Preface
For many followers of Christ, faith is not merely a very personal matter but a severely timid one. We live in a world of roaring lions [1 Peter 5:8], thus we who are followers of the Messiah, must always be on alert. Throughout the entire Holy Scriptures, God’s people are charged to build up our strength, never hiding our divinely empowered faith in secrecy.
The Letters of Hebrews challenge believers to a different way to live that will reinforce our constant need to have the blessed assurance that whatever the Body of Christ must face in its witness in the world, our faithfulness will not be compromised.
This blog post is from one of my expository teaching series from the Letters of Hebrews. The featured text will be Hebrews 10:19-24 in which we will seek the major spiritual lessons for you to consider.
Grace and Peace
We have access to God through our Messiah
V. 19-20 Therefore, brothers/sisters, since we have the boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Yeshua in a new and living way He has opened for us through the curtain [that is His flesh]
Our first discovery is the superiority of the Messiah’s blood as opposed to the blood of animals for the atonement of the people of God. Using the scripture reference of Ephesians 2:17-18, we can celebrate the benefits of Messiah’s initial advent, in that He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him, we both have access in One Spirit to the Father.
In additional support about the accessibility that those in the Messiah have as opposed to the previous Old Covenant, is in Hebrews 9:24-25 For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself…, nor was it that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood not his own.
This spiritual reformation of the New Covenant High Priesthood of the Messiah has transcended the physical sanctuary and is realized within the flesh of our Good Shepherd. No greater Scripture reference is there that depicts this than John 10:9 [see Ezekiel 34:11-31]: I am the door, if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
The ultimate salvation that our Beloved Messiah offers is far greater than just accepting Him as our Lord and giving our hearts to Him. To be saved in the provisional care of Christ our Shepherd communicates to each faithful follower becoming a partaker of salvation by Christ.
Such spiritual blessedness entails Him keeping each disciple safe and sound while rescuing each from danger or destruction. The ongoing restorative compound of being in Christ also includes being made well, healed, and restored to health.
The imagery of the pasture depicts our Loving Great Shehard providing for His sheep sufficiently, so much that we shall not want the necessities of true spiritual life. [See Psalm 23]
We have a Superior Atonement in the Messiah
Looking at V. 21, this verse says that we have a great High Priest over the House of God.
The context of this verse communicates not the physical sanctuary, but the Heavenly Sanctuary is in view. As a Biblical reference, let us consider Revelation 11:19 (New Testament, ESV):
“Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant was seen within His temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.“
Some of the spiritual realities in this verse communicate that The temple is seen as a symbol of the very presence of God. The writer of the Letter of Hebrews proclaims that Messiah is God’s great High Priest over His House which equally reveals God’s divine promises.
We see this as well in The Ark of the Covenant. It was a sacred container in the Hebrew Bible that held the stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments. Its presence in this verse represents God’s perpetual covenants and the importance of His divine promises.
The latter flashes of lightning, thunder, and the like communicate the power and majesty of God, the divine intervention, and the upheaval of the ungodly systems of the world in judgment.
Have a Heart after God’s Own Heart
V. 22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Within the Holy Scriptures, a true and clean heart is paramount. The heart is the affective center of our living being. Our heart gives us the capability of moral preference by our volitional desire, choice, and will.
In that context, the writer encourages the community of believers to draw closer to moral integrity, repentance, and seeking a relationship with God. It involves turning away from sin, seeking forgiveness, and allowing God to transform one’s innermost being.
This process entails the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God being made alive within the heart of every faithful follower of the Messiah. Please consider the powerful promise of God to the prophet Ezekiel 36:25, Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and all your idols.
Christ as our High Priest now and forever offers the ultimate atonement through His precious blood as noted in Hebrews 9:14, How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish of God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the Living God?
We are to hold fast to the Faith
V.23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope [which is the superiority of Yeshua, His High Priesthood, and His God-appointed heavenly calling], without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
Let’s consider Hebrews 3:6, but Christ was faithful as a Son over His House, whose house we are if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.
Believers can find assurance in the steadfastness of Messiah as the Son over God’s house. This reality highlights the reliability and constancy of Christ, which serves as a foundational source of encouragement for those who may be wavering in their faith.
As twice indicated in Hebrews 11:13;39-40, the earlier faithful ones all died in faith, without receiving the promises, they gained His approval through their faith. It was God who provided something better for them and us.
In addition, the passage speaks of believers as being part of Christ’s house. This reveals a spiritual union of belonging and unity with Christ now and forever. Faithful followers can find strength in knowing that they are connected to Christ, and this connection is not dependent on their own merits or performance.
Lastly, in John’s salutation in Revelation 1:5, Jesus Christ, is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us, and released us from our sins by His blood, and He made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father, to Him be the glory and dominion forever. Amen
We are to encourage and consider one another
V.24 Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and do good deeds.
The author of Hebrews 10 focuses on the importance of a healthy communal aspect of the Body of Christ. The New Covenant underscores the significance of a healthy and vibrant communal life within the Body of Christ.
Believers are called to love one another, share in fellowship, use their spiritual gifts for mutual benefit, edify and encourage each other, and actively participate in the life of the Body of Christ. This communal aspect is seen as essential for the growth and effectiveness of the visible mission and calling of the Body of Christ within a godless culture.
We are encouraged to assemble as the Body of Christ
V.25 not forsaking our assembling, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.
In America, regular church attendance has dwindled significantly post-COVID. Nevertheless, there is an increase in House churches and organic ministries that resemble the first and second-century biblical models.
In Acts 2:42, we can see the importance of faithful assembly of the earlier communities of saints insomuch as the Word states that they were continually devoting themselves to the apostle’s teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayer. Matt.18:20, for where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.
Spiritual agape was the foundation of the Body of Christ, as we consider Romans 13:10-11- Love does no wrong to a neighbor, love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law, and this do, knowing the time, that is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.
An oftentimes, overlooked part of the Body-life ministry is to effectively attend to those who are asleep. The context of this condition within the Scripture above, speaks to those who are insensitive to sin and its destructive nature individually and within the Body of Christ.
There are various aspects if not stages of salvation. Briefly, salvation consists of conviction of sin, repentance, faith, justification, regeneration, adoption, sanctification, and glorification. Yet the ultimate cumulation of salvation is the second return of the Messiah.
We are to always anticipate the Return of the Messiah
And all the more as you see the day drawing near.
Verse 11 of Romans 13, encourages believers to be aware of the time they are living in. Unlike the earlier communities of Believers, there was as the verse suggests a sense of urgency. This can be interpreted both in terms of the present age and the imminent return of Christ. Believers are called to be spiritually awake and alert to the significance of the times.
In the Gospel of Matthew, at the Olivet Discourse, the Messiah speaks about the signs of the end times and His return. Matthew 24:29-31 (NIV):
“Immediately after the distress of those days, ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven.
And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”
Grace and Peace
Brother Alonzo
