Happy Mother’s Day! We want to honor all the great moms here at Restoration – we hope you are completely spoiled today, so husbands, make sure your wives feel doted on today – we do want to acknowledge that today may be difficult for some – either your mom is no longer with you or you have had a difficult relationship – I pray that God’s grace is on you today, and you experience God’s goodness, even in this difficult time.

My mom passed away in 2009, and I say with confidence that she is a major reason that I am in ministry today – she was a prayer warrior, and was always praying and encouraging me to live the way of Jesus – So in honoring my mom today, just know that as a mom, your legacy is lived out through your kids, so every moment matters – God is using you to shape your children into fully-developed follower of Jesus, so the verse in our passage today, Hebrews 10:24, “let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds…” can be specifically applied to you today.

There is a cause/effect nature to the passage today – The author is wrapping up his section on the new covenant, saying, “SINCE or BECAUSE of everything I’ve told you, LET US live in a new way” – for several chapters, he has compared and contrasted the old covenant, the high priest, the sacrificial system and the tabernacle, especially the Holy of holies, with a new covenant, a Great High Priest, Jesus completing the requirements of sacrifice once and for all, and the Holy of holies moving from a physical geographical location to the heart of every believer – And now he is shifting his thought. Since all of this is true, LET US live in a new way as a result.

He is picking up on an argument he has made previously in this letter, that the evidence that you believe these things should result in fruit in your life, or as James 2:26 says, “Faith without works is dead.” Hebrews 10:19-25

V19-20 -  “Therefore…” – transition word – he has just finished a section on the power of the once for all sacrifice of the blood of Jesus, which ended with a powerful statement in V18: “Where these (sin) has been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary” – He has argued that the office of the high priest has been made obsolete, because he no longer has to make sacrifice for the sins of the people – in short, JESUS PAID IT ALL.

“Since we have confidence to enter the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus by a NEW and LIVING way opened for us through the curtain, that is his body…” – the word confidence connects back to Hebrews 4:16: We can approach the throne of grace with CONFIDENCE – Remember, this is a NEW way of thinking: Only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and he could only do that ONCE A YEAR! So, this is definitely a completely NEW and LIVING WAY.

This is a picture of direct ACCESS to GOD – no longer is there requirement for someone else to go into the presence of God on your behalf – He says here through the body and blood of Jesus (we celebrate this every week through communion), he has OPENED a NEW pathway to the PRESENCE of GOD.

He references the curtain and compares it to the body of Jesus – when you think about the curtain or veil, it separated sinful man from the presence of God – but when the high priest passed through the veil, he was passing from sin that leads to death into sacrifice that would lead to life – the body of Jesus has now become the veil – for you and me, Jesus is the passageway to a NEW WAY TO LIVE – Jesus said this of himself in John 10:9 – I am the GATE (other translation, DOOR) to salvation.

V21 – back in chapter 2:2, Moses was faithful IN God’s house – now, Jesus is the great high priest OVER God’s house – again, JESUS IS BETTER.

V22 – LET US – we will see three action steps over the next 3 verses – the first, LET US DRAW NEAR to God with a SINCERE HEART – contextually, he is writing to a group of people who were running away, running back toward an old way of life – maybe you relate: I say a lot that we are all either running FROM something or TOWARD something – Maybe you find yourself running FROM an addiction, habit pattern of sin in your life out of a sense of unworthiness – he is saying here that the beauty of what Jesus accomplished is that you no longer have to run FROM SIN, but you can now DRAW NEAR to GOD – James 4:8, “…and he will draw near to you” – actually, he has ALREADY drawn near to you through Jesus – “Emmanuel, GOD WITH US.

“…with a sincere heart and full assurance that faith brings…”- so, draw near with a sincere heart and complete faith – again, he is speaking to the motivation of the heart – this is not about earning or deserving, but a heart understanding of what Jesus has done – Ephesians 2:8-9 – it is by grace you are saved THROUGH FAITH – the author is setting up chapter 11 here, where he will further explain the difference that FAITH makes in the life of the believer, full HOPE and ASSURANCE of something you cannot SEE – Hebrews 11:6, without FAITH it is impossible to please God.

So, LET US DRAW NEAR, or move toward God with a PURE heart and ASSURANT FAITH – We are now part of what Peter calls the HOLY PRIESTHOOD – 1 Peter 2:4-5, and the writer now uses the ceremonial rites of cleansing that every priest had to go through to draw near – Exodus 29:4, 21 – ceremonial washing of body to be clean before God, and sprinkling of blood sacrifice to be cleansed from sin – talked a lot about a clean conscience in previous weeks – bottom line: YOU CAN DRAW NEAR TO GOD with a PURE HEART and CONFIDENT FAITH BECAUSE you have been WASHED CLEAN by the BLOOD of JESUS.

V23 – Second, LET US HOLD FIRMLY to the HOPE we PROFESS – STOP RUNNING AWAY – DRAW NEAR and HOLD ON – He is saying here, “Don’t let go of what you know to be true” – we talk about this several weeks ago, the idea of “I used to be a Christian…” – I’m not even sure what that means – here is what I do know: TALK IS CHEAP – you PROFESS that you have HOPE, now HOLD ON when the HEAT IS ON – 1 COR. 4:20 – the Kingdom of God is not a matter of TALK but of POWER – the Kingdom advances when people see you HOLD ON in the middle of suffering, or when things aren’t working out in your favor

Why? “Because he who promised is faithful…” – Philippians 1:6, Galatians 6:9, Revelation 2:10 – You can hold on not because of who you are, but because of WHO HE IS.

V24 – LET US SPUR EACH OTHER ON – You were not meant to live life alone – Following Jesus was never meant to be individualistic – you were made for community – WE NEED EACH OTHER – And it’s not just encouraging one another once, but considering how, meaning, it is ONGOING – It is shocking to me how mean spirited and negative followers of Jesus can be – there is a lot of fearmongering that goes on in the name of holiness and following Jesus – as a result, the world looks at Jesus people as fearful, angry, unhappy people – We should be the most ENCOURAGING people on the planet! Here is the deal: If you read the Bible, it’s all written under the context of suffering – things will get worse, better, and light shines brightest in the dark – Matthew 5:14 – You are the LIGHT of the WORLD – Spur each other on to LOVE and GOOD DEEDS – Let’s be known for what we’re FOR and for what we are DOING, not for what we’re AGAINST, and what we’re BOYCOTTING.

V25 – “Not giving up meeting together…” – this could easily be defined as church attendance, but I think it goes deeper than just showing up – this is a call away from isolation – when things get hard, it is human nature to run and hide – the writer is saying, “THINGS are HARD – You need each other now more than ever” –

There are so many ways to meet together – the Sunday gathering, life groups, Regen groups, ReEngage groups, student small groups, men’s groups, women’s groups

Rod Sled and Brent Smith started a men’s group in their neighborhood in Bronze Trace last Tuesday night, simply to encourage each other on how to live the Way of Jesus.

“All the more as you see the DAY approaching” – Live with a sense of URGENCY – Jesus is coming again, and you are his plan of RESCUE!

So, the flow of the passage: SINCE JESUS MADE A NEW WAY…

1. Let us DRAW NEAR. Because you can, you should. Because you have access through Jesus, DRAW NEAR. This is secret place talk. Draw NEAR TO GOD. Bring your heart to God. The good, bad and ugly. Every day. Be With Jesus.
2. Let us HOLD FIRMLY. Develop a good grip. Root yourself in Jesus. Psalm 1:3, tree planted by streams of water. The secret place helps deepen the roots, firming the grip. Become like Jesus.
3. Let us ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER. Life in the Kingdom happens in community. Love and good deeds. John 14:12, Do what Jesus Did.