Sermons

The Letter to the Hebrews

Hold Fast To God’s Promises

Hebrews 10:23

Part of our vision here at Mercy Hill is to train everyone to be able to read the Bible for themselves.  We don’t want you relying just on Sunday morning teaching.  We want you to be able to teach yourself by your own study of God’s Word.

So last Summer when Jan and I were visiting my parents in Southern California, I asked my dad how to train people to study the Bible.  I asked him what’s the main thing he would focus on.

Here’s what he said – “Encourage people to look for the author’s train of thought.”  Not just to look at individual verses.  But to see how the verses work together to make the author’s main point.

So what’s been the author’s train of thought leading up to today’s verses in ch.10?  Here’s what I noticed.  In ch.4 vv.14-16 he urges us to draw near to God so we can receive all the mercy and help we need.

Then for five and a half chapters he explains how sinful people like us can draw near to God.  The reason is because we have Jesus Christ as our great high priest who brings us before God the Father with His own perfect sacrifice for our sins.

That’s his point in ch.5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and the first half of ch.10.  Then notice the first word in v.19 of ch.10 – “therefore.”  That word shows that now the author is drawing a conclusion from chs.5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and the first half of ch.10.  And when you read vv.19-25 you can see that his conclusion is to give us three commands.

So let’s read vv.19-25 and see what these three commands are --

19            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.

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

24            And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,

25            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.

So the fact that the author gave five and a half chapters of reasons for why we can and should do these – shows that these three commands are really, really important.

So my plan is to give one week to each of these.  Two weeks ago we focused on vv.19-22 – about drawing near to God.  And today we are going to focus on v.23.  So let’s read this command again – Heb 10:23 --

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

So what does it mean to hold fast the confession of our hope?  This word “hold fast” implies holding on to something for dear life.  Remember when we were back in ch.3 I said it was like we are all in the river above the Niagara Falls.  Because of our sin against God, we are all facing His judgment, and we are in the river flowing to destruction.

But God loves us.  He cares about us.  And so He sent Jesus to die on the Cross to pay for our sins so He could save us.  And to save us He has thrown each of us a rope and says – hold fast to this!  Hold on to this!  And as we cling to that rope, not only will we be kept from the destruction of Niagara Falls – we will also be pulled to the safety of heaven.

Now if you saw that you were in the river above the Niagara Falls, and if you could hear the thundering of the river as it went over the falls, and you knew that you were heading toward the falls, and someone threw you a rope to keep you from going over the falls – how hard would you hold to the rope?  Very hard.  You would cling to it as if your very life depended on it – because it does.

So that’s what the author is calling us to do.  Hold to, cling to the confession of our hope without wavering. 

But what exactly is this rope we are holding to?  What is the confession of our hope?  The author tells us in the second half of v.23 – read the whole verse again –

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

Underline that word “promised.”  The confession of our hope has to do with God’s promises.  So what we are to hold fast to are God’s promises.

But over the years I have seen that not many Christians hold to God’s promises.  We hold to what God has done in the past on the Cross – and that’s crucial.  And we hold to God’s commands – that’s helpful.  But not many Christians hold to God’s promises.

Ask yourself – this past week – what promises have you held on to like a rope that’s keeping you from going over Niagara Falls?  My guess is that most of you won’t be able to think of any, because we have not been taught to hold on to God’s promises.

But here at Mercy Hill we are going to work on helping each other hold on to God’s promises.  So let’s raise this second question -- what has God promised?  We can find God’s promises throughout the Bible.  But for today let’s focus on the book of Hebrews.

I went through Hebrews and listed every promise I could find.  There’s 30 or 40 promises.  But I saw three main promises emphasized over and over.

First, God has promised forgiveness of sins.  To see that, look at ch.9 v.14 –

… how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

When your conscience is purified from dead works – that means having your conscience be completely freed from all guilt because you know God has forgiven all your sins through Christ.

See, we have all sinned against God so much that we rightly deserve His punishment forever.  But God loves us.  He cares about us.  And so He sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the Cross, paying for our sins. 

And the moment you put your trust in Christ – all the punishment you deserve was paid for in Jesus.  And so now you can know that God has forgiven you.  God loves you.  God welcomes you.  God accepts you.  God is your Father and you are his child – all because of what Jesus did.

So that’s one main promise in Hebrews – God has promised forgiveness.

Second, God has promised help for every need.  To see this, look at 4:16 –

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Notice those last four words – “in time of need.”  That covers spiritual needs – for power over sin, the outpouring of His Spirit, assurance of His love, the experience of His nearness.  But it’s not just spiritual needs – it’s any time of need.

Whenever you have a need of any sort, if you will draw near to God through Jesus, you will receive mercy and find grace to help in that time of need.  God will give you wisdom for your work.  God can provide you with a job.  God can help you put together a budget.

So whenever we have any need, our first step should be to draw near to God.  To come before Him, wait on Him, seek Him, read His Word, pray – and every time we do that we will receive mercy and grace to help with whatever need we have.

Third, God has promised future reward.  To see this look at a verse we have not studied yet, but that clearly states this promise – ch.11 v.6 –

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

God rewards those who seek Him.  In ch.3 he calls this reward “entering God’s rest.”  In ch.9 he calls it the eternal inheritance.  In ch.12 he says it means seeing God.  All these verses show that the reward is God Himself. 

God is the infinite value of the universe.  God is our highest joy.  Our greatest pleasure is beholding God, worshiping God, loving God. 

And God promises that after all the fighting against sin, all the heartaches of this life, all the suffering for our faith – He will reward us with Himself.  Forever.

So when the author of Hebrews calls us to hold fast to the confession of our hope – He’s calling us to hold fast to God’s promises.  To hold fast to the promise of forgiveness of sins.  To hold fast to the promise of help for every need.  To hold fast to the promise of future reward.

So are you holding on to God’s promises?  How can you tell?

How can you tell if you are holding on to God’s promises?

Let’s think about this for each promise.  So how can you tell if you are holding on to God’s promise of forgiveness?

• You can tell because you have confessed all known sin, and feel assured that God has forgiven all your sin.

 

• You can tell because as soon as you sin, you take time to come before God, confess your sins, and receive fresh assurance of forgiveness. 

So how are you doing on this?  Are you holding on to God’s promise to forgive your sins?

And how can you tell if you are holding to God’s promise to help us with every need as we seek Him?

• You can tell because whenever you have any need, your first step is to turn to God, seek God, and wait on God.
• You can tell because you don’t worry about the future – because you know God will provide every need.

So how are you doing on this?  Are you holding to God’s promise of help for your every need?

And how can you tell if you are holding to God’s promise of the future reward of seeing Him?

• You can tell because what you look forward to the most is seeing God, beholding God, worshiping God with all the redeemed.
• You can tell because you are motivated to love others, share the gospel, obey Jesus Christ with the thought of having more joy in Him forever.

Now the point isn’t to have you start working on all these things.  The point is to help you see how you are doing in holding to God’s promises.  So how are you doing in holding to God’s promises?

Some of you are not holding to God’s promises.  You are not trusting Jesus Christ.  So what you are holding to is the world’s promises – that money will take care of you, status will satisfy you, friends will comfort you.  But these promises will all fail.  So you need to turn from those promises to trust all that God promises to be to you in Jesus Christ.

Others of you are holding to God’s promises – but not enough.  Sometimes you do and sometimes you don’t.  And even when you do – sometimes your hold isn’t very strong.

So all of us -- read v.23 again – and feel the power of this command --

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering …

“Without wavering.”  That means we are always holding on tightly – to God’s promise of forgiveness, to God’s promise to help us as we seek Him, to God’s promise to reward us with the joy of seeing Him.

So we all need to work on this.  But how?  How can we strengthen our hold on God’s promises? 

Read v.23 again, and notice the second half -- 

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

The way to strengthen your hold on God’s promises is by thinking about God’s faithfulness.  By thinking about how faithful this God is who has made us these promises.

One of the reasons God gave us the Old Testament is so we could see just how faithful God has been.  God made many promises to Israel.  How many did he fulfill?  All of them.  Every promise God made to Israel, God fulfilled.

God bats 1000.  Every time He’s up – hit, hit, hit, hit, hit, hit, hit, hit.  Every time.

Promise -- fulfilled.  Promise – fulfilled.  Promise – fulfilled.  Promise – fulfilled.  Promise – fulfilled.

Did Abraham and Sarah have a son?  Yes – at 100 years old. 

Did God provide for Israel during the famine?  Yes – by sending Joseph ahead of time who became the #2 man in Egypt in charge of all their food.

Did Moses deliver Israel from Egypt?  Yes – with amazing signs and wonders.

Did God provide for Israel in the wilderness?  Yes – with manna and water from rocks and daily deliveries of quail.

Yes, yes, yes.  Promise after promise after promise.

The way to hold fast to God’s promise is to see how faithful God has been.

So back to the river.  Because of our sin we are all in the river above the Niagara Falls which will carry us to destruction.  But because Jesus went over the Falls for us, God throws us a rope of His promises.

And if we hold fast to this rope of God’s promises – we will not be swept away to destruction, and we will be pulled to the safety of heaven.

So – pick one of these promises to work on holding to this week.  Maybe it’s the promise of God’s forgiveness.  Or maybe the promise that God will provide every need as you seek Him.  Or maybe the promise that God will reward you will the joy of seeing Him.

So understand that God is perfectly faithful – He will keep these promises.  So pick which promise you need to cling to more strongly.  And then head into this week consciously clinging to that promise