Let Us …. (Hebrews 10:19-25)

What does it mean to be a Christian? The answers to that question are many, depending on what aspects of the Christian life are being considered. So we need to define further the question. We can adjust it in this way: what does it mean to be a Christian in situations of difficulty? The Hebrews to which this letter was sent were in such circumstances, so we can apply our question in this way as far as they are concerned.

Perhaps we can imagine applying the question to Christians today who are undergoing physical persecution. Yet we make a mistake if we only limit the application to such circumstances. We can apply the question to ourselves as we live in our post-Christian culture. What does it mean to live as a Christian in contemporary Scotland? I would suggest that the passage we are about to consider provides us with the necessary answers.

As far as an outline is concerned, the author provides three responses. First, he refers to the devotional life of his readers (vv. 19-22); second, he refers to their witness to those who are not Christians (v. 23); and third, he refers to their congregational life (vv. 24-25). So he was saying to his readers that they could and should live as Christians in those three areas of life.

Their devotional life (Heb. 10:19-22)

It is clear from these verses that the author is describing ways in which his readers could have fellowship with God. He is using the illustration of the rooms in the tabernacle to depict how they could draw near to God. So we need to work out what those allusions mean.

The first point to note is that we can draw near to God. We see this in the author’s assertion that ‘we have confidence to enter the holy places’. Of course, this would have been a very striking point to make to his readers because they knew that under the old system only their high priest could do so, once a year. The people of Israel in this symbolic form could not draw near into God’s presence (no doubt, many of them did in a personal way, but they could not do so with the understanding that believers today should have).

The second point is that Jesus died so that we could draw near to God. They draw near through ‘by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh’. What does the author mean when he likens Jesus to the curtain in the tabernacle/temple that kept people outside of the holy of holies? I suppose we might say that from one point of view the perfection of Jesus could be a huge barrier to sinners in the sense that he was sinless and they are sinful. Since only a sinless person could have access, how could sinless Jesus help sinners get in?  The answer is that Jesus gave himself a sacrifice for their sins when he died on the cross.

The third point is that Jesus also lives so that we can draw near to God. ‘We have a great priest over the house of God.’ The Jewish priests all eventually died and ceased their role. Jesus in contrast died to continue his role as priest and because he is alive we can draw near to God. He has opened up a way for us through himself. He is the way to God.

The fourth point is that because of Jesus we can draw near to God and do so having certain experiences. We can have (a) a true heart, (b) full assurance of faith, and (c) cleansing from personal sin. A true heart is a heart that has been renewed by grace, which is marked by sincerity and gratitude to God for his mercy.

The question of assurance is one that disturbs many Christians and usually they have problems because they look within and see all kinds of sinful tendencies. What should we do when we see such sinfulness? First, we should thank God that we have been given better eyesight so that we can now see what we could not see before about ourselves. At the same time, we should remember that we have not seen all that is wrong with us.

Second, we should not listen to our conscience if it does not mention the blood of Christ. It is possible to have an evil conscience, and I suspect an evil conscience is one that ignores what Jesus has done. Each person’s conscience will point out inner sinfulness and if that is all it does then there will not be spiritual comfort. Instead we need to ask God to apply cleansing to us (the allusions to sprinkled and washed with water depict this cleansing).

Third, this way of looking at things reminds that sometimes faith is active as well as passive. It is passive in the sense that it receives from God, but there will be times when it has to be active and apply divine promises to one’s spiritual situation. Often, the best way to get assurance is to stop looking for assurance and instead keep looking at what is available for sinners who are in Christ. Usually when they do this, they will discover they have more assurance.

The third element of cleansing is described in two ways: first, there is sprinkled hearts and, second, there is washed bodies. While there is uncertainty regarding what the author was referring to, especially with regard to the washed bodies, it looks as if he is referring to the cleansing of inward and outward sins. We sin with our hearts and minds and we sin with our bodily parts. We need the atonement of Jesus to cleanse us continually.

Some suggest that the author has baptism in mind when he refers to washing their bodies in pure water. If this is right, then he would be urging his readers to recall their baptisms and what it signified. A better suggestion for his meaning is that he is saying something similar to what Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:25-26 when he described the process of sanctification: ‘Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.’

So in order to have a healthy devotional life, each Christian needs to have a sincere heart, assurance of salvation and ongoing cleansing from sin. It is not too difficult to see how they go together. If we miss one out, then we will have a disrupted devotional life.

2. Their public life

When he exhorts them about their witness to those outside the church, the author says that it should primarily be marked by their hope. The hope is connected to the return of Jesus and what he will then do for his people – resurrection, glorification and the reception of their inheritance. It can easily be seen that their hope was not connected to anything in this world.

The hope that they had was one that was verbalised by them – that is the meaning of the word ‘confession’. One cannot have a confession without words. In their verbal confession, the return of Jesus was a crucial element, but it was also a clear element. There would be little point in saying something that could not be understood. Others might dismiss as nonsense the claim that Jesus was returning, but they should also have deduced that the Christians believed it would happen and were looking forward to its occurrence.

In addition to being clear, their confession had to be constant. The author must have sensed that some of them were beginning to waver about it; perhaps they were wondering if the return of Jesus would ever happen. They should have regarded each passing day as bringing them closer to the time when the Saviour will appear.

Furthermore, the hope had to be a conviction. They had to hold fast to it. How do we hold fast to the hope? By faith in Jesus and love for Jesus. Faith, hope and love go together and give resolve and determination to believers. Again, if one is diminished, it affects the other two. And how do we keep each of them healthy? By feeding our souls on the promises of the faithful God. We should ensure in our Bible reading that we always include passages that contain divine promises. That is why it is good to read from more than one passage. For example, if all we read today was Genesis One, what promises did we read? Usually a psalm will contain at least one promise, so it is helpful to read a psalm alongside another passage. Unless we know what God’s promises are, we will find it difficult to maintain a steady hope and our witness will be affected.

3. Their congregational life (10:24-25)

What should we do when we go to church? John Wesley wrote that Christianity knows nothing of solitary religion. Of course, we should note that the author expected his readers to attend church gatherings. Some of them were not attending the services and it is not difficult to see how their spiritual lives would decline. Yet the writer suggests that it is possible to attend church services and still decline.

Why did they have a problem with church attendance? Clearly in their case there was the problem of persecution, both from the civil authorities and from their own countrymen. No doubt other reasons can be included such as coldness toward Jesus, or an assumption that believers do not need one another, or avoiding derision that may come one’s way, or the attraction of other events. There is probably a long list of possible reasons.

Why should they attend? The basic reason is that Jesus has commanded it and he expects all his people to be there. A second reason is that it is an evidence of brotherly love. And a third reason is that they might miss something important – after all, Thomas is now known for what he missed out on when Jesus appeared at the gathering of believers on the evening of his resurrection day.

Prior preparation. Before we come to church we are meant to think about what we shall say to other believers when we get there. It is important that we say something that will be of spiritual help to others. For example, we should consider what life was like for our fellow Christians at work during the week. Was it likely that some of them were tested about their Christian convictions? Or were they in situations in which they have had no Christian fellowship since the previous church service? Perhaps they are facing unemployment. Or are there some Christians who are the only believer in their families? The author says that we are to consider what we should say to one another.

Positive provocation. We usually regard the practice of provocation or of stirring negatively. Yet we can surely see how it can be used in a constructive manner. Of course, it has to be done in a warm and loving way. But we are obligated to make other Christians excited about their faith. People should leave our services stimulated for living for God in the next week. And they are to be moved to love and good works (good works does not mean acts of charity; rather it is good actions as opposed to sinful ones).

John Owen has some striking comments on this exhortation: ‘On these suppositions, this consideration respects the gifts, the graces, the temptations, the dangers, the seasons and opportunities for duty, the manner of the walking of one another in the church, and in the world. For this consideration is the foundation of all those mutual duties of warning, or admonition and exhorting, which tend to the encouragement and strengthening of one another. But these duties are now generally lost among us; and with them is the glory of the Christian religion departed.’

The author gives a strong motivation for such behaviour and it is that they could see a certain Day was coming nearer. To what Day is he referring? Some suggest that the author has in mind the destruction of Jerusalem. After all, Jesus had said that the city would be destroyed within a generation and perhaps they were seeing indications that his prediction was about to be fulfilled. What would be the point of going back to a ritual and form of worship that was about to disappear forever?

Yet I suspect that it is more likely that the author is referring to the second coming of Jesus. This leads us to asking what is the connection between mutual edification in a church gathering and the return of Christ. I would suggest that the answer is that each of us should want all of us to hear Jesus saying, ‘Well done.’ He will have noticed when verbal or practical help was given or when it was not given. It looks as if church gatherings should have a profound effect on what will happen on the day that Jesus returns.