Scripture reading this afternoon comes to us in Hebrews, the tenth chapter, reading verses nineteen through thirty-nine. Hebrews, chapter ten, beginning to read at verse nineteen. Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he consecrated for us through the veil that is his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having 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 one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more, as you see the day approaching. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer or worse punishment Do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. And again, the Lord will judge his people. It is a fearful thing. to fall into the hands of the living God. But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings, partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated. For you had compassion on me and my chains, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. Therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward, for you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise. for yet a little while, and he who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him. We are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul. Thus far, this reading of scripture, our text portion for this special confession of faith The service is from verse 23. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful. We join the Universal Church in the confession of our faith. May everyone say in their heart, thus, I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord. who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe that there is a holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. Cariation throughout North America and Europe, what we are experiencing in the history of Christianity is a developing apostasy. a falling away, a surrendering to secularism, a caving in of Christianity in many areas. Now, we don't need to be afraid that heaven is going to be less filled. God has his people in all the nations of the world, and he is working. But it is a rather ominous time in North America. We hear increasing reports in Europe and also throughout North America that churches are being closed down, church buildings are being sold or transformed into mosques. Why is there such apostasy? Why is there such falling away? Well, such a season, such a time in the course of history has taken place so many times. We read of it so many times in the Book of the Judges that every man did that which was right in his own eyes and that there were ups and downs throughout the course of the ministry of the kings and the prophets of the Old Testament and even during the history of the New Testament, we get the sense that while there was indeed a Pentecost, there were other times when things were going downhill. And if you look at the seven letters to the churches in the book of Revelation, you see, too, that things are going downhill in several of those congregations. Well, the book of Hebrews is written also later in the New Testament time period in a time when The Apostle was becoming quite alarmed about the apostasy that was developing among the Hebrews. Now Hebrews, of course, meaning anyone who was a descendant of Abraham. So anyone who had any kind of affiliation with the nation of Israel in their lineage and had heard the gospel and had come to faith in Jesus Christ, they're taken under this umbrella word Hebrew. because it's not just the Jews, only one tribe of Israel, and it's not just the Israelites, it's even broader. The gospel has had its fruit among Arabian and Israelites. Well, anyone who is among the dispersion of the Hebrews throughout the then known world may be addressed by this letter. And what is the apostle alarmed about? Well, there is a growing a growing movement of people who want to go back to the religion of the unbelieving Jews and just be satisfied with the legalistic rituals and not be satisfied simply to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. And the Apostle is very concerned about this. We notice that this throughout the book, as he's showing that Jesus Christ is better than that Old Testament The prophetic office and that Old Testament priesthood and that Old Testament temple and all those sacrifices. The whole book is a treatise on Jesus is better to encourage those who are thinking that Jesus is not enough. The apostasy that is growing, which literally apostasy means a falling away. of falling away from the profession of the Christian faith. And you see, this is on his mind when he says in the last verse of our scripture reading, but we are not of those who draw back. He's warning about those who draw back or who retreat or who fall away from Christianity. And he is exhorting them Therefore, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. Now, we do believe in the preservation of the saints. We are Calvinists. So, after all, we don't have to be worried about this, do we, that anyone who believes is going to fall away? Or do we? Why does the Bible also say, Let him that thinketh thee standeth, take he's lest he fall? Why does the Apostle Paul himself say, I fear lest I myself be a castaway? Why does Jesus teach that there are going to be many who are coming to him in the day of days and say, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And he's going to say, I never knew you. Why are all these warnings like in Hebrews 6? There are some who have tasted of the good power of the world to come and who will fall away. Why are these warnings? If the doctrine is true, that the saints of God are preserved. Well, there is a danger, on the one hand, to emphasize that truth to the point of saying that Well, you know, once you've believed, you're saved. And to translate that into carnal security, you say, well, you don't really have to tell someone who's ever professed Jesus' name or has ever accepted Jesus as Savior or has ever experienced a religious experience and come to associate with the Church. You don't have to warn them because once saved, always saved. It's the doctrine called in evangelicalism, eternal security. It seems to grab on to one point of the five points. There's some truth in the doctrine of eternal security, but it's surely not a carnal security as if you can just live the way you want after you've made a profession of faith, that you've got some kind of an eternal life insurance and you're going to heaven, you've got your ticket to go to heaven, just living up the rest of your life because you're going there anyway. No, the Bible doesn't teach carnal eternal security. On the other hand, you could be emphasizing the doctrine of the human responsibility so much that you say, watch out, you could fall away because you could be a believer today and be an unbeliever tomorrow. It all depends on your will. You have to hold fast, you have to hang on. Because, well, the Lord Jesus did say that he would hold his people in his hand, but he can jump out. That's the Arminian escape in the explanation of that John 10 passage. And such emphasis on the doctrine of the free will, then, that we would have no comfort of being preserved. Isn't it wonderful how this passage, this text really teaches such a balance. Hold fast because he's faithful. Because it's both. Let's look at this passage as an encouragement to us and also to Jake and Allison, because it talks about confession of faith, doesn't it? Talks about public profession of faith as it's translated in King James profession. We'll talk about the word later. So the calling to hold fast our confession. The meaning, the manner, the motive. Hold fast. I looked at that and I thought, well, you know, what does that mean today, because that's an old fashioned explanation, expression. So I googled hold fast. And lo and behold, it came up. It's a fastener. For these trick bites, keep your feet on the pedals. You know, because if you're doing loops and all kinds of things, it's a brand name that's being used. I suppose. I mean, I'm the cautious type. I really haven't done too many tricks with a bike. But I suppose if you have your feet on the pedals of these these little mountain bikes or whatever they're called, and you're doing loops and you're jumping and you're riding on Walls and curbs and all of that fancy stuff that you see some of these kids doing and you hold your breath when you see them. It would be critical if your foot fell off the pedal, if your foot slipped off the pedal. You want you want something holding your foot fast. So I guess the expression is still in vogue. Hold fast. You want something that fastens you. Well, of course, it's much more important in the usage of the word here. Hold fast. It means hold on tight. Hold on without ever letting go. It's in the imperative. It is a command. Steadily hang on whatever happens. Hold fast what? the confession of our hope. The profession is the alternate translation, and the King James, in fact, takes this word in the original Greek and does translate it in different ways Either confession or profession, depending on whether it seems to be a private application of the word or a public application of the word. Profession is a public statement. Confession is an agreeing statement. And so you could privately confess agreement with God when he says you have sinned And you say before his face only, I have sinned. You confess. But when you state your faith publicly, when you confess before men, then you profess your faith. You state it publicly. So that's the significance of the word confession or profession. Confession means to Express agreement with the truth that God has revealed. He reveals truth concerning your sin and you confess. Yes, Lord, I have sinned. He confesses that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. And you confess. Yes, Lord, I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of the living God. He says to you, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you say, Amen. Yes, Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. I want to believe. I do believe. It's speaking in agreement with God when you confess. And when you profess, then you agree with the content of the gospel and you publicly declare your agreement with God to others. That's where we get creeds from. The word credo simply means I believe. And a creed is the church responding to the revelation of God. God speaks and the church responds with I believe what God says. I believe in God the Father, in God His Son, in the Holy Spirit. I believe these things, as we say in the Apostles' Creed, or we believe, as we confess in the Belgic Confession, or in a more pastoral manner and spiritually experiential manner in the Heidelberg Catechism. What is your only comfort in life and death? That I, with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong to my faithful Saviour. So it is confessing faith in the Lord. Confessing it. I'm speaking here of confessing a hope. The King James translates the word hope as faith. profession of our faith without wavering. And the two words are related because of the fact that what is described here is a confession of the object of our hope. We have a hope that is set before us. The next chapter begins by defining faith in terms of hope, isn't it? Hebrews 11, verse 1. Faith. is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And so faith gives personal, subjective substance to the things that you hope for. The things you hope for, you don't see it yet. You don't have it yet. You don't experience it yet. But you have been told that it's there. And so you have a hope. You have a trust. You have a confidence about something you don't see with your eyes and you don't feel with your other senses, but you have heard about this by authoritative revelation and you confess the reality of that which you believe. Here we have a statement to hold fast. It's difficult. when your enemies are so visible, when the thing that opposes you in the fight of faith is so strong, when the darkness of your heart is something you feel, when your sin is so real that it causes you to loathe yourself because of your sin, when there is darkness then to confess faith is so hard. And we need the exhortation. Hold fast. Don't give up. Fight the good fight. What's the mystery between divine sovereignty and human responsibility? It is this, that God who preserves his people even unto the end through faith, He preserves them in the way of calling them to persevere. He so authoritatively calls them by exertions such as hold fast, such as these expressions, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Hold fast the confession of our hope that with the exhortation comes the power of the Spirit that applies the exhortation to your heart and stirs you back into an active exercise of faith. Peter, you're going to deny me three times before the sun comes up, Jesus says to Peter, but I have prayed for you that your faith fail not that there remain the potential for believing in your heart as a living principle even when you have stopped giving expression to it or exercising it. It's still there. And you will come to experience that life within you which has been preserved by the preserving prayer of the Lord Jesus as you weep bitterly on account of your sin and flee to the throne of grace for forgiveness for having denied the dear Savior whom you were so recently willing to die for. But now, Peter, hold fast without wavering. What is that phrase, without wavering? without wavering. It sounds unfair when you read it, especially if you're in a weak time. It sounds so. What do you mean hold fast without wavering? Our life is like the wave of the sea up and down, up and down. We are weak and frail. There's nothing constant. about life except change. So how can you not be influenced by the ups and downs of life? What do you mean without wavering? Well, the word actually is a translation, maybe not the happiest translation, but it is the same word in chapter 11. It is translated differently in chapter 11, verse 34. And so context, when you know a certain word is used, it's good to look up the context. 34, the last part in chapter 11. Clenched the violent fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of the weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of aliens. Now, of course, Hebrews 11 is talking about faith and talking about the whole catalog of the, quote, heroes of faith, valiant things were done. But notice, it says, turn to flight the armies of the aliens. The alien armies were turned to flight. What does that mean, when they turn to flight? Well, they retreat. They run back. A similar concept is is used here in chapter 10, verse 38, that if anyone draws back, if anyone retreats, if anyone gives up, verse 39, we are not of those who draw back to perdition. So, the exhortation of this passage says, hold fast the confession of your hope without retreating, without turning back, without giving up altogether so that you apostatize, you fall away from the Christian faith altogether. You may be ever so weak, but don't stop looking up. You may fall down ever so often, but don't stop getting up. How are battles won? I recently read an article somewhere. I forget where, but the point of the of the article was simply that wars are not so much won by the extensive power and numbers of armies as they are by raw perseverance. The most stirring and significant speech Winston Churchill ever had in the time of the Second World War was when he uttered those words, Never, never, never, never give up. And so the apostle would say to us in these times also, no matter how many times the devil knocks you down, don't ever stop trusting. No matter how many times you fall off the wagon, don't ever stop getting back on. No matter how many times You doubt. Don't ever stop praying, Lord, help my unbelief. Increase my faith. No matter how many times you feel hopeless, keep rehearsing the words of Psalm 42, My soul, why art thou cast down? Hope in God. It's not going to stay this way. It will change. The Lord is faithful after all he promised. I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God. Hold fast. In what manner are we to do this? Well, we've mentioned some things. Let me specifically say the context seems to warrant. that we would describe the manner of this holding fast as being a holding to the truth of the gospel with firm, persevering, continuing faith. It might be that we have all kinds of doubts about our personal state, about our personal emotions, about the lack of joy, but nevertheless that we never stop believing God is true. I might be a liar. All men might be liars. But God is true, let every man be alive. One of the apostles even stated that. God never lies. He is faithful. He is the one who spoke and it's true. It was true yesterday. It is true today. It will be true tomorrow. He has spoken. God has said it. We may believe it and never let it go. Don't stop listening to his word. Oh, stop listening to the devil. Turn away from him, because he is a liar and the father of all lies. Eve should have stopped and turned around, but she kept listening to the devil when he tempted her. Has God said? Any whispering of doubt in the word of God ought to be rebuked by our own heart. God is true. God has spoken. His word is infallible. It will never be proven to be a lie. The triune God reigns forever. His covenant is eternal. His promise of salvation in Christ Jesus is forever reliable and sure. The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses from all sin. It is infinitely powerful. You can choose any aspect of the gospel message, and it is true and forever will remain true. And therefore, we should never stop believing the truth of the gospel. Never stop trusting the promises of the gospel. Never stop encouraging our hearts to know that God is faithful. I might be unfaithful. My emotions might change. My heart may have its ups and downs. In Psalm 73, my heart and flesh faileth, but God is the strength of my life. He's the security. I might be like the boat on the waves that are bouncing up and down. I might be going up and down, but the anchor is hanging on to the solid rock that never moves. Continue believing the Lord. Continue in prayer. Let us draw near, verse 22 says. Let us draw near with a true heart. And the Bible also says in the words of an apostle, pray without ceasing. Job asked this question somewhere. The hypocrite. He talks about the hypocrite, he says. And he asks, will the hypocrite continue to call upon the Lord? No, he won't. You might feel ever so hypocritical, but one thing that will differentiate you from the true hypocrite is that the true hypocrite will suddenly stop praying. But God's people will be praying always according to Ephesians 6, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. No, that does not mean that they will be continually praying day in, day out. It does not mean there will not be seasons of prayerlessness. It does not mean that there will not be times when you can't even pray. But they will pray again. And they will commune with the Lord again. They will call upon him again. Never stop praying. Also, it means continuing fellowship with the church, with the saints, with the people of the Lord. The exhortation in verse 24 of this same passage surely is connected with this whole fast when the Apostle says, neglect not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is. The Apostle is saying one of the saddest signs of the apostasy of some is that while they were zealously attending church at one period of their life, now we don't see them too often. In fact, some of them have stopped altogether, and we fear for their souls that they have drawn back, that they have surrendered to the world, to the devil, that they have fallen away. And what is it about the assembling of the saints? Is it that there's this infectious fuzzy feeling when people of the Lord come together and we just kind of kind of perk each other up and then we go out and we're pumped up for another week? Is that all there is? Well, there are those assemblies that major on pumping up the human spirit and they really feel spiritual because there's all these human spirits exuding all kinds of excitement. And. No. It's about the Lord being present. in the assembly of his people. It is about the Lord saying that he delights in the assemblies of his people more than in all the tents of Judah. That where they gather together in his name, there he will be with them in a special way. There he delights to speak to them. When they are gathered in corporate prayer, they were all in one place and of one mind in one accord. And then he chose to pour out his spirit. Oh, let us not be like a doubting Thomas. who deliberately, because of his unbelief, absents himself from the assembly where Jesus delights to come in his resurrection glory. Let us not neglect the church gatherings. Rather, it also speaks here of fellowshipping with loving words and actions. Not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together, but verse 24 said, let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. So what do we get together for? Well, it's possible to get together and just provoke each other to anger. Well, that sometimes happens. We just sort of deliberately stick your foot out, figuratively speaking, and have someone else stumble. at your careless conduct or your careless words. We can provoke one another that way, but the Apostle says, no, don't do that, but be considerate of one another and be so exhorting of one another in love that you provoke each other to love and to good works. That you provoke each other to love and good works. the assembling of yourselves together, coming together in contexts where you can encourage one another and exhort one another and remind one another of the Word of God. We read even of the time of toward the end of the Old Testament, heading into that dark period when there's not going to be any prophecy, that they that love the Lord spoke often one to another. They were in communion, they were exhorting one another. There's also in this context, this exhortation that we ought to be considerate of one another and that we ought to admonish one another with these words. even exhorting one another. The second part of verse twenty five. And so much the more, as you see the day approaching. Yes, there may be those times when mutual discipline is necessary that we see someone walking a path where they could end up destroying their soul. They could begin a path of apostasy and we need to exhort them. Don't go down that way. Don't listen to the deceiving teaching of those who would lead your soul astray, exhorting one another. Don't play with that kind of fire. It will ignite in your soul and destroy you. Don't fiddle in the devil's showroom. Galatians 6, we read, Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you who are spiritual, restore such a person in the spirit of meekness, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted. And so as you exhort someone, the apostle is saying, do it in love, in humility, What's the motive for this exhortation to persevere, to hold fast the confession of faith without wavering and to do so in the way of of continuing faithful in the use of these means of grace that are illustrated in the context? What is the motive for this? Because the one whom we may trust in and the one through whom we do these things, trusting in him, He's faithful. That's the heart of the encouragement here, isn't it? He that's the Lord, that's especially the Lord, as he's revealed himself in his son, Jesus Christ, is the one who's revealed in this context as the one who has come with a fuller revelation than the prophets and the angels, who is the son of God himself. who is better than the Old Testament priests, and he has laid down his own life as the Lamb of God, who has ascended into a much better temple because that temple he's in has not been made with hands. He is a mediator of a better covenant. He is a mediator of the new covenant. And he has signified and sealed such better promises with so much firmer and more resolute and more clearly sealed promises of his mercy toward those who trust in him. For. He is faithful. Who has promised? Yes, he has promised. He has promised that That whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. He has promised that even though men persecute you and say all manner of evil against you, he has said you're blessed. He has promised that the world will hate you, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world and he has promised. The one day I will come again and receive you unto myself and there I will take you to that place that I have prepared with my father in that heavenly mansion. He is faithful. And that's such an encouragement, isn't it? It's a positive motive. He is faithful. Great is thy faithfulness. If you look at the past as the Lord ever let you down. Why would he let you down now? If you look at the future. He who is the same yesterday, today and forever, isn't that Hebrews 13? Isn't that an encouragement that he who now is the eternal high priest in heaven, who ever liveth to make intercession, With the father for you. Wouldn't that give you the kind of assurance that Peter was given when Jesus still in his, let's say, mortal state said, Peter, I've prayed for you that your faith failed. Now he's in heaven and he's praying for his people. That their faith failed. Doesn't that give you a lot of reason to look to him? And to trust him to be faithful to you. We have an eternal covenant with God through Jesus Christ. He is faithful. Children. Your dad ever promised something to you. Well, you know, the Lord Jesus used that as an analogy, as a as a comparison. And I would want to have every child believe and trust their father. Right. I mean, when when a child is going to jump off of some table and daddy says, trust me, I'll catch you. I would want to believe that every daddy would do his utmost to catch that little child as she trustingly throws herself into his arms. I would want to believe that if a father promised a child something, the child went ahead and carried out his part of the bargain, so to speak, that the father would move hill and valley to carry out that promise. But we aren't. We aren't the kind of fathers. That the Heavenly Father is, and Jesus used that analogy, we said, if you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit? to you, to those who ask. And we may go to him and we may ask. Yes, there are those times when we fail. But will he forgive me then? After having experienced so much grace and having failed and having floundered in my walk and having not been so holy as I desired to be, when I come to him again, The seventy times seventieth time to ask for forgiveness. Would he forgive me then? He is faithful who has promised. Having therefore, brethren, boldness, verse 19 says that means having a liberty of speech. Becoming to him who is in heaven We may have such a boldness, such a liberty as to trust that he will receive our petition whenever we come. Hebrews 4 is an encouragement to come to the Lord in a time of need. Hebrews 4 tells us In verse 14, seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. There is a parallel passage. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but in all points, tempted as we are yet without sin, let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy to find grace. to help in time of need. When you feel you will not be able to persevere another moment, ask Him. And He knows what you're going through. He went through a time when as He entered that Garden of Gethsemane in the darkest moment of His life, He had to say, My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death. I am so sad I could die. And the Lord gave his angels charge over him to strengthen him. But he went on submitting to the will of his father. He was obedient even unto death in order that now he could be in heaven And be able to say, I know what you're going through. And I'm here praying for you. He's faithful. He's promised. And therefore, those who trust in him will one day be with him. Amen.