DIGGING DEEP NO 1023 – February 20, 2024            Apostle Paul’s Exhortation to Believers                                Hebrews 10:19-25

In verses 19-25, we find Apostle Paul’s three-fold exhortation to us.1– To draw near to God. 2-To hold fast our faith and 3-To stimulate one another in love and good works. All based upon what Christ has done and will do for us. Certainly, each aspect of the exhortation is based upon God’s wonderful grace bestowed upon us through Christ, and it reflects the tone of Paul as he makes his heartfelt appeal to believers.

1-Let us draw near in faith Hebrews 10:19-22 We are exhorted to draw near to God, to enter the Holiest Hebrews 10:19 with great confidence, having boldness. He’s admonishing us to enter God’s presence with all sincerity i.e. with a true heart without doubt, in full assurance of faith, that is, with a faith grown up to a full persuasion that when we come to God by Christ, we shall have audience and acceptance. We come not halfheartedly or with improper motives or pretense but with pure, individual, and sincere worship. We should lay aside all sinful distrust. Apostle Paul is admonishing us to draw near to God in holy dependence. Hebrews 10:22 To enter that heavenly place where Christ has entered Hebrews 9:11-12 Paul is exhorting us to enter into the presence of God Himself  Hebrews  9:24. We can know that we have a true heart if we evaluate our thoughts and motives according to the word of God Hebrews 4:12  Though not expressed explicitly, this is a call to draw near to God in service, prayer and worship Hebrews 4:16 Prayer is our approach to God, and we are to come boldly unto the throne of grace. Some Christians approach God meekly with heads hung, afraid to ask him to meet their needs. Others pray flippantly with little thought. Come with reverence but also come with bold assurance for he is our Father, Friend, and Counselor.

The basis for this exhortation. We are able to enter God’s presence because Jesus has consecrated a new and living way, through the veil Hebrews 10:19-20 There is now a new way to approach God in heaven, through Jesus who lives. It is made possible by the blood of Jesus spilled on the cross. Jesus now serves as the High Priest over the house of God Hebrews 10:21, able to come to our aid Hebrews 2:17-18, Sympathizing with our weakness Hebrews 4:14-16 and he lives forever to intercede in our behalf Hebrews 7:24-25.

 We can go to God without doubt, knowing that he will hear and answer us. Under the new covenant, our hearts and consciences are cleansed completely, not partially or temporarily. Our clean consciences allow us to enter God’s presence with boldness. We are also able to enter God’s presence because (1) We have had our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience when we gave it to Jesus. This is an allusion to the Old Testament practice of taking blood from the altar and consecrating the priests by sprinkling them with it Exodus 29:21. It is the blood of Christ that is truly efficacious in purging our conscience of sin Hebrews 9:14 (2) We have had our bodies washed with pure water. Another allusion to the manner in which priests were consecrated Exodus 29:4 This is referring to baptism Acts 22:16; Ephesians 5:26; Titus 3:5 The stress though is on the inner cleansing, not the outer 1Peter 3:21. Just as baptism is an outward sign that represents the purification that Christ does inside us, so this washing speaks of an internal cleansing from sin. Once cleansed, we can approach God. With Christ as our High Priest and our own consecration as priests through the blood of Jesus, we should not hesitate to draw near to God in service, prayer, and worship, looking forward to that day when we literally enter through the veil into God’s wonderful presence.

2-Let us hold fast our hope Hebrews 10:23 We are exhorted by Paul to hold fast the confession of our hope. We are admonished here to embrace all the truths and ways of the gospel, to get fast hold of them, and to keep that hold against all temptation and opposition. Our spiritual enemies will do what they can to wrest our faith, our hope, our holiness, and our comfort out of our hands, but we must hold fast to our religion as our best treasure. In Christ, we have a much better hope Hebrews 6:19; 7:19 But there is the danger of apostasy Hebrews 3:12-13; 4:11 because of this, we must hold fast to the hope which we confess Hebrews 3:6,14; 4:14 We need to be steadfast and immovable. Indeed, we need to hold fast without wavering Hebrews 10:23 By holding fast to Christ we will grow in faith, overcome doubts and questions, and deepen our relationship with God. A good reason to heed this exhortation is because of the faithfulness of God: “for He who promised is faithful” Hebrews 10:23 God will not fail us Hebrews 13:5; therefore we need to emulate the faith of Sarah, who “judged Him faithful who had promised” Hebrews 11:11 We can depend upon God to keep His promise.

3-Let us consider one another Hebrews 10:24-25 As we draw near to God and hold fast our hope, we are not to do so alone, we are to be mindful of each other, and we are to consider one another by stirring up love and good works among each other. This is reminiscent of the exhortation in Hebrews 3:12-14. This can be accomplished through frequent assembling of the brethren. An important purpose of our assembling is to stir up love and good works. Yes, we do come to worship and praise God but we also come to edify and exhort one another Hebrews 10:25a Therefore we must not become guilty of forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. The word “forsake” means “to abandon, desert”. We must not stop assembling with the saints. We will enjoy motivation from one another. To neglect Christian meetings is to give up the encouragement and help of other Christians. We gather to share our faith and to strengthen one another in the Lord. Exhorting one another through assembling is even more imperative as we see the Day of the Lord approaching. While one might not know the day and hour of His coming, we were given some general signs of His coming in 2Thessalonians 2:1-8 The main point is to appreciate the value and necessity of our assemblies, and that forsaking them is indicative of apostasy.

CONCLUSION: With a Gracious Exhortation before us, we are encouraged to: Draw near to God in full assurance of faith, hold fast the confession of our hope, and consider one another to stir up love and good works. As motivation to heed this exhortation, we are reminded of: The new and living way now open to God, made possible by Jesus’ death. How we have been consecrated through having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water, how He who has promised is faithful, and how we have each other to encourage us along the approaching Day of Judgment

If we truly appreciate the blessings we now have in Christ, we will do all that we can to draw closer to God, hold fast to that hope that we confess, and utilize the opportunities we have to encourage one another in love and good works.