Welcome to the podcast of the White Church in Adelaide, South
Australia. Morning, everyone.
How are you? Why you open your Bibles?
We're going to be in Hebrews chapter 10 this morning.
We're going to read the Scriptures and we'll pray, and
then we'll dive into some stuff. I'm going to be reading from the
NIV this morning. So your wording might be
slightly different. That should say pretty well the
same thing. We're going to start in verse
19. It says, therefore, brothers and
sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most
Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way
open for us through the curtain that is His body, and since we
have a great High Priest over the House of God, let us draw
near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that
faith brings. Having our hearts sprinkled to
cleanse us from a guilty conscience, and having our
bodies washed with pure water, let us hold on swervingly to the
hope we profess for He who promised is faithful.
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love
and good deeds, not giving up meeting together as some are in
the habit of doing, but rather encouraging one another.
And all the more as you see the day approaching.
Father, we thank you for your word, because earlier in Hebrews
it tells us that this word is alive and active.
And so we thank you for the power that it has this morning.
And we open our hearts wide for the work you want to do in us
through us for the work of your Holy Spirit this morning on our
hearts. Come and minister to us.
Come and highlight things to us as we dive into your word this
morning. We thank you in Jesus name,
Amen. Amen.
My title for this morning. You may have picked it up if you
were here last week. Let us is a very those two words
we were focusing on, but you may have picked it up.
And my title is my three points. Let us draw near, let us hold
fast. Let us spur on.
So my title is draw near, hold fast, spur on.
And so in this Scripture, as I say, you may have picked up on
it from last week, the fact that there three times the author of
Hebrews is kind of going, let us and he goes, let us draw near.
Let us hold fast, let us spur on, but what I think is
fascinating with this Scripture to begin with this section is he
starts off. He says therefore, since and he
gives us two things. Therefore, since we have
confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus
and since we have a great high priest in the House of God and
this author says before you even consider what you can do.
Remember the work of Jesus. Remember the work of Jesus,
everything that happens here, the entire church is founded
upon a revelation of Jesus. When Paul writes to the
Corinthians in one Corinthians 15, he says, hey, I want to, I
want to pass on to you something of the highest importance, the
thing on which you stand your ground, the thing on which you
cling to. He goes of first importance.
Understand this, that Jesus died for your sins according to the
Scriptures, that he was buried according to the Scriptures, and
that he rose again. He goes of first importance.
Before you think of anything else, understand the work of
Jesus is of first importance. Our revelation of Jesus is the
thing that will motivate us to draw near.
It's the thing that gives us confidence to draw near to God.
It's the thing that motivates us to cling to the things that God
has said, and it's the thing that actually spurs us on.
But we must understand, the writer of Hebrews says again,
before you do anything, catch a revelation of the work of Jesus,
because it changes everything. The very fact that we exceeded
in this room is only by the work of Jesus.
Jesus himself, when he talks about building his church, is
the revelation that Peter catches that you are the Christ,
the Messiah, the Son of the living God.
Jesus says on that revelation, I will build my church.
I'm not going to build it on the works of man.
I'm going to build it on a revelation of Jesus, on the work
of what Jesus has done. And so when we gather together
and anything we do, whenever we, whenever we encourage each
other, meet with each other, whenever we're talking, whenever
we're gathering into our Bible, first and foremost we say, God,
let me catch a revelation of the work of Jesus because it is the
thing that's going to that's going to stabilize us.
It's going to, it's going to anchor us.
It's going to grip us. When the work of Jesus gets in
here, then I want to just carry on the work of Jesus as we're
saying, the work of Jesus is the thing that causes me to draw
near to God. Like he says this.
It says the blood of Jesus opened the way.
It's the work of Jesus that causes me to cling to the word
of God. Why?
Because I know that this work that he has done for me is so
great. We sang it this morning.
How deep the Father's love for us, how deep it is.
And Paul writes and he says, man, you don't even, you can't
even comprehend this love, how high, how wide, how deep, how
long is the love of Christ? When we, when we catch this and
we start meditating on the work of Jesus, it's the thing that
will change everything. It changes our focus.
And we don't gather here because we gather, you know, we don't
invite people to church. We we actually invite people to
actually understand the work of Jesus come to church so that you
may know him, not come to church just so that you can come to
church. Like we talk with people, we're
saying you need to know about the work of Jesus.
It's the greatest evangelism tool.
We're not inviting people to different church ministries.
We're inviting people and say, come and understand what Jesus
has done for you. The greatest work of all time,
of all history, the thing that conquered sin and death, the
work of Jesus. And so when we stand from the
revelation of the work of Jesus, it's only then can we actually
be empowered to then do what Jesus has called us to do.
Again, it's only by the work of Jesus that we can then go on and
move on into let us, does it make sense?
So I want to ask you probably a question to consider or think
through this week is how's my revelation of Jesus?
How's my understanding of the work of Jesus?
And even this week, come before God and say, God, show me again
how wondrous this work is revealed to me, something that I
don't know about how glorious this work is.
Because when, when we get before him and we kind of go, wow, what
a work. And it just inspires me to let
everything down for him. So now we don't we don't work
and serve. I work and serve because I have
an understanding that he gave everything for me.
And when I do that, then everything I give doesn't even
compare with what He's given for me and what He's done for me.
So how is our revelation of the work of Jesus?
As I say our three points, from that place we move into these
three points. Let us draw near.
Let us hold fast and let us spur on the first thing.
Let us draw near Jesus. God's desire always throughout
all of Scripture was that He would have His people close to
Him. In Genesis chapter 3, when man
unfortunately fell, we sins. The very thing that God comes as
he comes walking to be near to his people.
He wasn't afraid of sin and unfortunately people ran.
It wasn't God's desire. His desire was this is the time
you actually need me. And then we Fast forward into
Exodus again. God descends on the cloud on
Mount Sinai and he calls the whole people.
It says, come and draw near to me.
And again the people say no, we'll, we'll, we'll send Moses.
But God's desire is that every single one of us would draw near
to him. Why?
Because he has the answer to everything.
He has the answer to everything. We draw near to him whenever we
get together. Our encouragement should be if
you are facing something, draw near to him because you will
find the answer you need in him. You won't find the answer in me.
I have a very limited amount of knowledge.
He's the fount of all knowledge that the the hope of all
nations. He brings life, He brings joy,
He brings healing, He brings provision.
I don't have anything compared with him.
And so when we come, we say God let us draw near to him.
It's why part of why we sing, part of why we gather is so that
we will draw near to Him because when we draw near to him, that
is where we find the person of God.
Like this, this gospel we talk about is actually an
experiential gospel. It's not just something we need
to know in here. It's something that we actually
live in here. It's about coming into the
presence of God. These scriptures are great, but
they're actually even Jesus said, you know, the scriptures,
he says to the Pharisees, you know these, you don't actually
know the one that they speak about.
These are meant to lead us into him, to draw near to him.
And see, when you draw near to the person and presence of God,
you actually then find yourself close to the purposes of God.
And so if we're looking for the things that God wants to do, we
want to be close to his heart. We want to be people that are in
step with the Spirit. What does that simply mean?
It means draw near to Him. Draw near to him.
If you are struggling or facing something, my encouragement
would be draw near to Him. Draw near to him.
And if you came to one of the elders and one of our
instructions would be draw near to him.
Draw near to him because He has everything you need.
When you read the Scriptures, draw near to him.
And so this this writer of Hebrews says, first of all, draw
near. Draw near, be found in the
presence of God. Be found close to the heart of
God because he is. He has everything you need.
Let us draw near in everything we do, in every meeting we get
together and every time we gather with other believers in
our quiet personal times at home.
Let us be a people who draw near to the heart of God that we we
are drawing close to saying, God, I want to be found in your
presence only be found close to the person of God.
I want to be close to your heart knowing what you're doing.
Let us be a people who draw near.
The second thing that this writer of Hebrews says, he says
let us hold unswervingly. Or if you're reading another
version, it would say, let us hold fast.
It's our first one. We draw near and we hold fast.
Hold fast to the hope we profess, or in some things to
our confession. Our lives should be established
and built upon the word of God. I heard a quote this week and I
actually quite like it. It says let the Bible govern
every part of who you are and how you live, not just your
doctrine. Let the Bible govern every part
of who you are and how you live, not just your doctrine.
Because I think sometimes we can say, well, I hold fast to my
confession, which means I understand what sanctification
is and glorification, and I can explain it all.
But the point is actually how does that govern the way that
you live? This is our standard for living.
It is not what we think, what we see or what we think is
successful in the world. This is our standard for living.
And it's sometimes when we when we live like this in line with
the word of God, it doesn't look like it should.
How many times do we see in the Scriptures in the perfect will
of God and things don't go according to plan.
And that's why this writer of Hebrews is saying hold fast.
And it's great because he says hold fast for he who promised is
faithful. Hold fast because he who
promised is faithful. How many times if you you start
living this out, maybe in the way that you handle money, you
start kind of going, God, we're going to tithe, we're going to
offer, we're going to give. And it doesn't go according to
plan. You lose your job.
Well, suddenly you're like, I can't pay my bill and go, but
hold fast because he who promised is faithful.
Maybe. I mean, we're raising kids at
the moment, so I'm kind of going, well, hang on, I'm going
to raise my kids according to this.
And sometimes it's hard. Hold fast because he who
promised is faithful. And so as the people of God, we
have to hold fast to this. Let this govern every part of
who we are and how we live. And so when we come together as
a people of God, part of what we do is not just drawing near, but
actually encouraging each other. Hold fast to this.
Hold fast to the Word of God. Live your life in line with
this. It's not about clever doctrine.
It's not about us being able to explain different concepts.
It's actually how are we measuring up to God's standard?
How are we living the Word of God out?
How's our speech doesn't line up with the word of God?
How's our finances, How's the way we treat people doesn't line
up with this? And if it doesn't, I need to
hold fast to this no matter what is going on around me.
Let us be a people who hold fast to the word of God and let our
lives reflect it the way that we do church.
We want to be a people that say that this is our standard for
how we do church, not what successful church may or may not
look like elsewhere. The Bible is our standard.
It's for how we do church, how we do family, how we work out in
our jobs, how we how we live out our lives.
This is what it is Even Jesus in Matthew Chapter 7, he gives the
illustration of the wise and the foolish builders.
He says in the the wise builder is the one who hears the words
of mine and actually puts him into practice.
He's going in that person. When the storms come, that
person will be able to stand. Why?
Because he who promised is faithful.
He who promised is faithful. And when Paul writes to Timothy
in First Timothy, he says this is a trustworthy saying.
The whole physical fitness might have benefit in this life.
Godliness has benefit for all life, all time.
Living this out has benefit now and has benefit in the long run.
Let us be a people who hold fast to the word of God, even though
it may not look like we expected it to look like.
We cling to this. We cling to what God has said,
our basis for living, and we need to trust his ways, trust
His work, and hold fast to what he says.
And let us be a people who draw near.
Let us be a people who hold fast.
And let us be a people who spur on.
Let us be a people who spur on. Jesus never intended his church
to be just a place we come and we gather.
He didn't just intend for a group of people to have a nice
meeting. He left us with one instruction
when in Matthew chapter 28 says go and make disciples of all
nations and even in I think it's the book of Mark or something
where it says actually this gospel will be preached to every
nation and people group and then the end will come spur on.
We have a job to do. We have a job to do and that job
is not preaching. That job is not playing guitar.
That job is not sitting in chairs.
That job is making disciples of all nations.
Let us spur on. The church is called to take
ground. We are called to take ground.
And as the people of God, we should be encouraging each other
that we need to live life on mission because we are here for
a mission. It's, we call it the Great
Commission, right? It's the mission that we partner
with God in the world. Go and make disciples of all
nations, teaching them to obey, baptizing them and teaching them
to obey. Spur on towards love and good
deeds. All the more as you see the day
approaching. All the more I think we touched
on it last week like we are in the last days of the last days.
These guys 2000 years ago were saying, hey, the end is near.
I'd expect us to be a little bit closer after 2000 years.
And yet there's still a job to do.
And all the more as we see the day approaching, can I encourage
us to be a people that spur one another on, that encourage each
other in the mission of God, not just in what we're doing in our
everyday lives, but actually saying, hey, how are you going
and making disciples? How are you going and reaching
the people around you, reaching the unsaved?
How are you going in in connecting with the lost?
Because ultimately we are here for a purpose and we are here on
mission and the church is called to take ground.
God has commissioned a front footed advancing church, a
church that doesn't just break ground in little communities
like Morphevale, but a church that breaks ground in cities and
in nations. We should be people that are
encouraging each other and saying hey man, take ground for
the King. Take ground if because we are
all here. None of us have gone home to be
with him yet, so he has still got a job for us to do.
No matter what stage of life we are at.
From the youngest of the kids in the kids room to the old of us,
oldest of us, we have a job to do and we have a encouragement
to be people who say spur on one another.
And he goes on. He says, you know, and meet
together, encourage one another what spur one another on to the
mission. Spur one another on to the
mission of God. Let us be a people who number
one, draw near to him, our source, our hope, our healer,
draw near to him, hold on to him.
Let us be a people that hold fast to the Word of God, and let
us be a people who spur on one another towards the mission that
God has. Amen.
Why don't you just close your
eyes and we'll pray? Father, we thank you again for
your words. A simple word, but Father, it
carries great significance for our lives.
And we just even pray just as we go from this place, as we break
from this meeting time, that we would catch what you want us to
do. That you've called us to be a
people who draw near to the heart of God in everything we
do, to spend time in your presence, to spend time getting
close to the Father's heart, that your desire is for us to be
close, to keep in step with the Spirit.
Give us the strength to hold fast to the confession of our
faith. Let us be a people who encourage
each other to hold fast to what you've said, to cling to the
promises of God, to anchor our lives in the word of God, to
your ways, to what you how you have designed things to work in
every area of our life. Wherever there is an area, let
us be submissive enough to allow you to come and adjust that and
God. Let us be a people that are
captivated by the mission of God, that have our eyes fixed on
the Great Commission to go and make disciples.
That we would be a people that are continually spurring one
another on to take ground for the king to see people saved, to
see people discipled and added in, to see people baptized.
No matter what stage of life we're at, God, encourage us by
your spirit. Help us to be a people that, as
the Scripture says, to let us carry this together as the
people of God. And we thank you for your
incredible work, that all of this is only possible because of
what you've done for us. Only possible, but because of
the new and living way that you've opened for us, only
possible because of our great high priest.
And so we thank you for the work of Jesus.
May we never lose the wonder of the work of Jesus.
May we never lose sight of it. And we thank you for your word.
We thank you for this time together in Jesus name, Amen.
Thank you for joining us for today's message.
For more information about The Way Church, please visit
ourwebsite@thewaychurch.com dot AU.
Have a blessed day.