Alright, Hebrews chapter 10, verses 19-25 is our text. So if you'd like to take your Bible and turn with me there. I guess if you have the technology to be able to click it up or whatever now. All these new things, these gadgets that we have. I'm not there yet, but probably, Lord willing, in the near future I will be. There's not enough space in my house for all the books that I'd like to get. Can you imagine that? New American Standard. By the way, you did sound like a bunch of birds in there chirping when I was using the restroom. Well, let's look to the Lord, shall we, before we dive in this word. Father, we come with joy, not just because it's sunny outside, but we just pray that it would be sunny in our hearts. There's so much over which we could sorrow in this fallen world. So much over which we could be fearful and anxious. So much that would keep us from drawing near to you and enjoying you. And yet the gospel is greater than all of that. Show us that this morning. Show us your heart in making a way through your Son for us to live in constant communion with you and in joyful, helpful fellowship with one another. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Early African converts to Christianity were earnest, that is serious and regular in their times alone with God. It is said that each one had a separate spot in the thicket, in the grass, where he would go in the morning and pour out his heart to God. And over time, the paths to these places became well-worn. And as a result, if one of these believers began to neglect private prayer, it was soon apparent to the rest of the tribe. And they would kindly remind the negligent one, brother, the grass grows on your path. Isn't that great? We can't see that, can we? We don't see anyone's path to God when we come on Sunday. Interesting. But here's the question, I open with that because what you have is, you have the vertical in our relationship with God and the horizontal in our relationship with one another. And this text shows how they intersect, okay? So that's my question. What does our glorious privilege of drawing near to God, what does that have to do with our responsibility to one another as Christians? That's the question this morning. And the writer of Hebrews, he's reached the summit. I got the email from David King saying, we're going to climb Mount Adams. And I'm going, why? I already know because it's there, right? The writer of Hebrews has reached not the summit of Mount Adams, but the summit of his teaching about Jesus' high priesthood. And now he begins to tell us the implications of that for the Christian life. And he's answering that question that Francis Schaeffer used as the title of one of his books, How Should We Then Live? So, that's kind of what I've used as the title of the sermon. What we believe about Jesus' person and His work must transfer into our life and actions in a word, in a sentence. The whole sermon this morning in a sentence is this. Because of who Jesus is, He's God incarnate. We talk about the incarnation. And because of what He's done, His crucifixion, His resurrection, His exaltation, and His intercession for us, We are now to draw near to God, and we're to hold fast our confession of hope, and we're to consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. Bryce and I were talking yesterday, and some people see Christianity as all shuns. Shun this, shun that. Well, in one sense, it is shunned. It's about His incarnation. It's about His crucifixion. It's about His resurrection. It's about His exaltation. And it's about His intercession. It is about shuns. Amen? That's the whole enchilada, so to speak. But what he's saying is that what we profess with our lips, or what we confess doctrinally, must get expressed in our lives practically. That's the whole point here. And first he gives us the basis of our confidence to draw near to God in prayer. What's that? By the blood, by the body, the priesthood of Christ. And you see that in these two words, since, in verse 19 and in verse 21. And then after that, he comes with these three rapid-fire exhortations that rest upon that solid foundation of our confidence in God in Christ. This is the way one person put it, and I think it's profoundly powerful in one sentence. He said, thus, the Christian's subjective confidence, in other words, my confidence in God can wane. It could be strong sometimes. It could be weak sometimes. True? The Christian's subjective confidence must always be based on his or her personal interest in Christ's objective work. What Jesus did will not wane. What Jesus did will not change. That's solid. Amen. That's objective. My confidence is in the objective work of Christ, who He is and what He's done. In a word, then, what the author is saying of Hebrews is that the Gospel is far greater than any or all obstacles you could have, I could have, to true prayer, drawing near to God. And our witness in the world, the confession of our hope, that hope that we have, publicly making that known, and then our fellowship with one another. That's what he's saying. The Gospel is far greater than any of the obstacles that come with that. So, three exhortations we're going to look at. The exhortation to draw near to God. Next, to hold fast, confession of our hope. And then lastly, how do we start to consider how to stimulate one another or encourage one another to love and good deeds. So first then, he tells us to draw near to God. Look at verse 19. Based on everything he's already said, this is the application now. Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to what? To enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus. How? Verse 20, by a new and living way, which he, Jesus, inaugurated for us. Through the veil, that is His flesh and His body. And He gives us a second basis, since we have a great high priest over the house of God. What are we to do since we have this confidence? What are we to do since we have this great high priest? Verse 22, let us draw near, how? With a sincere heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. It reminds us of two truths that should motivate us to draw near to God, right? One truth, we have this confidence. How? That the blood of Jesus has given this ever-open access to God's presence. Interesting that the Bible calls the blood of Jesus precious. Okay? And that was far long before Tolkien and Gollum. Okay, you're with me. I see some grins. Why? Jesus' blood is the only way we can draw near to God and be accepted by Him. If I try to approach God on any other basis, He rejects me. Why? This is true of you too. We are all born sinners. Amen? We're all guilty before the Holy God. See, this is the issue. How can I draw near to a God who's a consuming fire? He's holy. Absolutely perfect. If you don't wrestle with this, we need to. The person who never wrestled with this never truly prays. You come to God glibly and you think, I can just waltz right into His presence based on how I've lived. You've not dealt with the barrier of your own heart, as we'll see in verse 22, and you've not dealt with the whole high holiness of God, okay? We need a Savior. We need a substitute. We need a mediator between us and God. That's the point. And notice, what you notice in the text, this is just really simply profound observation to me. Someone else said it. I'm leaning a lot on other people this morning. The basis of our confidence has nothing, nothing to do with anything in us. You notice that? The two senses here in verse 19 and verse 22. They have nothing to do with us. Nothing to do with anything in us. So here's the question I have. Is your confidence? Is my confidence in Christ? Or is our confidence in someone or something else? That's a profound question to me, and that is really important. Let me illustrate it. Martin Luther once visited one of his students who was dying of an illness, and Luther asked him, what do you think you can take to God in whose presence you will soon appear? And with striking confidence," that key word here in our text, "...with striking confidence, the youth at once replied, Everything that is good." Everything that is good. Luther anxiously asked the young lad, But how can you bring everything good, seeing you are but a poor sinner? And I love this. The young man replied, I will take to my God in heaven a penitent, humble heart," notice this, "...sprinkled with the blood of Christ." See, the issue is not what I'm bringing to God. It's in whose name. It's by whose blood. You see the text? I'm coming in. True? It's by whose body I'm coming to Him in. And Luther replied to the kid, he said, then go and you will be a welcome guest to God. Amen. Amen. Jesus, the text says, has not only opened the way We know John 14, 6, he is the way, the truth and life. No one comes to the Father except by him. And he's a new and living way, new means freshly slain or freshly slaughtered. The idea here is as opposed to the old covenant that was worn out and become obsolete. We saw that in chapter eight. Jesus is the way that never gets old. He never wears out. Question is this. And this is just application. Is Jesus as fresh to you, Christian, as he was the day you were saved? Or does he get old? Yeah, I know the gospel. Jesus is the only way. By the way, no pun intended, by the way, that's what non-Christians hate, amen? You, exclusive! You're cutting out the Muslims and you're cutting out the Buddhists and etc., etc., etc., right? No, Jesus is the way and we're going to see why. He is also not only a new way, but a living way. Why? Because we saw in Hebrews 7.25, He always lives to make intercession for us, so that by His death, His resurrection, He conquered death. But the point what he's saying is that Jesus now is living. He gives life to those who trust in Him. As one person said, when the veil of the earthly temple was torn from top to bottom, During Jesus' crucifixion, the veil of Jesus' flesh was also torn. That's his point here. That's what he says, the veil of his flesh, when he mentions that in verse 20. That he's inaugurated this new and living way for us through the veil. That is, his flesh, his body was torn. Now we have this direct, continual access to God's presence. That means, this is amazing, that no matter what time it is or where we happen to be, we can draw near to God. Why is that so profound? Because, this is the way one person put it, the veil of the tabernacle was both a barrier to man, between man and God, but it was also a doorway for the high priest, right? That veil was the only way that the priest could come through into God's presence. And only once a year we saw that, on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, remember that? When he was offering sacrifice for the whole nation's sins for that year. So it was a barrier between God and man, but it was also a doorway for the priest. Why is that so significant? Well, here's the point. It's that the man Christ Jesus has, by the offering of His flesh, removed the barrier, that curtain, that veil, and He's opened a door. This week in my devotions, I was reading John 10. Jesus said, I am the what? Door. Yeah, He said, I am the way, but He also said, I am the door, right? Through which the sheep come in and go out, right? He's the way to the Father. He's the door. He's the way that we come in. That veil has been torn now. And we have this access to God. Like the animal sacrifices, Jesus' flesh was torn in order for us to be able to have access to God. We've got to think about it. Communion. We're going to remember the Lord's death today. But the veil of His flesh also shuts out and forever hides from the Father everyone who spurns Jesus as the only means of entry. There's a lot of things that are going on in the text here. And some people think that this veil is what, you know, in the incarnation, God's glory was veiled because of His flesh. When they were on the Mount of Transfiguration, that veil was removed and Peter, James and Josh saw Jesus in His what? Glory. Remember that? Remember that? And He told them not to say anything to people when they came down, right? That later they could, but not then. Remember that? In a sense, then, His flesh was veiling God's glory from people. Are you with me? And yet, we're told in Corinthians that when we look on Jesus' face, we see the glory of who? God. So, for those whom God draws near, we see the glory of God. For those who refuse Jesus, they're blinded to God's glory in Jesus. Are you with me? That's so important. But what's the application for us as Christians, though? I mean, this is really practical. Ask yourself, do I miss the amazing reality of these words? In other words, how often do I contemplate this thought that as a Christian I have access to the sovereign king of the universe? That God's presence and therefore the pleasure of God, the rivers of God's pleasure are available to me every moment of every day. Do I make use? of what is available to me. Do I enjoy God? Do I employ? Do I treasure God in Christ by way of the Holy Spirit? I'm just asking. When's the last time you were in the middle of the day and you just were talking to Him and all of a sudden you just sensed His presence and you just had a smile on your face because you sensed God being with you? If it's been a while, guess what? It's been too long. Amen? This is what life is about. I come that they may have life and life more abundantly to the full. That's what Jesus wants. That's what he died for. We can take it for granted. Listen, that is not a privilege to be taken lightly. It is not a privilege to be neglected. Amen. Am I trying to beat people up? No, I am trying to spur us on to what? Enjoy the Lord and therefore glorify him. Bryson, I'm talking about people will see us and the difference in us and say, what is it about you? I don't like your Jesus, but man, I notice you're joyful. Think about it. Or I notice you're at peace. Or I notice you actually love your enemies. What a thought. That crabby person over there. You're actually trying to be nice to him. On the plane, I'm coming back. Talking with this lady. She's from New York. So we talked. She saw me read my Bible. And the last thing she said to me, I just want you to know that I voted for Obama. I think he's a great man. Wham! I mean, I just got left it, you know, on the blind side. Oh, man! Or I guess this way, right? That he left me, yeah. I'm like, what in the world? How do you come back with that? What do you say to that? Yeah, he needs to repent. That's what I want. I never lost an argument when I replayed it in my mind of what I could have, should have said. I'm serious! But there was a guy from the conference there that was watching all of this and he was listening in how we just observe things, right? And all I said to her was, I'm not going there. That's all. It just came out of my mouth, like, not even thinking of it, you know. I'm not going there. And then she walked away. The guy said to me, he came up to this other guy that was on the conference and he goes, Christian guy, he goes, I thought you operated with great restraint. I thought you showed great restraint. It was funny. It was funny, but it wasn't funny because that lady is going to spend eternity in heaven or hell. Amen? See, that's the issue for me. It isn't whether I win an argument. See? whether I come off looking great or smart or intelligent. No, it's us being a witness and drawing near to God. It has to be the point here in the text because that's exactly what he goes to in 23, of our profession, our confession before other people, of our hope, see. And the other truth then that should motivate us to draw near to God is we have this great high priest over the house of God, verse 21. By offering Himself, Jesus, as the sacrifice for our sins, He fulfilled everything connected with Levitical priesthood. But the author of Hebrews has said, no, no, no, no, not just that. He surpasses the Levitical priesthood because He's a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Don't forget Mel, right? Who's Mel? You've got to go back and read Genesis 14. You've got to go back and read Psalm 110. You've got to go back and read Hebrews 5 and 6 and 7. Amen? And you say, Sean, we already went through all that. You did a whole sermon on it. Amen! You're edumacated on it then, right? Okay. So, I don't need to review that, Lord willing. And thus, Jesus abides forever at God's right hand to intercede for us, Hebrews 7.25. Here's the point. Let me get right to the chase. All power has been given to Jesus. Both where? In heaven and on earth. And for what purpose? To offer prayer and to care for His church. Which is? The household or the family of God he mentions here. Christian, Jesus will never lose sight of you. He's completely aware of your present situation. I really appreciate what Ben said. He's always watching out for us, amen? And as we're in the midst of it, sometimes we wonder, how is this going to work out? And we look back and we go, he was working all things together, for my good, I see it now. But in the midst of it, we're like... Is that right? And that's what we do. Shaken like a leaf in the wind. Now, your times are in His hands, amen? Where's that at? Psalm 31, I think it's 15. Listen, you can rest in Him. He will always sympathize with your weakness because He Himself has been tempted. You are always welcome at His throne of grace. For what? To receive mercy, find grace, to help you in time of need. He is sovereignly working all things together for your good. We glibly quote that verse, Romans 8.28. And as the head of His body, the church, He's directing, orchestrating by His providence and by His Word and He's directing us and He's empowering us by His Spirit. But, and here's the question of verse 22, and this to me is practical. The readers may have wondered, but what about my heart? What do you mean? Well, my heart can condemn me. True. And what about my conscience? It can accuse me. Right? And what about my body? You know, my body doesn't really want to cooperate with God. Sometimes my head and my heart go, yeah, we're going this way, and my body goes, no, we're going that way. You know what I'm talking about? Well, I had the milkshake earlier in the day on Friday, but, you know, because I didn't pack my lunch, so I stopped at Mike's and got the blue cheeseburger and the chocolate milkshake. It was really good, Anna, you know, but it was really good. It was good. My lips loved it. My hips, well, that's another story, right? Okay. But at night, after dinner, you know, I'm thinking, I already had a milkshake, but I want ice cream. My body wants... I mean, you get used to having dessert, right? So, my heart can condemn me, my conscience can accuse me, my body cannot cooperate with what God's wanting to do here. You say, Sean, what are you saying? You know, that a bowl of... a little Pyrex of ice cream is sinful? No, I'm not saying that. A lot of times our body becomes a beachhead for the enemy and he wants to make inroads into our life. That's why Romans 6 we're to offer that body to God as an instrument of righteousness. Read it. Read Romans 6. You're taking down notes later on for your homework today. Alright? A true heart here, notice he says a sincere heart, the word literally is a true heart. A true heart is one that is fully assured through faith. I don't think when he says here, let us draw near with a sincere heart and full assurance of faith, that those are two things. I think they're one thing. But here's the question. What is the assurance of the new heart that God creates in us by his new covenant people? In other words, he gives us a new heart. We heard that read, Ezekiel 36. Amen. John did a great job reading that. I mean, that passage, God did it for His sake, not for our sake. It must be for His glory, man. For the fame of His name. But here's the point. What does the full or the heart, the sincere, the true heart of full assurance of faith believe? What does it believe? It believes simply this, that God will graciously welcome us. That this gracious reception awaits those who draw near to God through His Son. It is so simple. It is profoundly simple. This is the way one person put it. It is not presumption to believe that the everlasting God will receive us graciously. Why? Because we come by His appointed means, that is, through Christ Jesus, the righteous one, who is the propitiation or the satisfaction for our sins. That's 1 John 2.2. In fact, the writer said, this commentator, to come doubting the sufficiency of Christ's provision is to dishonor God. That's what he's going to say in chapter 11. That he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He's a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. So that faith is not a leap in the dark, as the atheists tell us. Faith is stepping into the light by the knowledge of God's Word. Faith rests itself on the foundation of Scripture. And what is that foundation in Scripture? Jesus Christ. Amen? No other foundation can anyone lay than that which has been laid. Jesus Christ. So here's my encouragement to you, Christian. It is not how much faith you have that counts, but who you put your faith in. That is so key. Your faith may be small, but if it's in the person and the work of Christ, then you're safe. And I don't mean like baseball safe, you know, you're safe, eternally safe. His priesthood, his blood, his body. That's the only resting place for saving faith. One person put it like this, like the eye that doesn't look at itself, faith looks to Jesus for assurance, not the self. Let me illustrate. Remember when Peter was walking on the water in the storm? Everything was fine until he looked away from Jesus and at the waves. Remember that? And as long as he looked at Jesus, he was safe. But when he looked at the wind and the waves, he was sunk. We were at conference and one of the guys reminded me, he said, you know, We need to have a whole sermon on the fact that Peter made it back to the boat. How did he make it back to the boat? When Jesus picked him up, did Jesus carry him to the boat? We're not told. Could be. Did Peter walk on water back to the boat? Could be. Either way, Peter was safe in the boat at the end of it, wasn't he? That's powerful to me. And notice the remaining results of what God has done for us in Christ. When you look at verse 22, when it says, "...having", see that? That's a... Perfect participle. It's a past action with remaining results. It's a done deal. So I don't have to somehow get my heart sprinkled clean from an evil conscience. I don't have to somehow get my body washed with pure water. He's saying it's already been done through the gospel. And it's not referring here. I don't think he's referring to water baptism. But let me explain. Let me ask this. Can you cleanse your own conscience? No, you can't, you know, I mean, Kathy's shaking her head, no, I appreciate that, we cannot. So it's only by the blood of Christ that we can have a clean conscience. Our guilt can't be removed until our sin is removed. And Jesus has once for all time put away his people's sins on the cross. Where do I find that? Hebrews 9, we looked at it in verse 14 and verses 26 through 28. So that the Holy Spirit enables us to receive Jesus by faith, right? And He cleanses and He frees our conscience from this nagging guilt, and no longer do we condemn ourselves. That's what the Holy Spirit has done to believers for Jesus' sake. In other words, here's the point. If Jesus paid it all, we say, don't get to the rest of the hymn, All to Him I owe, until you stop and accept that. The Father will never ask you to pay anything for your salvation in terms of justification, because Jesus paid it. We were reminded last week, David King put it well, in the heavenly ledger next to your name, it reads paid in full. Think of the illustrations. I mean, so you eat at a restaurant, somebody else paid for you, you know, you go up to and you try to pay and they go, sorry, sir, it's already paid. And in your pride, you say, no, I always pay my way. Or if you're a cheapskate like me, you go, wow, thank you. Who was it? I want to thank him, you know. The point is you can't pay for what's not even paid, amen? The Father cannot exact punishment on you, Christian, because Jesus paid it all. That is why I think particular redemption, or particular atonement, is so important. You say, oh God just made it possible for everyone to be saved, and now it's up to you whether you accept it or not. No, Jesus really did purchase His people. You shall call His name Jesus, for He might save His people from their sins. where He'll make it possible for everyone to be? No, He purchased the Church of God. Read it in Acts 20, 28. With His what? Blood. Revelation, I think it's 5, 9. From every tribe, tongue, language, people. He purchased them. He bought them. He bought us. If you're a Christian, and the Holy Spirit enables me to what? Receive that by faith. It is a glorious day when you're no longer condemning yourself. Amen? Power of the gospel! And what else has the Spirit done? Look, He's washed my body with pure water. I don't think He's referring to water baptism, but instead to the outward change of life that results from the inward cleansing and salvation. Question comes to me, wait a minute, don't we proclaim that? Don't we profess that when we go to get baptized? Yeah, we do. We do. Okay, but what He's saying is that saving faith produces repentance from dead works. We saw that back in chapter 9. And now I'm freed not just from this nagging guilt, but I'm freed from this nasty guile. And that's the new covenant promise we read in Ezekiel. The Lord said, I will sprinkle you with clean water. I will give you a new heart. I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove your heart of stone, give you a heart of flesh. And notice this, I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statues. Amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing. I remember sometimes preaching these things through the years, someone goes, what was that verse where God will cause us to walk in His ways? Where was that from? One of those major prophets that we hardly ever read? I mean, I thought it was all up to us. You mean, I'm actually free to walk in His ways because God causes me to do it? Yeah. Well, don't you have to cooperate with Him? See, we always want to focus on what my responsibility is. I do have a responsibility. But listen, my response is to God's ability. Amen? You say, that's kind of punny. Yeah, it's true. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling because it's all up to you. Is that what the next verse says? No, for it's God who is at work in you, both to will, that's the desire, and to do, that's the ability. Amen? Read it, Philippians 2, verse 12 and 13. There's one of the guys from Household of Faith back in South Carolina or something like that. He's always got those two verses in his e-mails after his name. Always. And I'm going, this is really good because he's got the tension of what? Our responsibility and God's sovereignty. And we need that tension. Amen? And if you ever hear me not preaching that tension, Call me on it, will you please? The scripture teaches both, amen? But I could not do anything. Apart from the Lord, I could not do anything unless he's prior working in me. But application, ask yourself this. For what do I yearn? Does my heart echo the cry of King David as the deer pants for water, but so my soul pants for thee, O God? Am I really convinced, like Asaph, that nearness to God is my good? If so, I'll draw near to Him. If not, I'll try to fill that spiritual longing, that emptiness in my heart, with all kinds of physical, temporal things. And I'll come up unsatisfied every time. It's a fool's errand. It's futility. You don't believe me? Read the book of Ecclesiastes. He talks about all the things he went after. He talks about how frustrated he was. Not fulfilled. Secondly, though, nearness to God isn't just a private matter. That relationship must be lived out with other people. Notice what he says. We're to hold fast the confession of our hope. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope. How? Without wavering. Why? For he who promise is faithful. Now, we say that hope, biblically, is not, well, I hope it won't rain, but it probably will. You know, we say in Oregon, I hope it won't rain, but Sunday is supposed to be 80. It's interesting to me. People complain about the rain. I've talked to people at work and they say, you know, I've lived here all my... Someone said, I hate it. I said, you must not be an Oregonian. Oh, I've lived here all my life. I'm thinking, okay. But then I heard this week, oh yeah, it's going to be hot on Sunday. Come on. Stalin, you complain that it's been raining for so long, you're going to have an 80 degree day? Why don't you enjoy it? Amen? If it's too hot, then go to the coast, will you? I mean, for the life of me, it's like, oh, when it's day, they say, will it be night? And when it's night, they say, when will it be morning? Biblical hope is certainty because it embraces all God's exceeding and great precious promises through which, Peter says, we are partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. That's 2 Peter 1.4. Hope, then, is this integral, this essential part of the gospel of grace. Hope is securely based on God's faithfulness. Why? He promised eternal salvation to all who trust in Christ. And as a result, believers look forward with confidence, expectation, to the consummation, in other words, just the conclusion of God's saving work in them that brings us into eternity. And that hope sustains, enlivens, and anchors the soul during our pilgrimage here on earth. The writer says, it's not just an inward hope that he wants us to hold fast, but the confession of that hope outwardly. And he doesn't want our public confession to waver. That's his point here. So hold fast. Notice those two words. They imply that there's some danger, some difficulty that's trying to pry me loose from my confession of hope in Christ. What would that danger, what would that difficulty be? Here, the Hebrew Christians were under the threat of persecution. We read that later on in chapter 10. He's talked about how they were persecuted in verses 32 through 34. And in 35 he tells them, don't throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. Okay? So, they were under threat of persecution. We may face that yet in America. Outwardly, we should be ready for it. But here's the point. We all face pressures to conform to the world every single day. In other words, to compromise with sin. And it's easier for me as a Christian to blend in at work. To blend in the neighborhood. Or for you to blend in if you're at school, college, whatever. And here's the point. It's easier not to say anything by way of witness and just blend in instead of standing out for Jesus. True? It's easier. I don't want people to think I'm a religious fanatic. I talked to Tom Price about this, the guy on the phone or something like that. I said, yeah, he said, did you have lunch yet? You're supposed to meet me and I'm supposed to drop some wine off to him. He said, did you have lunch yet? Yeah, I ate at Mike's. I told him what I had, right? And he goes, oh, hell yeah. First thing that came out of my mouth, I said, no heaven yeah. That guy's like, What? You know, but I got kids to talk to about, you know, raising kids and stuff. And he goes, how do you do that? You know, interesting. I got a good relationship with my 19 year old. He wanted to hear about that. His daughter's only eight and they can't get along. Okay. You know, he hadn't even got to adolescence yet. We can be a witness, can't we? But not just by our life. There has to be an explanation with our lips. That's the key of what he's saying here. Don't shut it down. Don't turn it down. Don't tone it down. Be out there. First day on the job, guess what? John, are you listening to me? First day at boot camp, bring your Bible. Put it right there on top of your bunk. Let them know who you are, whose you are, amen? And where you stand. I'm trying to hide it, turn it down. I tried that with the guys training me at the wine company, right? So the first day, he's taking me all around, I didn't say anything. This was during the Occupy Portland thing, right? And that second day, Second day, we're driving, and I'm just letting my life be a witness. I'm thinking, I'm not going to sprawl anything on this guy. I'm just going to shine the light right in his eye, you know, kind of thing. The second day, these people are sitting out there, and there's a sign out there that said, keep religion out of politics, or something like that. Something like that. He goes, what do you think about that? And I just said, you know what, man, I just got to tell you, I'm a pastor. He said, I thought you were. Now this guy, listen, this guy's cussing, this guy's talking about women, lusting after them. Ladies, no offense, I'm just, that's what the world does, right? I mean, verbally talking about this gal walking across the street in front of us. And he says this, and then he says to me, oh, you know what religion I am? I said, it doesn't have anything to do with Jesus. And I can't see how it could in the way you've been talking in the last couple of days. He said, well, people think we're a cult, but we're not. I'm LDS. And so I got a chance to witness to him. That went nowhere. Pray for Cole is his name. But we can't hide the light. Hide it under a bushel? I'm going to let it? Amen, amen, amen. That's what he's saying. That's all I think he's saying here. Okay, there's more to it probably, yeah. But the author exhorts us to hold fast the confession of our hope. You know what? It's better to be thought a fanatic for Jesus and identify with Him. And why must we hold fast our conviction of hope? Notice what he says, because He who promises is faithful. It's God's faithfulness that's our hope. Okay? And no one who trusts in Jesus will be disappointed. Jesus will come as He promised and His people will be with Him and be like Him with perfect body, perfect soul, for how long? Forever. And here's my encouragement to you. We can never hold fast our confession in our own strength. I think with me trying to cork my mouth, no pun intended, delivering a bunch of wine, okay? I was trying in Sean power. I'll just be a witness. By the end of the first day, man, I was just emotionally worn out. Listen to the filth coming out of this guy's mouth. On the second day, I had about enough of it. I had enough of it. And thank God for occupied Portland people, at least the guy with the sign or the gal with the sign out there that just opened up that cork. Amen? And it all just... I'm a pastor, I've got to tell you. I thought you were. What's that all about, you know? Does God have a sense of humor? Let me ask you. You know, it's just amazing to me how He's patient with me and He perseveres and He continues with us. Amen? I mean, I thought about my own life and I said, even though I'm still a pastor, it's amazing! I am so unworthy. I am rotten in my old nature. I am! Yet, little by little, that old nature's rotten off. The Spirit's filling me more and more and we're getting on with things, amen? And we're growing. And here's the point. Like a drowning man holding on to a rope, we must cling to God's great faithfulness in Christ. That's what He told us in chapter 6. God makes His promises unbreakable. God added the oath to that promise to Abraham. God would have to cease to exist before He could cease to be faithful to His promises. Let me illustrate it. A man once told his son to wait for him on a downtown corner one morning until he returned about half an hour. But the father's car broke down and he couldn't get to a phone. Five hours later, the worried father returned to find his son looking in the window of a dime store and rocking back and forth on his heels. After the father apologized, he asked him, weren't you worried? Did you think I was never coming back? The boy replied, no, dad. I knew you were coming. You said you would. I think after about an hour, I would have been freaking out. Amen. How much more then can we trust God? He who promised is what? Faithful. Lastly, because we have to really move on here, we should be asking ourselves, to whom am I committed? Am I going to rest on God's faithfulness or on something else? Okay. What role does each of us have in helping one another to persevere? And that brings us third. to this third excitation, which is to encourage one another to love and good deeds, verse 24 and 25. This is a whole sermon in itself, and I probably should come back to it. I will say this, Piper said this, that perseverance is a community project. I like that. But he says, and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near." This is the only one another in Hebrews. Consider means to give some thought, give attention to this or it won't happen. And that means to take our focus off ourselves and think of others. By the way, it doesn't come naturally, man. I think of myself naturally, others I think of supernaturally, unless I'm just being critical. Okay? And I should be asking, what does this other person need to help him or her grow in love and good deeds? Simulate is an interesting word here. It normally has a negative connotation. Like, we provoke, the old King Jimmy uses it, we provoke people to anger. Right? But here, the author may be using it ironically to grab attention. In other words, rather than provoking one another to anger or jealousy or bitterness, think about how to provoke one another to love and good deeds. And this also implies then that love needs to be worked out. It's not automatic. It's going to take what? Thought and effort. Now, the context here is where this provoking of love and good deeds takes place is when we assemble together. Some had dropped out of church. Perhaps they had had their feelings hurt by other believers. Now they claim that they could worship God better alone. Now, listen to me. You've heard this happen, haven't you? People come to you and say, I've been burned. You invite them to gather with the saints. They go, no, I have done that. I've been there. I am not going back. Sat next to a lady on the plane. I don't go looking for this. I promise I don't. I'm a stand-up male believer. What church are you a part of? Well, I haven't been in church in years. Really? You think I start saying, well, you're such a sinner. No, I start. Tell me your story. Let me hear your what? Heart. We talked for three whole hours from Louisville to Chicago. We got to do some spiritual operation. Holy Spirit, I'm hoping He did. Very interesting conversation. I won't go into it all. But pray for Linda is her name. Pray for her to find a solid church in Fresno. Did someone say it was the armpit of California? Yeah. Fresno. Okay. Here's the point. Invariably, when people drop out of church, their focus is on themselves, not on God. Instead of thinking, how can I be used of God to spur others on in love, they think, my needs aren't being met, the church is unfriendly, unloving, etc. But the point he's saying is, you cannot practice love alone. You can practice faith, you can practice hope, but not love. You have to be with other people to do that. Amen? And here's the question. Did you know that isolation breeds suspicion? You say, Sean, what do you mean? Isolation breeds discouragement. It weakens our resolve. During World War II, the enemy conducted these experiments to find out the most effective way of getting information from prisoners. They found that solitary confinement was the most effective. Why? After a few days of solitary confinement, most men would tell all they knew. What's the point? Without fellowship, we become easy prey for temptation and discouragement. People say, well, I don't know about all that. I don't get anything out of church when I go. Listen to this. A churchgoer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper. He complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. And this is what he wrote. I've gone to church for 30 years now, and in that time I've heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them, so I think I'm wasting my time, and those pastors are wasting theirs by giving all those sermons at all. Really? Well, this started quite the controversy in the letters to the editor column, much to the delight of the editor, by the way. And it went on for weeks until some wiseacre wrote to Clincher. I love this. He wrote, I've been married for 30 years now. In that time, my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But for the life of me, I can't recall the entire menu of a single one of those meals. But I do know this, they all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. Now, if my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today. Amen? He said, well, it's not just what we can get, it's what we can give. Amen. I totally agree. I gave the testimony last week about the guy from Washington, the lawyer, he came, right? And he said, oh, Capitol City Baptist Church, Capitol Hill. He said, I think what I'll do is go in there and make some good connections for my lawyering, my business connections, and my, you know, political connections. And then he was so, he wasn't a Christian. He heard the gospel for the first time. And he said, one thing that grabbed him was he didn't like what the gospel said about God, and he definitely didn't like what the gospel said about himself. He said, but one thing he noticed was he was there to get, and all those members were there to give. And the contrast was evident immediately to him. And he was convicted by his sins. Listen, if we come to give, we will what? Receive. Let me ask you this. Is it more blessed to give or receive? Are you getting burned out? Are you getting tired? Are you struggling in serving the Lord? Remember who you're serving. Amen? Remember who you are. I have to tell myself that, like, Sean, remember, this is such a privilege to serve the saints. And you are blessed. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Amen. Amen. There's strength in numbers. Okay? Church is not a heap of loose scattered stones, but stones cemented, fitted into their place. Church is not a few wandering sheep, but a flock under the care and protection of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.