kids are threatened becauseyou're following Christ, what
kind of hope enables you to holdon in those moments?
What kind of hope enables youto hold on in those moments?
What kind of hope keeps youfrom lapsing back into what's
safer, what's easier?
What kind of hope helps youwalk through that kind of time,
(26:39):
he says the basis is twofold.
First of all, our hope is basedin the faithfulness of God to
His promises.
God is faithful to His promises.
Let us hold unswervingly to thehope we profess, for he who
promised is faithful.
Here's how you can hope.
Look at the character of God,see the character of God and
(27:03):
know that he is worthy of yourtrust, that he is worthy of you
placing all of your hope in Him,everything in Him.
Back in chapter 6, what we readjust a second ago.
It talked about how God it'simpossible for God to lie
chapter 6, verse 18.
The reality is 6, verse 18.
(27:25):
The reality is when you hearpromise from God, how do you
know that God is going to keepthat promise?
You know he's going to keep itbecause if he doesn't, then he
contradicts his very nature andhe lies about who he is and it
diminishes his glory and he isno longer God.
(27:48):
If God lies, then he is nolonger God.
So think about rock-solidconfidence.
That way, as long as God is God, then whenever you see a
promise from Him, it's going tobe kept.
It's even better when you getto the end of chapter 6, and he
talks about His promise to raiseup Christ as a high priest.
(28:09):
The order of Melchizedek.
Melchizedek's a strange figurein Scripture that causes all
kinds of questions.
We're not about to get intothat today, but the picture is
God promises to raise up Christas the high priest and to keep
Him there forever.
And the reality is, all of thepromises we receive from God are
(28:29):
promises we receive throughChrist, and so we can know those
promises are sure.
As long as Christ is at theright hand of the Father, as
long as Christ is reigningsupreme, then we can know those
promises are true for us.
Think about this.
You hear a promise, maybe likeHebrews 10, 17, when God says I
will remember your sins no more.
How do you know that?
How do you know that one dayGod's not just going to say I've
(28:53):
had it?
This has been going on for fartoo long.
It's time to bring all of thatold stuff back out to the
forefront and count it againstyou.
How do you know God's not goingto do that?
You know God's not going to dothat because he has said to you
I will remember your sins nomore.
And he has bound up thefulfillment of that promise with
His very own character and Hisvery own Son.
(29:15):
And as surely as God is God andas surely as Christ is exalted,
he will remember your sins nomore In the same way.
Hebrews 13, 5,.
When God says I will neverleave you or forsake you, you
can know that for sure.
As surely as God is God andChrist is exalted, you can know
that you are never alone,brother or sister.
(29:36):
Hebrews 12.10,.
God promises that he will usethe pain you're going through
for good.
How do we know that?
How do we know that, in the end, this trial that I'm walking
through is not just going to bewasted?
Well, you can know for sure,because surely as God is God, as
Christ is exalted, he is goingto bring good out of your pain.
Christ is exalted, he is goingto bring good out of your pain.
(29:58):
He who promised is faithful.
Faithfulness of God to hispromises.
But then second don't miss thisthe return of Christ for his
people.
Hebrews 10, 25,.
You get down a little farther,the end of this whole
exhortation picture.
Let us encourage one another,and all the more as you see the
(30:19):
day approaching.
Now.
Scholars debate what the day is, and some scholars think that
the day is referring to thedestruction of Jerusalem, the
temple in Jerusalem.
Some scholars think that theday is referring to kind of a
general just the day of judgmentDay is referring to kind of a
general just the day of judgment.
But it seems in the context ofthis book the day is very
(30:41):
clearly pointing us to thesecond coming of Christ.
Look back at the end of chapter9, verse 27.
Chapter before this.
Let's know what the author ofHebrews said there.
And it's interesting, just as aside note, the only other time
we see this word for meetingtogether in the New Testament,
like it's used here in Hebrews10,.
(31:01):
The only other time we see thisword meeting together is in 2
Thessalonians 2, verse 1, whenit says we meet together and
it's a reference there togathering in the presence of
Christ at His second coming.
But even in the book of Hebrewshere, look at Hebrews 9, 27.
Just as man is destined to dieonce and after that to face
judgment, so Christ wassacrificed once to take away the
(31:23):
sins of many people and he willappear a second time not to
bear sin but to bring salvationto those who are waiting for Him
.
So the author of Hebrews saidthe chapter before this, he's
coming back.
You get to the end of thischapter, chapter 10, look at
verse 35.
After he's talking about allthey've been through in the past
(31:47):
, listen to what he says.
Do not throw away yourconfidence.
It will be richly rewarded.
You need to persevere so thatwhen you have done the will of
God, you will receive what hehas promised For in just a very
little while.
He who is coming will come andwill not delay.
But my righteous one will liveby faith and if he shrinks back,
I will not be pleased with him.
But we are not of those whoshrink back and are destroyed,
(32:09):
but of those who believe and aresaved.
Here's the reality.
Scripture teaches there iscoming a day when Jesus, who is
seated at the right hand of God,will rise and come back for His
people and will take us to bewith Him.
(32:33):
And that's how you deal withbeing imprisoned for your faith.
You deal with being imprisonedfor your faith by looking out
and knowing there's coming a daywhen Christ is coming back for
you, and that's how you walkthrough confiscation of your
property.
It's just stuff.
(32:54):
You've got a savior who'scoming back for you.
This is….
Now I know some of you arethinking.
Well, that was in the firstcentury and it's the
twenty-first century.
It's still not back.
You know what that means.
We're that much closer.
(33:18):
Yesterday, heather and Icelebrated Gotcha Day with Caleb
.
It was two years ago yesterdaythat we stood before a judge in
Kazakhstan.
After spending four weeks goingand visiting with him for an
hour twice a day, just agonizing.
(33:40):
It seemed like it would neverend.
We wanted to bring this childinto our family and he was
living in this orphanage.
And we went day after day afterday to this orphanage and that
day before gotcha day, we lookedat him.
He was 10 months old.
He didn't understand this, hedidn't even know our language at
(34:00):
that point.
But we looked at him and wesaid we're coming back tomorrow
and tomorrow we're going to takeyou home to be with us.
And so the next day, two yearsago yesterday, we went before a
judge and that judge declaredthat Caleb Thomas Blatt belonged
(34:20):
to us and this child that hadlived in this orphanage now had
a home.
And Heather and I it's one ofthose surreal moments where you
realize and first, parents,you've been there before like
what have we done?
Like we're about to have achild in our home and we're in
Kazakhstan.
What have we done?
Like we're about to have achild in our home and we're in
Kazakhstan, what do we do?
And so we started making thepreparations ready, getting
(34:42):
everything ready before we wentto get him and to bring him in
our home.
And I want to remind you,brothers and sisters, I don't
know the challenges that you'rewalking through and I don't know
the trials that you're facingor the temptations that are very
(35:03):
real in your life at thismoment.
I do not know how hard it is,but I do know this you have one
who has gone before the holyjudge of all the earth and he
has paid the price for you andyou have been declared His, and
in a short while, he's makingpreparations.
(35:25):
In a short while, gotcha day iscoming and he is coming back for
you and he is going to take youto be with Him, where there
will be no more crying or pain,or mourning, for the old will be
gone and the new will have come.
So live live in anticipation ofthat day.
(35:48):
Hold on, hold on, hold fast,don't drift away.
Hold fast in the middle oftrials, hold fast in the middle
of temptations.
God is faithful and Christ iscoming back, all right.
Third exhortation Hold fast toGod in hope, draw near to God in
(36:09):
faith.
And third together we motivateone another to love.
Now it's interesting.
Up to this point we might betempted to think, well, I can do
those first two things on myown.
I can draw near to God and Ican hold fast to God.
But that's not what the authorof Hebrews is saying.
The whole picture here.
Don't miss it.
(36:29):
Let us do these things.
Let us do these things.
This is in the context ofcommunity.
Drawing near to God is acommunity project.
Holding fast to God is acommunity project.
Holding fast to God is acommunity project.
We need each other to draw tohelp us draw near to God.
We need each other to help ushold fast to God and we need
each other that's the wholepicture to motivate one another
(36:50):
to love.
It's really interesting when weget to verse 24, and it says
let us consider how we may spurone another on toward love and
good deeds.
That's the best Englishtranslation that we could get
for this sentence in theoriginal language of the New
Testament, but it missessomething really important.
I want to show it to you here.
(37:11):
Hold your place and go backwith me to Hebrews, chapter 3,
verse 1.
Chapter 3, verse 1.
Hebrews, chapter 3, verse 1.
I want to show you that wordconsider in Hebrews 10, 24.
It's used one other time in thebook of Hebrews.
Now follow with me here Oneother time, and it's talking
(37:33):
about how we consider Jesus.
Look in Hebrews 3, 1.
Therefore, holy brothers whoshare in the heavenly calling,
fix your thoughts on Same wordthat's used over here.
It's translated fix yourthoughts on it's consider over
here.
Same word in the originallanguage of the New Testament
Fix your thoughts on Jesus.
So the picture is considerJesus, fix your eyes on Jesus,
(37:54):
fix your thoughts, yourattention on Jesus, focus
yourself on Jesus.
Well, we get the exact samephrase over here, except instead
of saying Jesus, it says oneanother.
And so in Hebrews 10, 24, reallythe way this verse reads in the
original language of the NewTestament.
It says let us consider oneanother.
(38:17):
Just like it said considerJesus back here.
Focus on Jesus, consider oneanother, focus on one another,
how we may spur on toward loveand good deeds.
Now, that sounds weird if wewere to translate it that way
Let us consider one another, howwe may spur on to love and good
deeds.
That doesn't make sense, so weswitch it around.
But if we're not careful wemiss the point.
(38:38):
What the author of Hebrews saysis, in light of the fact that
you have access to God and anadvocate before God, as you draw
near to Him and you hold fastto Him, you focus on each other,
you fix your thoughts on eachother, look at each other,
consider each other, think abouteach other.
(39:00):
The picture here is clear.
The author of Hebrews isshowing us that what Christ has
done for us has hugeramifications for the focus of
our lives on the people aroundus.
And the author of Hebrewsdoesn't tell us here, be loving
and do good deeds.
Now, it wouldn't be wrong if hesaid that.
(39:23):
Obviously we see that in otherparts of Scripture, but that's
not what the author of Hebrewssays.
The author of Hebrews doesn'tsay now, go out and be loving
and do good deeds.
What does he say?
Consider others and spur themon to love and good deeds.
Spur them on to love and gooddeeds.
(39:44):
Think about what he's sayingthere.
Fix your focus on others andconsider how to help them be
more loving, how to help them dogood deeds, how to spur them on
towards that.
That word spur on it's usuallyused in a negative context.
It literally means to irritateor to provoke, to exasperate.
You know, as our kids grow alittle bit older, it's funny how
(40:10):
they're beginning to learn eachother's buttons and they know
how to provoke the other one.
And they know you press thisbutton and you get this reaction
and they just press it over andover and over again.
And that's the picture here theauthor of Hebrews is saying
look at each other.
This is deep community.
Focus on each other so that youknow what buttons to press in
(40:34):
their life that result in thembeing loving and doing good
deeds.
This is fascinating.
Think about that.
You ever been around people?
That just being around maybe acertain person just makes you
better, more love, more desire.
(40:56):
You spend a few days with menand women who are serving
starving children in the slumsof northern India.
You walk away wanting to lovemore, wanting to love better.
And that's the picture the NewTestament church, the author of
Hebrews, is giving us A peoplewho make one another better.
(41:20):
In the way we love one another,we spur one another on.
Just by being around each other, we're provoked to be loving
and to do good deeds.
Listen to one email that I gotfrom a random person.
Dear Dr Platt, about two weeksago a member of your church was
visiting in New Orleans, in theFrench Quarter.
I won't ask where you weregoing in the French Quarter, but
(41:43):
where our son works part-timeas he is putting his way through
school.
Somehow, as the lady from yourchurch conversed in the jewelry
store with our son, she learnedthat he was studying in school.
The lady left, but came back alittle while later and placed an
envelope in his hand as he waswaiting on someone else and left
(42:03):
Later.
He opened it to find a largesum of money.
As he shared this experience, wepraised God.
He is Jehovah Jireh.
I don't think we were supposedto know this person's name, only
that we are to let our lightshine before men, that they may
see our good deeds and glorifyour Father in heaven.
God used this person to testifyto our son and to the many
(42:24):
people that I have shared itwith.
God is so good.
We just wanted you to know whathappens when a community of
faith is spurring on that kindof activity amongst each other.
This is what the church is about, intended to be, and that's why
the author says don't give upmeeting together.
We gather with one anotherregularly.
(42:44):
Why?
Why do we need to gather withone another regularly?
Because if we're going to beloving and do good deeds
apparently the New Testament istelling us we need others to
spur that on in us.
Did you catch this?
The implication here in Hebrews10 is you will not be near as
loving and do good deeds to theglory of your Father in heaven.
(43:08):
You will not do those things ifyou're living Christianity in
isolation.
You will miss out on the lifeof love and service that God has
designed and formed you for ifyou're not walking in the
context of Christian community.
You know this picture ofgathering one another regularly
sometimes is used Well, thatmeans you need to go to church.
(43:31):
Most often people think well,this verse is telling us to get
together in a room like thisevery Sunday morning, and I
think that's a possibleapplication of this passage,
that we should gather togetherfor worship around the Word with
each other.
But I think it's much deeperhere, this picture of focusing
on each other, considering eachother, fixing your thoughts on
(43:52):
each other.
That's a lot deeper thansitting next to each other in a
seat.
This is intimate involvement ofeach other in each other's
lives, and it's something that,quite honestly, can't be
accomplished in a room this sizeonce a week.
It's why we talk all the timeabout small groups and why we
(44:13):
encourage every member of thisfaith family to get plugged into
a small group, a group ofbelievers where you are sharing
life with each other, whereyou're able to focus on each
other, where you know peoplewell enough, you know what
buttons to press in their lifeto cause them to bring glory to
God.
You know how to spur them on.
(44:34):
That's the context of what theauthor of Hebrews is telling us
here.
We gather with one anotherregularly and we encourage one
another continually.
Let us encourage.
Another reason why I don'tthink this passage is just
referring to a corporate worshipgathering like this, because
this is mutual encouragementthat's going on here and sure in
(44:55):
a room like this.
We encourage one another withour singing and every once in a
while there's an occasionalencouragement from an amen in
the crowd or something for thepreacher, but on a whole there's
not a lot of mutualencouragement.
We're not really focusing oneach other's lives.
When I gather together with mysmall group this afternoon, we
sit around and we talk about thetrials we're going through and
we talk about the struggles orthe temptations we wrestle with
(45:16):
and we pray for each other andwe learn about what's going on
in each other's lives.
This is what this picture ofencouraging one another is all
about.
We encourage one anothercontinually and the Bible's
saying here very clearly everybeliever in this room you will
face trials, you will facetemptations, you will walk
through all kinds of things inthis life and you're not
intended to do one of them alone.
(45:37):
You're intended to do them inthe context of community, a
community that is helping youdraw near to God in faith,
that's helping you to hold fastto God in hope, and a community
that's encouraging you, spurringyou on to love.
None of those things can beaccomplished apart from the
context of community.
You see the ramifications of anew covenant for a new community
(46:01):
.
The last few weeks have beeninteresting, in some ways
challenging, for Heather and me.
About two weeks ago we got acall from Atlanta that Heather's
grandfather had passed away.
He was 98 and a half years oldIncredible life, incredible
(46:22):
legacy.
And so he went to be with herfamily.
And then, on Thursday of thislast week, my mom called me
incredible life, incrediblelegacy.
And so he went to be with herfamily.
And then, on Thursday of thislast week, my mom called me and
my grandmother had passed awayand she was 101 years old.
It was going to be 101 thismonth my dad's mom and my last
grandparent.
And I remember.
(46:43):
I remember when my firstgrandparent passed away, it was
my granddad, my dad's dad.
I was young, I didn't realizeeverything that was going on
around me, but I remember.
I remember, like it wasyesterday, one particular moment
.
I remember walking out of thatfuneral home behind that casket.
I remember seeing my dad, and Ihad never seen my dad cry
(47:09):
before and I look at him andhe's just bawling, he's weeping
over the loss of his dad, and Ididn't realize everything was
going on.
And so I was able to.
I'd held it together prettygood up until that point, but
when I saw my dad crying likethat, it was heart-wrenching.
(47:29):
You know that feeling, don'tyou, when you see somebody you
care about and your life is sointertwined with in such a way
that, when they weep, you weep.
When they laugh, you laughBecause your lives are so linked
(47:56):
together in an intimacy thatreally transcends time and space
.
This is the picture.
This is it.
Brothers and sisters, we arerecipients of a new covenant,
each of our hearts sprinkledwith the blood of Christ and, as
a result, our heartsintertwined with one another,
(48:20):
linked together A body.
1 Corinthians 12 says a bodysuch that when one part of the
body suffers, the whole bodysuffers with it.
When one part of the body ishonored, the whole body rejoices
with it.
You can't manufacture that kindof relationship, you certainly
(48:45):
can't manufacture it on anassembly line of programs, and
you can't manufacture itovernight.
This takes time, it takesvulnerability, it takes work.
It's not easy, but it's worthit.
It's what God has designed usfor worth it.
(49:11):
It's what God has designed usfor, and so, as the church,
let's be careful.
Let's be careful not to settlefor sitting shoulder to shoulder
in a room once a week.
We're the people of God,recipients of a new covenant,
members of a new community.
Let's share life together.
(49:32):
The Bible doesn't say go out andlive your life and hopefully
run into some brothers orsisters you can encourage every
once in a while or interact withyour brothers and sisters here
and there.
This isn't intentional.
Get together, be together,share life together and, in the
process, draw near to God andhold fast to God and keep one
(49:52):
another from drifting away andmotivate one another to love,
because there's a lost and dyingworld that needs the greatest
love they can receive from thebody of Christ, that needs the
greatest love they can receivefrom the body of Christ.
So this is our corporateconfession.
The covenant, by which webelong to Christ, creates a
(50:12):
community in which we belong toeach other.
It's good, it's infinitely good, to belong to Christ, but it's
also infinitely good to belongto Christ, but it's also
infinitely good to belong toeach other.
Speaker 1 (50:28):
We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of
David Platt Messages.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
radicalnet.
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