Series: Growing Together in God's Grace
Fourth Sunday in Advent
December 23, 2012
Dear friends in Christ.
Three weeks ago, we began a series of Catechatical
sermons—sermons which are based on the lessons that our Confirmation students
study in their Confirmation classes.
These are lessons that most of you learned a number of years ago as you
sat at the feet of the particular pastor who taught you to delve deeply into
the truths of the Bible. Today, we are
using this series of sermons to help us “Grow together in God’s Grace,” so that
we might be built up as his children and so that we might continue to persevere
in the faith which the Lord has established in our hearts.
So far in this series, we’ve learned how the Lord
has revealed himself to us through his creation, through our conscience and
especially through his Word; the Bible.
We learned that the Bible is such an important book to us, because it is
the only source through which we can become wise for salvation. We learned that it is through the Bible that
we learn the difference between God’s Law and God’s Gospel—that the only thing
that the Law can ever do for us is to show us our sins and our need for a
Savior. Yet, it is in the Gospel that we
learn about God’s plan for our salvation—how he sent Jesus to be our Savior. Now, moved through the Gospel we seek to live
according to God’s word and follow his Law, out of love for our God who loved
us so much that he saved us even though we could never save ourselves. Now, as we continue to Grow together in God’s
Grace, we will hear the writer to the Hebrews applying to our lives all that
we’ve learned so far. We will hear him
speak to us of the purpose of God’s Law.
We will hear him reveal the great Gospel message of God’s salvation, and
we will hear him warn us with the Law and encourage us with the Gospel as he
call on us to Persevere in Our Faith!
So, with that introduction, I invite you to turn
with me to Hebrews 10, found on page 1190, and we will dive in, together, and
see how the writer to the Hebrews calls on us to persevere in our faith. Now, as you are turning to Hebrews 10, let me
remind you of the purpose of the Book of Hebrews. Even though we don’t know who wrote the book,
we do know that when it was written Christianity was being persecuted. Jewish Christians, especially, were feeling
the pressure to give up Christianity and go back to their former way of life in
Judaism. In this way, they would once
again fit in with all those around them and they would be able to avoid
persecution. It was because of this that the writer wrote in Chapter 10
beginning with verse 1: “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are
coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same
sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near
to worship. 2 If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the
worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt
guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4
because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5
Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering
you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6 with burnt offerings and
sin offerings you were not pleased. 7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written
about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God.’ ” 8 First he said,
“Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not
desire, nor were you pleased with them” (although the law required them to be
made). 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside
the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy
through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (Hebrews
10:1–10, NIV84)
As he wrote, he called on them to persevere in their
faith, because if they went back to their former way of life in Judaism they
would miss out on the one who came to do the will of the Lord. They would miss out on their salvation all
together, because they would be binding themselves to a set of rules and
regulations that no longer served its former purpose because the reality had
been found in Christ. This is the very
point the writer makes as he continues on in the next verses: “Day after day
every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he
offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this
priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the
right hand of God. 13 Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his
footstool, 14 because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who
are being made holy. 15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First
he says: 16 “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says
the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their
minds.” 17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”
18 And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for
sin." (Hebrews 10:11–18, NIV84)
In essence the writer to the Hebrews was calling on
each and every person to persevere in faith, because the faith which had been
created in their hearts, faith that trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior,
this was the only source of salvation they had.
If they went back to observing the law, they would be lost, because they
could not keep the law perfectly as God demands. If they went back to the law they would be
lost because they would be looking forward to the salvation that was coming,
and by looking forward to the coming Savior, they would be ignoring the actual
Savior, and they would be living outside of God’s Kingdom, because they had set
aside their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the
World. Even though they were facing
persecution, the writer to the Hebrews was calling on them to persevere in
their faith because Jesus was and is their High Priest who had made his
sacrifice for sins once for all. Then,
after he had made his sacrifice, he had gone and sat down at the right hand of
God the Father. Jesus had forgiven their
sins by his sacrifice and thus, done away with the need for any other
sacrifice. Jesus had given them the
assurance that through faith in him, he would be with them even in the face of
trouble. He would be with them and
deliver them in life, and finally he would deliver them to his side in heaven.
Just as the writer to the Hebrews called on them to
persevere in their faith, so also the writer to the Hebrews is calling on each
and every one of us to persevere in our faith.
He is calling on us to persevere in our faith, because the truth is, we
face the very same temptations that the Jewish Christians did. Though we may not be facing an all out active
persecution as they faced, how often haven’t we felt the sting of persecution
in our lives? How often haven’t we felt
the pressure to hide our faith or to simply keep our faith quiet so that we can
fit in and be part of the group either at work or at school? How often haven’t we received the question,
“Why do you belong to that Church? They
don’t allow this… They don’t allow
that… Why do you belong to that church
when it is clear that they don’t really fit in or understand the ways of the
world? Why do you belong to a church
that is backwards in its thinking? Why
do you belong to a church that sponsored hate by posting vote yes signs?
Though there are times when even we begin to wonder
why we believe what we believe, and though there are times that even we feel
like throwing in the towel and giving up what we believe, as the writer to the
Hebrews continues, he calls on us all the more fervently to persevere in our
faith. Take a look at vss. 19 and
following, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most
Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us
through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest
over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty
conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly
to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider
how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give
up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage
one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. 26 If we
deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth,
no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment
and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected
the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
29 How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has
trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the
blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of
grace? 30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and
again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into
the hands of the living God." (Hebrews 10:19–31, NIV84)
What greater encouragement could there be for us to
persevere in our faith, than the encouragement that comes from knowing that we
now have access to the Lord our God in the Most Holy place through the Blood of
Jesus! For you see, in the Temple, it
was only the High Priest who was able to enter the Most Holy Place and minister
before the Lord. But, he was only
allowed to enter once each year, on the Day of Atonement. However, he could not enter the presence of
the Lord behind the curtain without the blood of the sacrifice. If he entered on the wrong day or entered
without blood, then his life would be forfeit!
Yet, as we know, when Jesus died his blood was the atoning sacrifice for
all our sins. When Jesus died the
curtain of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom, thus, assuring us
that the sins that separated us from our God have been forgiven. They have been completely removed, and now we
are free to approach our God with confidence because through faith in Jesus our
Savior, we are children of our heavenly Father.
Now, moved by the forgiveness that Jesus won for us, the writer calls on
us to persevere on our faith so that we do not become lazy in this life and
miss out on the salvation that is ours!
For if we should become lazy in our faith, if we should grow weary of
meeting together to grow in God’s grace, if we should give into persecution and
try to fit in as one of the gang rather than live out our faith, if we should
grow comfortable with any one of our sins and begin to live in our sins rather
than live in the Lord’s forgiveness, then there will be nothing left for us but
God’s wrath and punishment. This is the
point that the writer makes in verse 26 and 27, “If we deliberately keep on
sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for
sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire
that will consume the enemies of God." (Hebrews 10:26–27, NIV84)
These are difficult words to hear, but they are
true, nonetheless! If we deliberately
keep on sinning by hiding our faith, by keeping ourselves away from the word of
God, by appeasing our conscience with the thoughts that our pet sin is not
nearly as bad as another’s pet sin, or even by living our lives in any manner
that is contrary to what the Lord has to say; if we deliberately keep on
sinning then all we are doing is spitting in the face of God’s
forgiveness. All we are doing is
trampling under our feet the salvation that God has given us. All we are doing is throwing away our
confidence in Jesus Christ, our Savior, which is the exact opposite of what he
calls on us to do in verse 35 and following: “So do not throw away your
confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36 You need to persevere so that when
you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For in
just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. 38
But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be
pleased with him.” 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are
destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved." (Hebrews 10:35–39,
NIV84)
Persevere in your faith! Continue to grow in your faith through
worship here and your own personal Bible reading. Remember all that Jesus did for you and how
he freed you from all your sins by his death and resurrection. Be assured that the Lord Jesus lives in your
heart and helps you in every situation in your life. Continue to live your life
out of love for the Lord Jesus turning to the Lord in repentance, receiving his
forgiveness, and seeking to live according to his will. As the writer to the Hebrews tells us in
verses 22-25: “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance
of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience
and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to
the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider
how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give
up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage
one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews
10:22–25, NIV84)
Amen.
Pastor
David M. Shilling
Grace EvangelicalLutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN
