April 15, 2025 • 28 mins
In this Palm Sunday message, Pastor Jason Dunn explores Hebrews 10:19–25, a pivotal passage that transitions from the theological foundations of Christ’s priesthood to practical exhortations for the church. Through the imagery of a train journey shared with his twin brother, Pastor Jason illustrates how many of us feel spiritually hesitant—bound by conscience, shame, or fear. Yet, Hebrews reminds us that we have confident access to God through the blood of Jesus and a faithful advocate in Christ.
The sermon unfolds around three central imperatives: draw near, hold fast, and stir up. Believers are invited to approach God with assurance because Christ has cleansed their hearts and secured their access. In holding fast to our confession of hope, we are reminded that our endurance does not rest on our strength, but on God’s faithfulness. And finally, we are exhorted to stir up one another toward love and good works—something that only happens in the context of regular, intentional Christian community. Pastor Jason closes with a vision of the church as a place of encouragement, a relational home that combats the isolation and spiritual drift of the modern "de-churched" world, and he calls the congregation to reengage in relationships that reflect the love and advocacy of Jesus.
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Speaker 1 (00:16):
Let's pray this prayer of illumination with me
as we ask the Holy Spirit toopen our hearts.
Gracious Redeemer, as we hearyour word, open our eyes to your
glorious kingdom and bring uslife through your Holy Spirit.
(00:37):
Through Christ, we pray, amen.
Today's scripture reading comesfrom Hebrews 10, verses 19
through 25.
Therefore, brothers, since wehave confidence to enter the
holy places by the blood ofJesus, by the new and living way
that he opened for us throughthe curtain that is, through his
flesh, and since we have agreat priest over the house of
(00:58):
God, let us draw near with atrue heart, in full assurance of
faith, with our heartssprinkled clean from an evil
conscience and our bodies washedwith pure water.
Let us hold fast to theconfession of our hope without
wavering, for he who promised isfaithful, and let us consider
how to stir up one another tolove and good works, not
(01:19):
neglecting to meet together, asis the habit of some, but
encouraging one another, and allmore as you see the day drawing
near.
This is God's word.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Thanks be to God.
Well, good morning.
That was pretty weak goodmorning! Well, my name is Jason
and I am one of the pastors hereat New City and we are
obviously continuing in thisspring series of the book of
Hebrews.
(01:47):
I kind of want to tell you astory.
This story is about my brother,and did you guys know that I
have an identical twin brother?
He was sitting right over herea couple of weeks ago and some
of you guys were amazed, some ofyou guys were confused, some of
you all were really curious andleaning in, and you're trying
(02:09):
to find him after the service totalk to him.
All that to say, my brother andI in our adult lives, we've had
a lot of opportunity to travelthe world together, really, both
here domestically but alsointernationally, and if you've
traveled at all outside of theUS, you know that public
transportation, particularlythrough trains, is a big deal.
(02:30):
And so my brother and I were ina country where we did not know
the language, we did not knowthe culture and we were trying
to travel from one city toanother, and maybe this is just
a done thing.
But we were trying to be frugalabout it and so we paid for the
lowest ticket that was possible.
That probably increased thetime by hours, you know, and so
(02:52):
that trip from one city toanother was about eight hours.
I bet if we paid 20 extradollars it could have been two.
But so we got on thiseight-hour train, you know, from
one destination to another, andit was an overnight train.
Eight-hour train, you know,from one destination to another,
and it was an overnight train.
So even though we were frugal,we did not want to not have a
(03:14):
seat that actually reclined alittle bit horizontally, and so
we paid a little extra for aassigned seat.
So, if you all don't know, whenthe train comes in it's like a
little frenetic activity.
There's people coming off thetrain with all their luggage and
there's a lot of people comingon the train with all their
luggage, but you're trying tofind the car that belongs to
your seat, because when you'retraveling inside the train with
luggage it's just reallydifficult.
But when we got to our seatsthere were two men already
(03:38):
sitting in them and theyapparently weren't Americans and
they didn't speak English, orso they said, and they weren't
going to move from our seats.
So my conscience told me justto move on, to go find one of
those hard, comfortable, justseats that you could go to.
But my brother, he knew that wehad access.
(04:00):
So, with bold confidence, hewalked into that car and had a
verbal kind of nonverbalconversation because he didn't
speak the language either and hepulled out his phone and he
showed them that we were covered, that we had access.
At that moment my brother wasmy advocate for the great reward
(04:21):
of reclining seats on this longtrain.
You see, my conscience wasbound and my confidence was
broken, but I had my brother,whose conscience was clean and
confidence unshaken.
Many of us know that feelingthat I had when we walked up and
saw that our seats, they weretaken.
(04:43):
And we live in shame by our ownconscience and we live with a
shaky hope in this life thatcalls us to perseverance.
And this is not just aboutseats right on a train.
This is our spiritual journey,where we avoid the love of the
Father in drawing near to Himand we fail to give and receive
(05:04):
the encouragement to one another.
And we wonder how will we beset free from our evil
conscience?
How will we secure our waveringhopes?
How will we overcome theisolation that we feel?
Our text today tells us that wehave access.
Our text today tells us that wehave access, that we have an
(05:26):
advocate in Jesus.
Therefore, we can draw near tohim with a true heart, we can
hold fast in hope and we canstir up one another in love and
good works.
So, if you have a Bible ordevice, turn with me to chapter
10, starting at verse 19 ,Therefore, you always have to
(05:55):
ask what's that, therefore, whenyou see a therefore, but
therefore, brothers, since wehave confidence to enter the
holy places by the blood ofJesus, by the new and living way
that he opened for us throughthe curtain that is, through his
flesh, and since we have agreat high priest over the house
of God, so we have to payattention.
(06:17):
This is actually, in the bookof Hebrews, a pivot.
So if you've been walkingthrough this book with us in the
spring, the author of Hebrewsis creating a pivot here.
In this, therefore, clause, hehas been moving from the
instruction of the superiorityof Jesus, who is our access and
our advocate the two senseclauses to the exhortation for
(06:39):
our faithful living.
Read with me again the firstsense clause.
Sense, verse 19,.
We have confidence to enter theholy places by the blood of
Jesus.
That is our access.
In verse 21, sense we have agreat high priest over the house
of God.
That is our advocate.
So the author of Hebrews ismoving from doctrine to our duty
(07:03):
, from our creed to our conductand our confident access and our
clear advocate in Jesus.
This is the doctrine that'ssummarized here.
It allows us to draw near, tohold fast and to stir each other
up toward love and good works.
This is our duty and our callas disciple makers.
(07:25):
So we will work through thetext this morning through these
points.
Let us draw near, let us holdfast and let us stir up.
Continue reading with me inverse 22.
Let us draw near with a trueheart, in full assurance of
faith, with our hearts sprinkledclean from an evil conscience
(07:48):
and our bodies washed with purewater.
Let us draw near.
We heard from Kenny last week inhis preaching about the broken
systems that we turn to and howthey don't give us access or an
advocate into the throne room ofGod.
The old systems we learneddon't work.
(08:09):
They cannot cleanse us from ourevil consciences and they
cannot wash our bodies with purewater.
Now, I don't know everybodyhere in the room, but I've had
enough time to sit with many ofyou and I know my own heart and
I know that there is an accuser.
Yes, satan is called theaccuser of our brothers and
(08:29):
sisters in Revelation and hedoes seek to steal, kill and
destroy, but that's not theaccuser I'm speaking to.
The accuser that I'm speaking tois ourselves.
It's our own consciences.
When our own conscience mimicsthe voice of the great accuser,
it's where we say I knew betterthan that.
(08:52):
Or God's tired of forgiving mefrom that particularly ugly sin.
Or we tell ourselves oh, Idon't have access here, I don't
have a true advocate that'sfighting for me, I don't have
value, I don't belong here.
This is what the false accuserinside of us tells us.
It leaves us disconnected,voiceless and drowning in our
(09:16):
own shame.
Our conscience, yes, it has beenaffected by the fall and it
speaks the lies of the evil oneto us.
It tells us the vow that wehave made, that we are unclean,
that we are alone.
It leaves us in shame, but thebeauty of this text is saying
that God wants us.
(09:37):
He exhorts us to draw near tohim.
We have been given a new heart.
We are cleansed by the blood ofJesus, who is our great high
priest verses 19 through 21 thatwe already read and if this is
true, then we can haveconfidence to draw near.
It is in the presence of Godthat our consciences can be
(09:59):
cleansed and our bodies renewed.
As we behold the glory in Jesus, we are transformed from one
degree of glory to another.
He wants us to draw near to him.
Now I think about this with mydaughters and the confidence
they have to draw near to me orto my wife, Katie.
You know, after a long day ofwork, you get home, you get the
(10:23):
kids fed, you do the dishes, yousing songs, maybe you do bath
time, you do prayers, read booksIn our house we read a lot of
books and then everyone is inbed.
Right, and for us it's probablylater than it should be, but we
get in bed eventually.
There are a few things oncewe're in bed that will get us
out of bed.
However, if in the middle ofnight, if our children scream
(10:45):
out, or if they walk quietly orsilently into our room, we
welcome them.
They have complete access to us.
They are the ones who can wakeme up in the middle of night and
ask for a hug or a glass ofwater or just a short
conversation about somethingfrom the day.
Tim Keller has said this only achild is allowed to wake the
(11:08):
king in the middle of the night.
The child does this becausethey have confidence in their
standing before the king, theyknow that they are a son or a
daughter.
And we can draw near to theKing, god, the Father, with a
true heart, with a confidentheart, because we are his.
We have access through theblood of Jesus and we have an
(11:31):
advocate in Jesus.
He is able and, as Damienpreached many weeks ago, he is
able to save us to the uttermost.
So therefore, we canconfidently draw near.
Look down with me at verse 35.
This is a interesting verse.
It's really important as welook at this idea of drawing
(11:53):
near.
It says therefore, do not throwaway your confidence, which has
a great reward.
So the question I want to askyou all is are you throwing away
your confidence because of yourshame?
Are you throwing away yourconfidence away when the hard
days come?
Because the hard days, whenthey come, they're not just a
(12:14):
moment.
They're a long season over along period of time or are you
on the other ditch, are youbuilding your confidence on your
own righteous deeds, which isthe system that is insufficient
and builds no endurance when thehard times come?
The point is this we are allheading in a direction.
(12:36):
In relation to God, we'reeither drawing near or we are
hiding in fear.
Which direction are you heading?
Are you drawing near to him whois able to save you to the
uttermost, or are you hiding infear, behind fig leaves,
wondering who will find you?
This is a part of why we say adisciple here at New City is one
(13:01):
who draws near to him, one whocommunes with him through the
practices of the common rhythm,like scripture reading each day,
prayer, fasting.
Just a little aside, I have theopportunity and the privilege
and the honor, really, that youall.
A lot of my job is aroundprayer and so I don't take that
(13:21):
lightly.
But we're called as thepastoral team to tithe our time
in prayer, which is a beautifulthing, but I think about all.
You all don't have jobsnecessarily that allow you to do
that, but the way we've set upSeek Prayer on Wednesdays for
the lunch hour.
I would invite you to come intothat space because that space
has transformed my heart and mycommunion with God.
(13:42):
There are ways to carry out theduty of faith by drawing near
to him.
John Owen a Puritan and I thinkof Puritans are those who lived
for communion with God he saysthis about his communion that it
is a friendship most maintainedand kept up by visits that's
(14:03):
the plural, and these the morefree and less occasioned by
urgent business.
So it's not just coming to Godfor urgent requests, but to draw
near to him, to draw near tohim daily in relationship with
many visits.
We can come to him because heis our Abba, father, and Jesus
has given us a full faith, itsays here in verse 22,.
(14:24):
And a cleansed heart.
This makes me think of thebeatitude Blessed are those who
are pure in heart, for theyshall see God, for they shall
commune with God.
So we are to draw near to Godin confidence, but we are also
to hold fast.
Look down with me in yourBibles to verse 23.
(14:47):
Let us hold fast the confessionof our hope without wavering,
for he who promised is faithful.
Let us hold fast to theconfession of our hope.
The confession of our hope isthe preceding 10 chapters here
in Hebrews that Jesus is theradiance of the glory of God and
(15:09):
the exact imprint of his nature, that he upholds the universe
by his word of his power and,after making purifications for
sins, he sat down at the righthand of the majesty and high.
That's chapter one, and wecould work through each chapter
about the confession that weshould hold here in our text.
The confession, as I alreadysaid, has been summarized as
(15:30):
Jesus is both our access andadvocate.
He is open.
It says there in thosebeginning verses, a new and
living way through his blood andthrough his body.
This is the confession that wehold to.
That we hold fast to now.
Katie and I recently we were atDisney with our girls.
We don't go all the time.
(15:51):
We go, maybe once or twice ayear, but when we go we go all
day and that, honestly, is a bitof holding fast.
If you're a parent, right, canI get an amen, amen.
So at this point in ourchildren's upbringing we are
moving away a little bit fromDumbo and the teacups and we're
(16:11):
moving on to something a bitmore thrilling Tomorrowland's
Speedway.
Anybody?
Now, if you don't know thisride, it's a miniature car race
that runs on a track and youcan't get off the track, which
is a really good thing.
In the cars they have bumpersthat help slow the impact as you
draw near to the next person infront of you.
(16:32):
So it was a thrilling ride forour girls and they're not in the
service right now, but they'dbe so excited that I'm saying
this.
And what do you think I said tothem as they sat down in this
seat for the first time, asthey're driving this car?
I said, hey, pedal to the metal, let's beat your mama.
No, I told them you have tohold fast to that steering wheel
(16:58):
.
Why?
Because what they hold fast toit directs where they go.
The same is true for us, foryou and me.
What we hold fast to it directswhere we go.
The fact that it tells us evento hold fast, it's an indication
that we often let go and wehold on to other things like
(17:22):
success or money in the bank orfriends or acclaim.
We need to be reminded to holdon to the truth of the
confession of our hope.
Turn with me now in your Bibles, to chapter 10, verse 32 and 33
.
But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened
(17:42):
after you understood theconfession of your hope.
You endured a hard strugglewith sufferings, sometimes being
publicly exposed to reproachand affliction, and sometimes
being partners with those sotreated.
So the question, naturally, asI was thinking through the text,
is what are we holding on towhen trials, hardships and
(18:02):
suffering comes?
The exhortation here is don'tlet your hope waver, don't
shrink back from your faith.
The promised one is faithful,verse 23.
So here's diagnostic questionsto ask yourself what are you
holding on to?
So where am I wavering in myhope?
What do I do when I experiencehardship?
(18:26):
Do I turn to holding myconfession in Jesus or do I
become unsteady, trying to haveother things hold up my hope?
If you're holding fast to yourown performance, you will
eventually collapse, but if youcling to the one who is faithful
, you will endure, not becauseyou're strong, not because
(18:48):
you're holding strong, butbecause he is.
So don't lean on the thingsthat cannot hold your hope.
Lean on the one who is faithful.
So, as we read through our text,we are to draw near to God, to
hold fast to our confession and,finally, we are to stir up each
other in love, in good works.
Look down with me in yourBibles, to verse 24 and 25.
(19:12):
And let us consider how to stirup one another to love and good
works.
Not neglecting to meet together, as is in the habit of some,
but encouraging.
Encouraging one another, andall the more as you see the day
drawing near.
Let us stir up.
(19:34):
Has anyone caught that commonphrase in these verses?
Let us, let us.
Let us.
Not to be confused with yourfavorite solid green lettuce,
but together.
That was the joke my wifereally liked.
(19:55):
Love and good deeds requires usto be together.
Holding fast requires us to betogether.
Think of the paralytic who waslet down on his bed through the
roof.
It was their faith that causedJesus to act.
Drawing near requires us to betogether.
(20:18):
It has been said that we receiveour deepest wounds, our deepest
wounds, in relationship and, atthe same time, our greatest
healing.
It comes in relationship.
We are made in the image of thetriune relational God, god the
Father, god the Son and God theSpirit.
This is why we are called tonot neglect the habit of meeting
(20:41):
together.
The church.
Father Cyprian of Carthage hassaid no one can have God for his
father who has not the churchfor his mother.
Outside of the church, there isno salvation, or John Calvin
has put it this way, for thereis no other way to enter into
life unless this mother, thechurch, conceives us in her womb
(21:06):
, gives us birth and nourishesus, us in her womb, gives us
birth and nourishes us.
We must meet together as thechurch, as this local expression
of the body of Christ and God.
He will extend the kingdom ofsalvation.
Through it we will realize thevision that we say here, the
vision of the Father answeringthe Lord's prayer.
Together.
We meet together to draw near.
(21:27):
We meet together to hold fast.
We meet together to stir up.
And what do we do as a churchin stirring up each other?
It says here in our text we areto stir up one another to love
and good works.
Now, the word here for stir upmeans to provoke or it means to
(21:48):
irritate or sharply disagreewith.
It's the idea that cowboys usedto wear that spur on their
shoes or boots, rather not shoeson their boots to direct the
horse.
Now I haven't seen my daughterdo it who's riding the horse?
So I guess maybe that's notstill in vogue.
But we need people in our liveswho are willing to spur, who are
(22:10):
willing to confront our apathy.
We need people who are willingto point out our distractions in
power, greed, self-pity, lustor just our busy lives.
We need people who are willingto give us what we actually need
instead of what we want.
So do you have those people inyour life who are calling you to
love and good works, who arehelping you hold fast confession
(22:33):
of our hope together, who aredrawing near to God, together,
offering the assurance of faithto one another?
Now, I have seen that type ofspurring on here at New City
because I've experienced it inso many different ways and I'd
love to tell you all the ways.
After the service, you want tocome find me.
But this and one of the thingsthat I thought about as I
(22:55):
thought about us drawing nearand holding fast and stirring
one another up and notneglecting to meet together this
Sunday service.
It's so good for that in manyrespects.
But the type of spurring wealso need this is true, this is
good, but we also need whathappens in communities and
circles.
It happens there because it's adeeper relationship where we
(23:18):
are able to be spurred on.
My family, particularly, hasbeen spurred on by so many of
you all to the love and goodworks of foster care and
adoption.
We couldn't do it alone, butwe've had you all to be a
helpful spur.
We needed you all to wake us upand show us the practical
(23:38):
outworking of our faith incaring for the little ones that
are in our home.
It has been a joy and somethingthat actually has uprooted our
world and we keep on sayinguprooted, but for good and in it
you all have given that word ofencouragement when our tank is
dry.
So the question is, do you havethose relationships in your life
(24:00):
that spur you on where youactually also irritate and spur
on others?
And as I prepared this sermon,I thought about the phenomenon
of the great de-churchingmovement or maybe it's not
called a movement, but the greatde-churching.
Maybe you all have heard aboutthis, maybe you haven't, maybe
it's just in pastor circles wetalk about this, but this is a
(24:22):
group of people who attendchurch less than once per year.
There are 40 million people inthe US like that who have left
churches in the last 25 years.
That's larger than the firstgreat awakening, second great
awakening and the entirety ofthe Billy Graham crusades
combined.
The overwhelming majority ofthose 40 million people left the
(24:45):
church casually, meaning theyleft the church because their
relational fabric didn't spurtheir on, didn't hold them fast,
didn't help them draw near toGod.
Out of that study theydetermined that the easiest
thing to help people come backto the church who were
de-churched is guess what?
Through personal relationship,relationships that spur you on
(25:09):
to love and good works,relationships that help you to
hold fast, relationships thathelp you draw near.
So this is Palm Sunday, We haveEaster next Sunday.
Take the risk, reach out toyour neighbors, ask them to come
with you to church.
Be in relationship with thosewho are outside the church,
because there is no salvationunless it's within the church.
(25:33):
Here's a text that speaks to thepower of words in the form of
encouragement.
That's also in our text here.
We're supposed to stir eachother up with love and good
deeds, but also encourage oneanother.
Here's a text that I receivedthat shows that power from a
dear friend.
He texted me the other day.
He says I watched the sunrisewith Jesus this morning.
(25:54):
I read this passage inscripture and wrote this prayer.
I thought of you a lot thismorning, jason.
You have a beautiful family andthere's a lot going on for you
and your sweet Katie, raisingbeautiful children to love Jesus
.
Faithful husband, father,friend and servant leader,
beloved son of the King of Kings.
This text was an encouragementof love that I needed.
(26:17):
It reminded me that I am thebeloved.
So we all need each other likethis, and the question is how
are we doing?
Do we walk alone, isolated, witha conscience that binds instead
of a community that bonds?
Do we walk alone with aconfession that distracts
(26:37):
instead of a hope that directs?
Do we walk alone with a habitof neglect instead of a home
that connects?
The good news is that Jesus isour access and our advocate.
He is the one who is cast offfrom the cross to let us draw
near, and he is the one whoactually draws near to us to
(26:58):
cleanse us and to wash us clean.
He is the one who is held fastby the nails on the cross to let
us hold fast to him, and he isthe one who is holding us
unwavering, for he is thefaithful, promised one.
He is the one who is stirred upto love the world John 3, 16,
(27:19):
through his good works, and heis the one who stirs us up to
love and encouragement by hisgood work in us that he promises
to complete.
Jesus is the brother we need.
He gives us his access and hedelights.
He delights in being youradvocate.
His love compels us to drawnear, to hold fast and to stir
(27:44):
up one another.
So let us pray to that Savior.
Join with me in this prayer.
So let us pray to that Savior,join with me in this prayer.
Father, we are grateful foryour love for us in this that
you sent your son to ransom apeople so that a people from all
nations, every tribe, tongueand nation, can come with
boldness and confidence indrawing near to you.
(28:08):
Jesus, you are the faithful,promised one.
You are the one who held usfast in your body, who holds us
fast in your body and Spirit.
You fill us up and you help usto love and encourage one
another.
As the day draws near, we giveyou the glory and we pray this
(28:28):
in Christ's name amen.
Let's pray this prayer of illumination with me
as we ask the Holy Spirit toopen our hearts.
Gracious Redeemer, as we hearyour word, open our eyes to your
glorious kingdom and bring uslife through your Holy Spirit.
(00:37):
Through Christ, we pray, amen.
Today's scripture reading comesfrom Hebrews 10, verses 19
through 25.
Therefore, brothers, since wehave confidence to enter the
holy places by the blood ofJesus, by the new and living way
that he opened for us throughthe curtain that is, through his
flesh, and since we have agreat priest over the house of
(00:58):
God, let us draw near with atrue heart, in full assurance of
faith, with our heartssprinkled clean from an evil
conscience and our bodies washedwith pure water.
Let us hold fast to theconfession of our hope without
wavering, for he who promised isfaithful, and let us consider
how to stir up one another tolove and good works, not
(01:19):
neglecting to meet together, asis the habit of some, but
encouraging one another, and allmore as you see the day drawing
near.
This is God's word.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Thanks be to God.
Well, good morning.
That was pretty weak goodmorning! Well, my name is Jason
and I am one of the pastors hereat New City and we are
obviously continuing in thisspring series of the book of
Hebrews.
(01:47):
I kind of want to tell you astory.
This story is about my brother,and did you guys know that I
have an identical twin brother?
He was sitting right over herea couple of weeks ago and some
of you guys were amazed, some ofyou guys were confused, some of
you all were really curious andleaning in, and you're trying
(02:09):
to find him after the service totalk to him.
All that to say, my brother andI in our adult lives, we've had
a lot of opportunity to travelthe world together, really, both
here domestically but alsointernationally, and if you've
traveled at all outside of theUS, you know that public
transportation, particularlythrough trains, is a big deal.
(02:30):
And so my brother and I were ina country where we did not know
the language, we did not knowthe culture and we were trying
to travel from one city toanother, and maybe this is just
a done thing.
But we were trying to be frugalabout it and so we paid for the
lowest ticket that was possible.
That probably increased thetime by hours, you know, and so
(02:52):
that trip from one city toanother was about eight hours.
I bet if we paid 20 extradollars it could have been two.
But so we got on thiseight-hour train, you know, from
one destination to another, andit was an overnight train.
Eight-hour train, you know,from one destination to another,
and it was an overnight train.
So even though we were frugal,we did not want to not have a
(03:14):
seat that actually reclined alittle bit horizontally, and so
we paid a little extra for aassigned seat.
So, if you all don't know, whenthe train comes in it's like a
little frenetic activity.
There's people coming off thetrain with all their luggage and
there's a lot of people comingon the train with all their
luggage, but you're trying tofind the car that belongs to
your seat, because when you'retraveling inside the train with
luggage it's just reallydifficult.
But when we got to our seatsthere were two men already
(03:38):
sitting in them and theyapparently weren't Americans and
they didn't speak English, orso they said, and they weren't
going to move from our seats.
So my conscience told me justto move on, to go find one of
those hard, comfortable, justseats that you could go to.
But my brother, he knew that wehad access.
(04:00):
So, with bold confidence, hewalked into that car and had a
verbal kind of nonverbalconversation because he didn't
speak the language either and hepulled out his phone and he
showed them that we were covered, that we had access.
At that moment my brother wasmy advocate for the great reward
(04:21):
of reclining seats on this longtrain.
You see, my conscience wasbound and my confidence was
broken, but I had my brother,whose conscience was clean and
confidence unshaken.
Many of us know that feelingthat I had when we walked up and
saw that our seats, they weretaken.
(04:43):
And we live in shame by our ownconscience and we live with a
shaky hope in this life thatcalls us to perseverance.
And this is not just aboutseats right on a train.
This is our spiritual journey,where we avoid the love of the
Father in drawing near to Himand we fail to give and receive
(05:04):
the encouragement to one another.
And we wonder how will we beset free from our evil
conscience?
How will we secure our waveringhopes?
How will we overcome theisolation that we feel?
Our text today tells us that wehave access.
Our text today tells us that wehave access, that we have an
(05:26):
advocate in Jesus.
Therefore, we can draw near tohim with a true heart, we can
hold fast in hope and we canstir up one another in love and
good works.
So, if you have a Bible ordevice, turn with me to chapter
10, starting at verse 19 ,Therefore, you always have to
(05:55):
ask what's that, therefore, whenyou see a therefore, but
therefore, brothers, since wehave confidence to enter the
holy places by the blood ofJesus, by the new and living way
that he opened for us throughthe curtain that is, through his
flesh, and since we have agreat high priest over the house
of God, so we have to payattention.
(06:17):
This is actually, in the bookof Hebrews, a pivot.
So if you've been walkingthrough this book with us in the
spring, the author of Hebrewsis creating a pivot here.
In this, therefore, clause, hehas been moving from the
instruction of the superiorityof Jesus, who is our access and
our advocate the two senseclauses to the exhortation for
(06:39):
our faithful living.
Read with me again the firstsense clause.
Sense, verse 19,.
We have confidence to enter theholy places by the blood of
Jesus.
That is our access.
In verse 21, sense we have agreat high priest over the house
of God.
That is our advocate.
So the author of Hebrews ismoving from doctrine to our duty
(07:03):
, from our creed to our conductand our confident access and our
clear advocate in Jesus.
This is the doctrine that'ssummarized here.
It allows us to draw near, tohold fast and to stir each other
up toward love and good works.
This is our duty and our callas disciple makers.
(07:25):
So we will work through thetext this morning through these
points.
Let us draw near, let us holdfast and let us stir up.
Continue reading with me inverse 22.
Let us draw near with a trueheart, in full assurance of
faith, with our hearts sprinkledclean from an evil conscience
(07:48):
and our bodies washed with purewater.
Let us draw near.
We heard from Kenny last week inhis preaching about the broken
systems that we turn to and howthey don't give us access or an
advocate into the throne room ofGod.
The old systems we learneddon't work.
(08:09):
They cannot cleanse us from ourevil consciences and they
cannot wash our bodies with purewater.
Now, I don't know everybodyhere in the room, but I've had
enough time to sit with many ofyou and I know my own heart and
I know that there is an accuser.
Yes, satan is called theaccuser of our brothers and
(08:29):
sisters in Revelation and hedoes seek to steal, kill and
destroy, but that's not theaccuser I'm speaking to.
The accuser that I'm speaking tois ourselves.
It's our own consciences.
When our own conscience mimicsthe voice of the great accuser,
it's where we say I knew betterthan that.
(08:52):
Or God's tired of forgiving mefrom that particularly ugly sin.
Or we tell ourselves oh, Idon't have access here, I don't
have a true advocate that'sfighting for me, I don't have
value, I don't belong here.
This is what the false accuserinside of us tells us.
It leaves us disconnected,voiceless and drowning in our
(09:16):
own shame.
Our conscience, yes, it has beenaffected by the fall and it
speaks the lies of the evil oneto us.
It tells us the vow that wehave made, that we are unclean,
that we are alone.
It leaves us in shame, but thebeauty of this text is saying
that God wants us.
(09:37):
He exhorts us to draw near tohim.
We have been given a new heart.
We are cleansed by the blood ofJesus, who is our great high
priest verses 19 through 21 thatwe already read and if this is
true, then we can haveconfidence to draw near.
It is in the presence of Godthat our consciences can be
(09:59):
cleansed and our bodies renewed.
As we behold the glory in Jesus, we are transformed from one
degree of glory to another.
He wants us to draw near to him.
Now I think about this with mydaughters and the confidence
they have to draw near to me orto my wife, Katie.
You know, after a long day ofwork, you get home, you get the
(10:23):
kids fed, you do the dishes, yousing songs, maybe you do bath
time, you do prayers, read booksIn our house we read a lot of
books and then everyone is inbed.
Right, and for us it's probablylater than it should be, but we
get in bed eventually.
There are a few things oncewe're in bed that will get us
out of bed.
However, if in the middle ofnight, if our children scream
(10:45):
out, or if they walk quietly orsilently into our room, we
welcome them.
They have complete access to us.
They are the ones who can wakeme up in the middle of night and
ask for a hug or a glass ofwater or just a short
conversation about somethingfrom the day.
Tim Keller has said this only achild is allowed to wake the
(11:08):
king in the middle of the night.
The child does this becausethey have confidence in their
standing before the king, theyknow that they are a son or a
daughter.
And we can draw near to theKing, god, the Father, with a
true heart, with a confidentheart, because we are his.
We have access through theblood of Jesus and we have an
(11:31):
advocate in Jesus.
He is able and, as Damienpreached many weeks ago, he is
able to save us to the uttermost.
So therefore, we canconfidently draw near.
Look down with me at verse 35.
This is a interesting verse.
It's really important as welook at this idea of drawing
(11:53):
near.
It says therefore, do not throwaway your confidence, which has
a great reward.
So the question I want to askyou all is are you throwing away
your confidence because of yourshame?
Are you throwing away yourconfidence away when the hard
days come?
Because the hard days, whenthey come, they're not just a
(12:14):
moment.
They're a long season over along period of time or are you
on the other ditch, are youbuilding your confidence on your
own righteous deeds, which isthe system that is insufficient
and builds no endurance when thehard times come?
The point is this we are allheading in a direction.
(12:36):
In relation to God, we'reeither drawing near or we are
hiding in fear.
Which direction are you heading?
Are you drawing near to him whois able to save you to the
uttermost, or are you hiding infear, behind fig leaves,
wondering who will find you?
This is a part of why we say adisciple here at New City is one
(13:01):
who draws near to him, one whocommunes with him through the
practices of the common rhythm,like scripture reading each day,
prayer, fasting.
Just a little aside, I have theopportunity and the privilege
and the honor, really, that youall.
A lot of my job is aroundprayer and so I don't take that
(13:21):
lightly.
But we're called as thepastoral team to tithe our time
in prayer, which is a beautifulthing, but I think about all.
You all don't have jobsnecessarily that allow you to do
that, but the way we've set upSeek Prayer on Wednesdays for
the lunch hour.
I would invite you to come intothat space because that space
has transformed my heart and mycommunion with God.
(13:42):
There are ways to carry out theduty of faith by drawing near
to him.
John Owen a Puritan and I thinkof Puritans are those who lived
for communion with God he saysthis about his communion that it
is a friendship most maintainedand kept up by visits that's
(14:03):
the plural, and these the morefree and less occasioned by
urgent business.
So it's not just coming to Godfor urgent requests, but to draw
near to him, to draw near tohim daily in relationship with
many visits.
We can come to him because heis our Abba, father, and Jesus
has given us a full faith, itsays here in verse 22,.
(14:24):
And a cleansed heart.
This makes me think of thebeatitude Blessed are those who
are pure in heart, for theyshall see God, for they shall
commune with God.
So we are to draw near to Godin confidence, but we are also
to hold fast.
Look down with me in yourBibles to verse 23.
(14:47):
Let us hold fast the confessionof our hope without wavering,
for he who promised is faithful.
Let us hold fast to theconfession of our hope.
The confession of our hope isthe preceding 10 chapters here
in Hebrews that Jesus is theradiance of the glory of God and
(15:09):
the exact imprint of his nature, that he upholds the universe
by his word of his power and,after making purifications for
sins, he sat down at the righthand of the majesty and high.
That's chapter one, and wecould work through each chapter
about the confession that weshould hold here in our text.
The confession, as I alreadysaid, has been summarized as
(15:30):
Jesus is both our access andadvocate.
He is open.
It says there in thosebeginning verses, a new and
living way through his blood andthrough his body.
This is the confession that wehold to.
That we hold fast to now.
Katie and I recently we were atDisney with our girls.
We don't go all the time.
(15:51):
We go, maybe once or twice ayear, but when we go we go all
day and that, honestly, is a bitof holding fast.
If you're a parent, right, canI get an amen, amen.
So at this point in ourchildren's upbringing we are
moving away a little bit fromDumbo and the teacups and we're
(16:11):
moving on to something a bitmore thrilling Tomorrowland's
Speedway.
Anybody?
Now, if you don't know thisride, it's a miniature car race
that runs on a track and youcan't get off the track, which
is a really good thing.
In the cars they have bumpersthat help slow the impact as you
draw near to the next person infront of you.
(16:32):
So it was a thrilling ride forour girls and they're not in the
service right now, but they'dbe so excited that I'm saying
this.
And what do you think I said tothem as they sat down in this
seat for the first time, asthey're driving this car?
I said, hey, pedal to the metal, let's beat your mama.
No, I told them you have tohold fast to that steering wheel
(16:58):
.
Why?
Because what they hold fast toit directs where they go.
The same is true for us, foryou and me.
What we hold fast to it directswhere we go.
The fact that it tells us evento hold fast, it's an indication
that we often let go and wehold on to other things like
(17:22):
success or money in the bank orfriends or acclaim.
We need to be reminded to holdon to the truth of the
confession of our hope.
Turn with me now in your Bibles, to chapter 10, verse 32 and 33
.
But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened
(17:42):
after you understood theconfession of your hope.
You endured a hard strugglewith sufferings, sometimes being
publicly exposed to reproachand affliction, and sometimes
being partners with those sotreated.
So the question, naturally, asI was thinking through the text,
is what are we holding on towhen trials, hardships and
(18:02):
suffering comes?
The exhortation here is don'tlet your hope waver, don't
shrink back from your faith.
The promised one is faithful,verse 23.
So here's diagnostic questionsto ask yourself what are you
holding on to?
So where am I wavering in myhope?
What do I do when I experiencehardship?
(18:26):
Do I turn to holding myconfession in Jesus or do I
become unsteady, trying to haveother things hold up my hope?
If you're holding fast to yourown performance, you will
eventually collapse, but if youcling to the one who is faithful
, you will endure, not becauseyou're strong, not because
(18:48):
you're holding strong, butbecause he is.
So don't lean on the thingsthat cannot hold your hope.
Lean on the one who is faithful.
So, as we read through our text,we are to draw near to God, to
hold fast to our confession and,finally, we are to stir up each
other in love, in good works.
Look down with me in yourBibles, to verse 24 and 25.
(19:12):
And let us consider how to stirup one another to love and good
works.
Not neglecting to meet together, as is in the habit of some,
but encouraging.
Encouraging one another, andall the more as you see the day
drawing near.
Let us stir up.
(19:34):
Has anyone caught that commonphrase in these verses?
Let us, let us.
Let us.
Not to be confused with yourfavorite solid green lettuce,
but together.
That was the joke my wifereally liked.
(19:55):
Love and good deeds requires usto be together.
Holding fast requires us to betogether.
Think of the paralytic who waslet down on his bed through the
roof.
It was their faith that causedJesus to act.
Drawing near requires us to betogether.
(20:18):
It has been said that we receiveour deepest wounds, our deepest
wounds, in relationship and, atthe same time, our greatest
healing.
It comes in relationship.
We are made in the image of thetriune relational God, god the
Father, god the Son and God theSpirit.
This is why we are called tonot neglect the habit of meeting
(20:41):
together.
The church.
Father Cyprian of Carthage hassaid no one can have God for his
father who has not the churchfor his mother.
Outside of the church, there isno salvation, or John Calvin
has put it this way, for thereis no other way to enter into
life unless this mother, thechurch, conceives us in her womb
(21:06):
, gives us birth and nourishesus, us in her womb, gives us
birth and nourishes us.
We must meet together as thechurch, as this local expression
of the body of Christ and God.
He will extend the kingdom ofsalvation.
Through it we will realize thevision that we say here, the
vision of the Father answeringthe Lord's prayer.
Together.
We meet together to draw near.
(21:27):
We meet together to hold fast.
We meet together to stir up.
And what do we do as a churchin stirring up each other?
It says here in our text we areto stir up one another to love
and good works.
Now, the word here for stir upmeans to provoke or it means to
(21:48):
irritate or sharply disagreewith.
It's the idea that cowboys usedto wear that spur on their
shoes or boots, rather not shoeson their boots to direct the
horse.
Now I haven't seen my daughterdo it who's riding the horse?
So I guess maybe that's notstill in vogue.
But we need people in our liveswho are willing to spur, who are
(22:10):
willing to confront our apathy.
We need people who are willingto point out our distractions in
power, greed, self-pity, lustor just our busy lives.
We need people who are willingto give us what we actually need
instead of what we want.
So do you have those people inyour life who are calling you to
love and good works, who arehelping you hold fast confession
(22:33):
of our hope together, who aredrawing near to God, together,
offering the assurance of faithto one another?
Now, I have seen that type ofspurring on here at New City
because I've experienced it inso many different ways and I'd
love to tell you all the ways.
After the service, you want tocome find me.
But this and one of the thingsthat I thought about as I
(22:55):
thought about us drawing nearand holding fast and stirring
one another up and notneglecting to meet together this
Sunday service.
It's so good for that in manyrespects.
But the type of spurring wealso need this is true, this is
good, but we also need whathappens in communities and
circles.
It happens there because it's adeeper relationship where we
(23:18):
are able to be spurred on.
My family, particularly, hasbeen spurred on by so many of
you all to the love and goodworks of foster care and
adoption.
We couldn't do it alone, butwe've had you all to be a
helpful spur.
We needed you all to wake us upand show us the practical
(23:38):
outworking of our faith incaring for the little ones that
are in our home.
It has been a joy and somethingthat actually has uprooted our
world and we keep on sayinguprooted, but for good and in it
you all have given that word ofencouragement when our tank is
dry.
So the question is, do you havethose relationships in your life
(24:00):
that spur you on where youactually also irritate and spur
on others?
And as I prepared this sermon,I thought about the phenomenon
of the great de-churchingmovement or maybe it's not
called a movement, but the greatde-churching.
Maybe you all have heard aboutthis, maybe you haven't, maybe
it's just in pastor circles wetalk about this, but this is a
(24:22):
group of people who attendchurch less than once per year.
There are 40 million people inthe US like that who have left
churches in the last 25 years.
That's larger than the firstgreat awakening, second great
awakening and the entirety ofthe Billy Graham crusades
combined.
The overwhelming majority ofthose 40 million people left the
(24:45):
church casually, meaning theyleft the church because their
relational fabric didn't spurtheir on, didn't hold them fast,
didn't help them draw near toGod.
Out of that study theydetermined that the easiest
thing to help people come backto the church who were
de-churched is guess what?
Through personal relationship,relationships that spur you on
(25:09):
to love and good works,relationships that help you to
hold fast, relationships thathelp you draw near.
So this is Palm Sunday, We haveEaster next Sunday.
Take the risk, reach out toyour neighbors, ask them to come
with you to church.
Be in relationship with thosewho are outside the church,
because there is no salvationunless it's within the church.
(25:33):
Here's a text that speaks to thepower of words in the form of
encouragement.
That's also in our text here.
We're supposed to stir eachother up with love and good
deeds, but also encourage oneanother.
Here's a text that I receivedthat shows that power from a
dear friend.
He texted me the other day.
He says I watched the sunrisewith Jesus this morning.
(25:54):
I read this passage inscripture and wrote this prayer.
I thought of you a lot thismorning, jason.
You have a beautiful family andthere's a lot going on for you
and your sweet Katie, raisingbeautiful children to love Jesus
.
Faithful husband, father,friend and servant leader,
beloved son of the King of Kings.
This text was an encouragementof love that I needed.
(26:17):
It reminded me that I am thebeloved.
So we all need each other likethis, and the question is how
are we doing?
Do we walk alone, isolated, witha conscience that binds instead
of a community that bonds?
Do we walk alone with aconfession that distracts
(26:37):
instead of a hope that directs?
Do we walk alone with a habitof neglect instead of a home
that connects?
The good news is that Jesus isour access and our advocate.
He is the one who is cast offfrom the cross to let us draw
near, and he is the one whoactually draws near to us to
(26:58):
cleanse us and to wash us clean.
He is the one who is held fastby the nails on the cross to let
us hold fast to him, and he isthe one who is holding us
unwavering, for he is thefaithful, promised one.
He is the one who is stirred upto love the world John 3, 16,
(27:19):
through his good works, and heis the one who stirs us up to
love and encouragement by hisgood work in us that he promises
to complete.
Jesus is the brother we need.
He gives us his access and hedelights.
He delights in being youradvocate.
His love compels us to drawnear, to hold fast and to stir
(27:44):
up one another.
So let us pray to that Savior.
Join with me in this prayer.
So let us pray to that Savior,join with me in this prayer.
Father, we are grateful foryour love for us in this that
you sent your son to ransom apeople so that a people from all
nations, every tribe, tongueand nation, can come with
boldness and confidence indrawing near to you.
(28:08):
Jesus, you are the faithful,promised one.
You are the one who held usfast in your body, who holds us
fast in your body and Spirit.
You fill us up and you help usto love and encourage one
another.
As the day draws near, we giveyou the glory and we pray this
(28:28):
in Christ's name amen.
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