Our text this morning is Hebrews 10, 19 through 25, and if you'd like to look that up, please, it will be of benefit to me and to you, I'm sure. This is the word of God. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us, through the curtain that is his flesh, And since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith with our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir one another up to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day draw in near. Amen. I've entitled the sermon this morning, Let's do it. Let's do it. How do you respond to the finished work and the final priesthood of Jesus Christ, the eternal priesthood of Christ our King who gave himself for us on the cross? There's various responses, I guess, through history. There's the liberal view of the cross which takes away the wrath of God and turns it simply into love. It certainly is love. It's the greatest demonstration of all of God's love, but it does have wrath. And actually, it's the wrath of God on Christ for us and our sakes which brings out and highlights the love of God in the cross to remove. The wrath of God from the cross is a serious mistake and a great reduction in the love of God, which is maybe why liberals don't love Christ as much as conservatives do, who believe in divine wrath. It's a necessary consequence, I think, That's not to say that all liberals don't love Christ as much as all conservatives do, of course that's not the case, but all other things being equal, I think you take the point. There's a, in some sense, finished, but in another sense, unfinished Roman cross where the mass is a re-presentation or a rehearsing of the sacrifice of Christ, which always leaves people in doubt. Has it been finished or not? There's, in the New Testament days, the kind of ghostly cross of docetism where Christ's human nature was only an apparition, really, not true, permanent humanity. Whereas the Bible, of course, teaches that Christ is man as God-man forever. And if that weren't the case, there would be no hope for our resurrection bodies. Thank God his corpse was not a ghost. There's the cross that Paul talks about of Gentiles. The philosophers just think this is complete foolishness. Why would God have to die for our sins? Again, a lack of understanding of the seriousness of sin, I guess. And the stumbling block, Jewish cross. They expected a king to triumphantly drive out the occupying powers of the Roman legions, but instead they got a suffering Messiah, which is what, of course, God had destined and predicted through the scriptures and he himself had spoken of, but they stumbled over it. They still can't get over this idea of a cross. The denying of the cross by Peter. who when it comes to the bit, even though he says, they'll all deny you, I won't, he does. That's a warning to us all, isn't that? And then there's the lukewarm Laodicean cross. So various responses to the cross. We've come to the end of the doctrinal part of Hebrews. He's been predominantly, though not exclusively, there's been occasional pauses for application, but essentially it's been now on ten chapters of teaching, teaching, teaching, teaching, doctrine, doctrine, doctrine, doctrine, interspersed with an occasional bit of application. but we've come to the end of that and now though again not exclusively but the vast majority of the material in the rest of the letter is urging and exhortation and encouragement and practical application of the person and the work and the priesthood and ministry of Christ for us. How's it going to affect us? How's it going to help us? How's it going to steady us? How's it going to nourish us and drive us forward by God's grace? And the aim of course in all this application and indeed in the doctrinal foundation for the application is the author wants to help us cling to Christ so that we walk by faith towards the heavenly mount. That's the goal, to get us safely into the fold and to be overcomers through faith in Jesus Christ. And so, in order to do this, and it's a slightly a structurally imbalanced or asymmetrical chapter or section here we're looking at, but it's really framed around three key exhortations or first-person commands. Let us draw near in verse 22. In verse 23, let us hold fast. And in verse 24, let us consider how to stir up Three, let's, hence the title, let's do it. So let's draw near. That's the first thing. We read about Israel who said, let's back off. You Moses speak to God. If God speaks any more, we're finished. We're dead, man. They remained far off. And even if you think about it, the worshipping Israelite in the temple was always outside. It was only the great high priest, or the high priest, sorry, Aaron and his sons who entered into the inmost presence of God and it was very seldom, wasn't it? Only once each year on the Day of Atonement. The rest of the time, they were distant, they were remote, they were backed away from the holy presence of God. and the Shekinah glory of God dwelling as an attempt in the midst of his people. But now, just as Aaron drew near to present the blood and sprinkle it on the mercy seat to make atonement for the annual guilt of the people of Israel, the people of God, one and all, Through faith in Jesus, for the first time, the arms of God reach out and say, draw near, brings the man close into his presence, into his very presence. Isn't that an amazing thing? What a privilege that we can draw nigh unto God. nearer my God to thee. That's what the new covenant people of God are. How so? Because Christ has inaugurated, he has cut the covenant. He has effected, put it into operation, the covenant. He has renewed the covenant. He has opened up a way of approach to God so that there's access to God and there's acceptance by God who calls every true believer. by grace through faith as a holy royal priest to draw near. Isn't that incredible? Look at it again in verse 22. Let us draw near with a true, it's a sincere, it's a sincere belief in Christ, a sincere heart of faith And it's not to be anxious about what might transpire or go on if we dare do that, because God's infinitely holy, but rather it's in full assurance of faith, confidence, boldness. Not brashness or presumption or rudeness or taking liberties with God. God forbid that we should ever think that. People do think that and that's an error. He's always holy. But yet he's given us ground to stand on. He's given us confidence through the mediator. He's cleansed our hearts. How has he done that? Well, verse 20, by the blood of Jesus, the death of Christ on the cross, which is called a new and living way. It's new in the sense of time. Aaron only once a year, but the child of God every day and many times a day. Isn't that a vast difference? Drawing near into the heavenly holy of holies. What a gift prayer is. I was thinking about this last night on my knees in my study at midnight and thinking, prayer is an amazing thing. And if we can only grasp that, it should all other things being equal, no, no, all other things aren't always equal, radically transform how we view the privilege of prayer and the place of prayer. Look where it is. We have confidence to enter the holy places and enter the holy of holies, actually, the very throne room of God, where in chapter four, we're told, aren't we, the throne of grace, to find help in our time of need, mercy. And all made available by the blood of Jesus, new in time and new in quality. Because in some senses the entrance of Aaron was a kind of dead end. He had to back out again, didn't he? And it led nowhere. The temple ritual, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, came to an end physically on earth. The sacrifice of Christ has abolished that so that we're now into this new and living way. This living way because it's a way that Christ has made through his death and he is alive forevermore. And we enter into his presence by the Holy Spirit. It's said there that it's through the curtain The curtain here, of course, is explained as his body, his flesh. That's why the body's broken when we drink the wine in the cup of communion. Because his body was broken on the veil of the temple that separated the holy place from the most holy place was torn by a hidden hand of heaven from top to bottom that we might enter in. So that's an amazing thing. We have an assured place of approach, verse 19, a path of approach, verse 20, a priest in whom we approach, verse 21, and the purity to approach, look how it's put here, with our hearts sprinkled clean, the water of cleansing, washing from our sins and all that defiles and stains the impurity of sin washed by the blood of Jesus and our bodies washed with pure water. Possibly a reference to baptism, but I suppose just stressing body and soul, inside and out, we're consecrated for this service of God in Christ. Is that not a great encouragement to pray? What an amazing thing. Calvin says this, we have boldness to enter into the holiest. This privilege was never granted to the fathers under the law for the people were forbidden to enter the visible sanctuary. But now the case is very different, not only symbolically, but in reality. access to God in prayer. What an encouragement then. How should we pray? Fervently. I guess wide-eyedly, if that's an adverb. wonderingly, corporately, collectively, boldly, joyfully, believingly, frequently, publicly, privately, personally, with a sincere, unfeigned faith. At the start we sang, didn't we, Psalm 100, enter into his courts with praise, for his name endures always. That's what the communion seasons in Scotland used to end with, and in Ireland, his name forever shall endure. That's why the people approached to praise God and to seek him in prayer. Let's encourage one another to approach God boldly and confidently. The second thing then is we're to hold fast. In verse 23, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful. What's your grip like? I had a dream the other night, and it must have been six flags or nine flags, or how many flags it is. I was at an amusement park in New Jersey, and I was going up on the big, massive, how did they build that kind of loop? Massive. up on the outside car, and just as we got to the top, it stopped! Ah! That's my one great fear of roller coasters. And then, of course, you know, one too many cream buns, we would say at home, the security bar broke, and I was left hanging, and I was starting to cramp, and all this panic of plummeting down the hundreds of feet to my death. and I think I probably woke up in a cold sweat. I don't remember anything else after that. Holding fast. Can you think of how tight my grip was and how determined my grip was? Hold fast. It's easy not to hold fast. To be dissuaded to be deterred, to be deceived, as Paul says, blown about by every wind and cunning of doctrine. See, there's lots of ideas out there designed to warp how you think about your service for Christ. Satan intends that to loosen your grip on Christ. but we are to remain immovable, unshakable and unwavering in our convictions of the truth of the gospel and all that Christ has done and the finality specifically of his sacrificial work for us and our confession of him. Look at what he says there, let us hold fast the confession of our hope. What's he speaking of a confession? Well of course we talk about a confession of faith, almost certainly he's thinking of the kind of things he spoke to with Timothy when he told him to hold fast his good confession made in the presence of many witnesses. Because it was standard, it seems, in the early church, as it also is in our denomination, when we profess faith in Christ, to come to the front and confess Christ. and say, I do, I do, I do, I will, I will, as we engage ourself to his service, to his covenant, to his lordship and his kingship, because he's saved us and washed us. We confess our terms of membership and our covenant of membership. And so it was in the early church. You see it at many points, actually, in the book of Hebrews, chapter 4, 14. Chapter 3, verse 1, sorry, 4, 14. Here, 10, 23, and also 13, 15. Where to make this confession and where to hold bold this confession. were to be like Ephesians chapter six, Christian soldiers Kevlar plated with the armor of God in Christ. Our feet showed well and steady, armed with prayer and armed with scripture to hold our ground. If you're in the military, and I'm not, I think I would have been too cowardly to be in the military. But the key thing is, if you have ground to hold ground, you don't let that ridge go that was won with blood. Hold it. Stand firm. Maybe remember, and maybe Some of us who have a Japanese background will remember after the war, for a number of years, nobody told some of the soldiers on one of the islands the war was over. And years later, there they were, holding their ground, even though the rest of the world was at peace. Holding the ground. Didn't let go, that mindset. And after all things, to stand is what Paul says, against the devil's lies and wiles and the threats of persecutors, to stand and hold fast. Young people, you need to hold fast and not let go. There's going to be many things that want to come up to you in your mind and like hanging from that roller coaster upside down, prise your fingers off and loosen your grip until you fall to your death. You're to hold fast, hold fast. Like, we're to be like, we're not to be like Peter, who, when the heat was turned up, and we would say, back home, he was a bit of a chocolate man. When the heat was turned up, he melted, and he gave way. Because it was too dangerous to profess Christ, we're to hold fast. We're not to be like those, and I've come to love them in a sense, the reeds at Secaucus, or as a guy who's sitting on a train, Secaucus. Because when the wind blows, what happens to those rushes? They blow this way and that. If it's a south wind, they blow north. If it's a north wind, they blow south. If it's an east wind, they blow west. If it's a west wind, they blow east. Swayed back and forth by the wind. We're not to be like that, but like John the Baptist. Jesus said, what did you go out to see, a reed swayed by the wind? No, that kind of preacher is for palaces, dressed in fine clothing and ease. Where did John get that ability to hold fast, to cling and not cramp or grip and let go? Remember the Herodians and Pharisees who were trying to trip Jesus up in Matthew 22. Teacher, we know that you're true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion. It doesn't mean at all, but you're not swayed, for you're not swayed by appearances. Are you or have you been swayed by appearances? Surely there's not one of us can say we're entirely free from that. You see, our flesh is weak. We're more concerned at times what other people think than what God thinks about us. And so we're to live, as we'll see later, as seeing him This is a kind of like, how can this be possible? How can you see him who is invisible? Well, he's invisible. He can't be visaged, seen. Because it's spiritual sight. It's the eyes of the heart set on God by the spirit. If you see him who is invisible, then you'll hold fast. And to the degree that you have your eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, you will cling to Christ. And so we need to encouragement. This is all joint stuff here. It's not just one guy at the front saying, do this, you guys. What does it say? Let us hold fast. Let's do it together with each other. So let's hold fast. In 2025, we're called to take our stand, not on the issues of the 16th century or even the 20th century. The challenges are great, of course. We always need to fight on all fronts, but to fight the good fight on the issues of the day, particularly education and its corruption, drugs, and the way it's affected people's minds. Promiscuity, which is widespread. Transgenderism, happily a little bit being ruled back. Issues of flags. daring to proclaim the uniqueness of Christ in a pluralistic age and the sufficiency of his sacrifice once and for all, that Jesus is the new and living way and is the only way to God and to be accepted into God's presence. Are you holding fast? Lord, I'm sorry that my grip's been a little weak. Help me to hold fast. Give me the grace of Christ to hold fast. Isn't it true, we're told these things, it's not hold fast when it's easy to hold fast. It's hold fast when it's difficult. and dangerous and costly and tempting not to hold fast. But you see, the death of Christ is such that if his spirit is in our hearts, we have the grace and strength for which we ask to hold fast. There's not one of us ourselves could or would hold fast in a way that pleases God. There's not one of us. were it not for his grace. And so we have his grace and we have his strength and we have his encouragement and each other. There's times that I'm tempted not to hold fast. The elders are tempted not to hold fast. Their wives are tempted not to hold fast. The parents and the children. And so we need to do it together. to encourage one another. Let's hold fast. And the third let's do it is verse 24. And let us consider how to stir one another up to love and good works. The word here is paroxysm. What's a paroxysm? Well, it has really got to do with a provocation. When we were first year medical students, and you know that doctors learn all kinds of big words, so that it's, well, I guess it's partly designed so that it's shorthand and you can sum up things quickly with abbreviated phrases. partly maybe it's because doctors like big sounding words and partly it's to baffle the public. What is he talking about? That was just medical speak. But we came across this beautiful condition called paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea. PND. Love it. I just loved saying it when the consultant asked me and I reeled it off. Paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea. Obvious case of. What happened was at night, nocturnal, you got short of breath dyspnea when you lay flat because that provoked the buildup of fluid on the lungs if your heart wasn't pumping efficiently. Lying flat provoked. And so this word, it means provoke, not in a bad way, as is too often the case in the church, but rather a good way. It means also to stir up, to agitate. so that we're not just stagnating spiritually, or growing cold spiritually, or drifting away from Christ spiritually, but we're having a shake up in the church, constantly agitating one another, stirring one another up. Not anger and frustration, but to love and good works. And we're to do it together, one and all. We're to do it by our preaching, by our praying, by our praising. Sing to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. That's the purpose of Psalms. One of the purposes to praise God, of course, but to stir each other up. by words of exhortation, not like Job's friends. So, see, we're all different, aren't we? There's certain ways of speaking to you that help you, just because you're you. And there's certain ways of speaking to you which are unhelpful, just because you're you. And so we're to consider this. Give careful thought to how we speak, the words we choose, the phrases we use, sometimes the illustrations we use. Because for some, paroxysmal, nocturnal, it just means nothing. Why didn't he tell me about the cat? That would have helped. We're to think. Consider each one, what their needs are, what their sensitivities are, so we can wisely choose our words, like I think a bit of Proverbs describes them, choice goads, to prod each one another gently and kindly, agitating and stirring and provoking one another to love and to good works. Matthew Henry says, believers are to consider how they can be of service to each other. Isn't that lovely? How can I serve you? Help me to understand. Is that your attitude? Especially, he continues, stirring up each other to the more vigorous and abundant exercise of love. Not a little love, but a lot of love. Full of love. And he says, the practice of good works. The communion of saints, he continues, is a great help and privilege. And, because this is the point of it all, it's not just so we can be lovey-dovey, but a means of steadfastness and perseverance so that we tighten our grip through this mutual encouragement in a building ministry of love and good works. Note as well what he says there, Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some. I read too much, probably, on Facebook. Not that much, but still too much. People who say things like, I've given up on church. I don't go to church. I'm a Christian, but I don't go to church. Isn't that weird? Isn't that a strange thing? Why do some people absent themselves from church? Well, there's one strand of thought going around right now. Let's have home church because in the Bible days of the New Testament, everybody met in houses. Of course, some of those houses were big public houses with courtyards and servants. They were like churches effectively. in terms of size. Some of them were small, of course, but not all. But, of course, Pentecost was a public thing. Christ preached each week in synagogues in church buildings. Moses taught at the foot of Mount Sinai. The Book of Acts, when it describes the patterns that were observed in the early churches, not prescribing precedence, but describing events that took place. It's not saying thou shalt meet in a house and not in a building specifically designed for meeting. That's just, it sounds convincing, but it's really not correct. Or not just home church, but false church. Some claim that after the time of Constantine, The church became irredeemably corrupt. From about 400 AD, that was it. The church was done, so have nothing to do with it. Come out of it and be separate. That's the kind of language you use. Really tragic. A.W. Pink, a faithful godly Christian writer, he went to the Isle of Lewis and separated himself. Because of his brethren background, believing in his heart that the church of the last days was so bad, he couldn't attend it. And just down the block, there was a revival under Kenneth Macrae. He was a godly man, but at this point, he was badly deceived. How much more blessing he would have brought to the church? if only he hadn't had this view of a church as bad, a false church. Or the far church. In our hectic, remote times, social media can scratch where people itch. Can't it? I was seriously thinking about doing some stuff on TikTok and it's gone. maybe get a 90-day reprieve, because young people are on TikTok, or at least they used to be. It's probably something else now. But it's true we can repeat church. We can relay church. but we can't replace meeting bodily and physically in church. There's nothing like that. I guess the effect of this sermon, however effective it is, whether it's effective or not, by God's grace, is double at least, because you're here and I'm here and speaking to you and I can see you. Of course, God can use anything, can't he, in a powerful way, but generally speaking, it's much more effective in person. And Christ raises local shepherds for local sheep who bleat and that their needs might be met. There's also the attack church in persecution. It may be wiser and safer to go from public meetings into private in persecution, but not in peacetime, not in health time, in pandemics. Yes, that's an exception to the rule, but it's not the norm. The church in China went underground because it had to. The covenanters met in the woods because if they didn't they would get drowned or butchered or something else. We flee when we have to but in peacetime we cry out on rooftops. So the home church, false church, far church, attack church and my church. Calvin actually spends about two pages on this theme. He doesn't call it my church, that's my term for my church. You see, there's nobody like me. They're all different. I'm not like them. I've nothing really in common with them. They don't think like I do, or dress like I do, or go the places I do, or do the work that I do. I just don't get along with them. So, I'll just start my church. If the thoughts, the secret thoughts of people's hearts were known, how many denominations and churches have been started exactly that way? because people have just been selfish about church. They may be otherwise good people, but selfish about church. It's a tragedy. All Christians have the most important things in common. Fellowship with God, peace with God, union with Christ, filled with the Spirit. What else matters? Taste and preference? Rank or riches? Occupation? Such people need to stop being selfish and churlish and care for other people beside themselves. Simon Christomacher notes an exhortation from the Didache, which was a kind of manual of religious instruction from the early church. in the first century and it gives this exhortation. It seems that even back then people were slacking off. But be frequently gathered together seeking the things which are profitable for your souls. Even back then in the early church. frequently gathered together, seeking the things profitable for your souls. We're to stir one another up, not by issuing edicts, you must, or cracking the whip like the scribes and Pharisees. who put burdens on men back and didn't lift a finger to help them or to explain how practically they could implement them. Where to urge? we're to constrain by the blood of Christ, aren't we? That's what this appeal is. In light of the blood of Christ, in light of the holy place, in light of the living way, in light of the rent curtain, in light of the high priest, let's draw near, let's hold fast, and let's provoke one another. into loving good works. I hope you're provoked. I hope you're stirred up. I hope you hold fast. And I hope you draw near to Christ, our high priest. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the blood of Jesus. Thank you for this.