Live in light of Christ’s sacrifice.

Sermon Transcript

There was a time in my life when I loved watching movies. Pastor Paul affectionately calls that time in my life my movie window. During my movie window, one of my favorite movies was the Mel Gibson movie Braveheart. The main character is a warrior named William Wallace who leads the Scottish army in their fight for liberation from the English empire. In one particularly powerful scene, Wallace arrives at the battlefield to lead the Scottish army, but as soon as the Scotts see the massive British army approaching, they begin to flee in fear. So, Wallace rides his horse in front of them and delivers one of the most stirring movie speeches of all time. He urges them to fight today as they wish they would have when it comes time for them to die. It’s powerful and the men stay to fight. After Wallace is done stirring up the men for battle against the outrageously large British Army, he rides his horse back to his small inner circle of trusted warrior-friends. One of his brave friends who would never even dream of running away in fear looks at Wallace and says, “Fine speech. Now what do we do?” It’s one of the few moments of levity in an otherwise intensive movie. He’s like, “that was super stirring, but the huge army is still marching toward us. What should we do in response to your stirring speech?” We have been learning about how the Lord Jesus Christ is our great high priest who stands in God’s presence on our behalf, He is the final sacrifice that cleanses our consciences from sin, and He has established a new covenant that provides an eternal inheritance so that death is no threat to all who believe. As William Wallace’s friends might say, it’s a fine, Holy Spirit-inspired “speech.” And if you’re even a little bit of a practical person, you too might be thinking, “fine speech, now what do we do?” Our passage this morning is going to help us answer that question. Like a hinge on a door, our passage this morning is the hinge in Hebrews. It contains both the end to one major part of the letter and the beginning of the next; it’s a hinge. The first part of the passage will sum up nearly all the theology we’ve learned in Hebrews so far, and then the second part of the passage begins the final section of the letter, which is intensely practical, even more practical than the letter has already been. That brings us to the big idea of our passage this morning: Live in light of Christ’s sacrifice. Live in light of Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice. Ok – how do we do that? To answer that question we are going to take our passage in two parts: 1. The sacrifice 2. The living.

THE SACRIFICE

God’s people have always needed a sacrifice. A sacrifice is a substitute. The very first sacrifice in the Bible was offered by God himself. In the Garden of Eden, after Adam and Eve disobeyed God and became ashamed of their nakedness, God killed an animal and clothed Adam and Eve in their skin. The animal died so that Adam and Eve could live. The sacrifice was a substitute. When God saved his people out of slavery in Egypt by grace and entered into the first or old covenant with them, he commanded them to offer animal sacrifices regularly. The sacrifices were substitutes. The animals died so that the people would not die for their sins and could dwell with God. Over the last few weeks, we’ve learned that these animal sacrifices were never meant to be permanent. They were previews that prepared God’s people for the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ who is the greater and final sacrifice. The old covenant animal sacrifices were like previews, but Jesus Christ and his sacrifice of himself is the feature film. You’ve learned that already.

In our passage this morning, the author has, so to speak, one last shot at contrasting the old covenant animal sacrifices with the better, new covenant sacrifice of Christ on the cross, so he comes out guns blazing and doesn’t mince words. Why were the old covenant sacrifices just preparatory for and inferior to the final sacrifice of Christ? No word mincing, here is the answer: the old covenant sacrifices never took away sins because the blood of animals can’t do that! Hebrews 10:4 – For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. The old covenant sacrifices never cleansed the conscience or perfected the worshiper because they didn’t take away sins. And the proof that animal sacrifices never took away sins is that they had to be repeated. Hebrews 10:1-2 – For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. [2] Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? The proof that the sacrifices weren’t sufficient is that they had to be repeated. I like to exercise. The proof that one workout isn’t sufficient to keep me in shape is that I have to workout repeatedly. The repetition of the sacrifices reveals their insufficiency.

Now, let’s contrast that with the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Hebrews 10:11-14 – And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. [12] But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, [13] waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. [14] For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. Notice the contrast: the priests stood, but Jesus sat. The priests stood because their work was not done. They had to repeatedly offer the same sacrifices that could never takeaway sins. Contrast that with Jesus: By a single offering he perfected for all time those who are being sanctified, and then he sat down. At the Cohen house, as the evening gets late, I sit down because I’m tired. Even if there is more work to do or more words to be said, I sit down because I’m tired. Not Andrea. When Andrea sits it means the work is finished. It’s the same with Christ. He is seated at the Father’s right hand because his one sacrifice for sins was sufficient to perfect all who believe and his work is finished. His once-for-all never to be repeated sacrifice is sufficient to do away with our sins, cancel all old covenant sacrifices, and turn all of his enemies into furniture that he steps on to take his place on the highest throne. The old sacrifices couldn’t take away sins, but look at what the sacrifice of Christ accomplishes for all who repent and believe in Him: Hebrews 10:17 – “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

Now that is a fine speech. That is infinitely more glorious, comforting, and encouraging than anything William Wallace ever said. But we are practical people and we are left with the same question as Wallace’s friend: Now what do we do? Live in light of Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice. We’ve explored the sacrifice. Let’s turn secondly to…

THE LIVING

According to the final paragraph of our passage, there are three things that we should do in response to the “done” of Jesus’ substitutionary sacrifice to take away our sins forever.

Draw near

Hebrews 10:19-22 – Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, [20] by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, [21] and since we have a great priest over the house of God, [22] let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Through his life, death, resurrection, and ascension to the Father’s right hand on our behalf, the Lord Jesus Christ has torn down everything that kept us from God. Therefore, let’s draw near to him. To draw near to God means to approach him. Through Christ, we enjoy nearness to him in our hearts. We can be near to our Father now, we can trust his word, talk to him at all times, and enjoy an entire life of nearness to him because Christ has opened the way.

The emphasis in verse 22 is on the attitude with which we draw near to and approach our Father: with a true heart in full assurance. We draw close to God at all times and in every circumstance, no matter our sins and failures, with confidence and joy. Since we come clothed in the perfection of Christ, with our sins sprinkled clean, and Christ always there as our advocate, we can be near to our Father with a complete sense of assurance and safety. There is no dark side in our Father that the Christian has to placate. We draw near with complete assurance because of Christ. Citylight Church, through the “done” of the gospel, what we should do is draw near to our Father, approach our Father, enjoy closeness with our Father at all times and in all circumstances. Draw near.

Hold fast to hope

Hebrews 10:23 – Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

Holding fast means to grip something tightly so that it won’t slip away. When our children were young we went for walks on Kelly Drive regularly. If you’ve ever walked on Kelly Drive with children, it’s precarious because there are runners, bikers, roller skaters (hard to believe, really) coming from behind and in front of you. Add to that, you’re just feet away from heavy car traffic on one side of the walking path and the river on the other side. When you walk on Kelly Drive with a toddler, you hold fast to their hand and you do not waver.

That’s the way the Christian should hold onto their confession of hope. Christian hope isn’t the same as wishful thinking. It’s not “I hope the Eagles win the Super Bowl next year.” No, Christian hope is assurance of a glorious future inheritance. The Christian has the blessed assurance that no matter the trials and temptations of this life, we will one day be welcomed into the eternal city whose designer and builder is God. We will never be sad, lonely, depressed, afraid, or a misfit ever again. The Christian life is not your best life now. It’s holding fast to your assurance in your best life later so that you can live with joyful endurance through your worst life now.

How do you hold fast to hope? Well, how do you hold fast to anything? You pay attention to it, you think about it, and you allocate your resources to it. You hold fast to hope by setting your hope fully on your promised future, rather than even the best of things in this life. Idea: set an alarm on your smart phone and spend one minute everyday thinking about your eternal hope, praising God for it, and asking him to help you live in light of it. Hold fast.

Consider how to stir one another up

Hebrews 10:24 – And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works…

The final thing that we should do out of the “done” of the gospel is consider how to stir one another up to love and good works. That word “consider” is really important. We should give active, creative thought to how we can encourage and energize one another toward loving the way Christ has loved us and doing good works in response to the finished work of Christ on our behalf. If the Christian is going to have obsessive thoughts, they should be obsessive thoughts about how to provide maximum encouragement to one another in Christ and the love and good works he empowers.

The nice thing is that while we should consider a myriad of ways to stir one another up, our passage tells us that the one most important way to stir one another up is to keep showing up. Hebrews 10:24-25 – And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. The best way to stir one another up is to keep showing up to the main, weekly meeting that Christians have been participating in for the last 2,000 years, the Lord’s Day church service. There is literally nothing that stirs one another up like getting together each Sunday to sing the Lord’s praises into one another’s hearts, confess our sins to Him together, petition him for our needs together, listen to his word together, take the Lord’s Supper together, pray together, and fellowship together. Now, this is tricky for us. These days even regular church attenders often only come to church two out of the four Sundays a month on average, which doesn’t actually reflect the meaning of the English word “regularly.” Not neglecting to meet together, but actually meeting all the more often so that we can encourage one another as the Day of the Lord draws near begins with the heart, moves to head, and then out to the hands. Heart, head, hands.

Heart. To meet regularly, you have to settle in your heart that the most important way to stir and be stirred up is to show up every Lord’s Day. You have to settle that on the Sunday you don’t feel like going, you’re going to show up. When you’re struggling with anxiety and depression, you show up. When you’d rather be a weekend warrior or constant traveler, instead you show up. When staying in your pajamas, having a stay at home family day, and not wrangling the kids sounds like a relief, instead you show up. When social interactions are strained, when you’re disappointed in one another, when the band doesn’t play your favorite songs, when the preaching isn’t feeding you like you hoped, or when it feels like no one quite knows what you’re going through, you show up. You show up because God says that there is literally nothing that stirs one another up like getting together each Sunday to sing the Lord’s praises into one another’s hearts, confess our sins to Him together, petition him for our needs together, listen to his word together, take the Lord’s Supper together, pray together, and fellowship together. This is how we stir one another up, and we need it all the more as the Day of the Lord draws near. It begins in the heart, but it can’t remain there. Sunday church is first a heart posture, but then it’s a head decision.

Head. Once we’ve resolved in our hearts, we have to make the “head” decision that Sunday church is going to be our excuse for missing everything else To help with the “head” decision, I brought a “Should I go to church?” decision matrix for you this morning.

Look, this is a little tongue-in-cheek, but just barely. I’ll be the first to admit that about once a year I might miss Sunday church to go hunting, and we might miss on vacation. But I still stand by and we ought to generally live by this decision making matrix. The best way to stir up is to show up. Finally, the decision moves from heart, to head, to hands. The Sunday church decision is all about Saturday night actions. Engage your hands by treating Saturday night as central to your Sunday morning church decision.

CONCLUSION

I want to take you back to William Wallace. For the sake of the cause of freedom William Wallace gave his life and died by brutal execution. That’s how he lived in light of freedom. The Christian life is always lived in light of the once for all sacrifice of Christ: Since Christ has cleansed our consciences and removed all our sins, here is how we live: draw near to God, hold fast to hope, and keep on meeting to stir one another up. Let’s give our lives to that!