Let us hold fast the confession of our hope

so Hebrews 10 verse 19 you remember the first 18 verses all about what Christ has done for us that

Hebrews 10:19

once for all sacrifice and then we're starting to talk about implications now verse 19

therefore brothers since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus

by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain that is his flesh and since

we have a great high priest over the house of God let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance

of faith with her heart sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and her bodies washed with pure water

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

and let us consider how to stir one another up to love and good work not neglecting to meet

together as is the habit of some but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day

approaching

see your kids enjoy your time

well good afternoon everyone good to see you all

will you pray with me as we come to God's word let's pray

yeah father how we need uh your word uh how we need your voice in our life

um we know that we don't live on bread alone but we live off every word that comes from your mouth

i thank you that you have given us your word and that you um you save us through it you reveal

yourself through it you give us hope through it so i pray that you would speak this afternoon i pray

that you would uh help all of us to have hearts ready to receive what you have to say

uh in jesus name amen

well i don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that as a church family

we're going through a time of upheaval

in geology terms upheaval is when the earth's crust is radically displaced

where there was once solid flat reliable ground all of a sudden there's a hill or a mountain

so obviously we've had the the sudden threat and interruption of covid which has just shaken our world

everything we thought was reliable has just been shaken there's relational and economic

implications of this and the uncertainty of tomorrow

it's troubling it's distressing and then it's forced us as a church to split into two congregations

with a number of our folk permanently on zoom that added extra distance

places we've had to change the way we do things from music to cancelling play group

increased need for people to fill in roles just to make sunday happen it's just

it's different it's unsettling it's change it's it's not by choice the covert's kind of forces on us

and there's been a change of identity as well it's no longer i go to grace evangelical

only it's also i go to 4 p.m i belong to 4 p.m church or i go to 10 a.m there's a change of identity there

and now we are losing one of our leaders

as well as the abundant ministry of joe

it's not just their ministries we're losing but we're losing rob and joe

i don't want to be over dramatic i don't want to catastrophize but i think it is accurate to say

that we're going through a time of unexpected upheaval and upheaval is destabilizing it's

distressing how do we respond to this distress

well i think there's some not helpful responses some are easier to control than others but

there's an increase in anxiety because of the situations we're in with all the uncertainty

which is understandable this there's reports on the news of so many people turning to religion

even hearing chris's client talk about that when there's uncertainty why don't we go to god and

hopefully there is some genuine seeking there but maybe some of it is just if i give god this much

attention he has to give me a better life maybe there's that attitude as well i'm not sure

i think we can look to our political leaders and blame them for not fixing things or over rely on them

too much other ways to deal with distress i think is just to numb the pain wherever you can find comfort

whether that's just keep watching netflix or whether that's more gaming or whatever it is

or more destructive things like alcohol or pornography there's an increase in that in our society as well

so we can try and numb the pain

and then others just try and worry more and gain control of their lives

maybe there's a mixture of those kind of responses

how do we have better responses in times of distress more constructive responses i think we need

one thing which is our theme for this morning hope you've got to have hope

i heard this week uh someone in the church some of their hairdresser said that they thought we're

nearing the end of covert there's less and less cases uh society's getting back to normal things

are looking up we're nearing the end

is that hope it might be how we use the word hope

but it's just wishful thinking isn't it of course we want covid we want it to be near the end but we

look at news reports of what's happening overseas and it's wishful thinking i hope i get a good night's

sleep tonight um i hope unemployment doesn't rise any higher in our country

it's uncertain i can't control those things it's wishful thinking

i think a more sophisticated form of wishful thinking in our culture at the moment is

uh it's a bit popular the idea of uh the power of positive thinking if i think positively

the outcomes will be more certain but it's still reliant on you and your abilities

when god talks about hope he's talking about ground that cannot be shaken

it's a future that no virus no circumstance no person no one nothing can threaten

it's a future that can't experience upheaval

god's hope is more solid than the earth's crust that we are sitting and standing on right now

it is a certain thing when god talks about hope

so let's spend our time focusing on one verse this afternoon hebrews 10 23

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

so we've heard the past two weeks uh that christ once for all sacrifice our uncleanness inside and

out how good was that video this is uh um our uncleanness has been fully atoned for fully washed fully paid

for so that we can now enter god's presence without fear but with confidence not confidence in ourselves

but fully assured that christ's blood has done it all you can relate to god not in fear of judgment but

resting in his arms and knowing god as your father since christ your brother and great priest

has fully brought you into god's presence in the heavenly places now that is good news

so let us hold fast the confession of our hope why would we move away from that

that phrase though the confession of our hope it might seem a bit obscure at first

what's actually being said first i want to spend some time looking at what the hope is

what is it what is the hope we have hope is by definition future orientated the christian life is

fundamentally a posture of looking forward it's leaning forward we haven't arrived yet

the best is still to come it is waiting for the full experience of what god has promised us of what

christ is purchased for us by his blood one peter talks about our living hope our inheritance that

cannot perish spoil or fade kept in heaven for you who are shielded by god's power through faith

god's future his promised future of dwelling with us is sure

the inheritance is kept safe we are kept safe

by his power not our own effort which means sin failure sickness persecution satan nothing can touch it

hebrews 12 28 describes the content of our hope in this way the context of this verse in so chapter 12 28

is in light of god's coming judgment that will shake and remove everything that's been corrupted by sin

that judgment is coming but here's our hope let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom

that cannot be shaken a kingdom that cannot be shaken and thus let us offer to god acceptable worship with reverence and

our hope for our

an eternal

and eternal rest is another way hebrews describes it

living in god's world as he originally meant us to be dwelling face to face with god walking with him in the cool of the day

in the garden

resting in his arms the whole world united

in joyful worship

that is going to be an amazing day an amazing eternity

i really like hebrews chapter 6 verse 19

Hebrews 6:19

um

maybe it will help you clarify what our hope is even more and

and the security of our hope

hebrews 6 19

we have this as a sure and steadfast anchor

of the soul

a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain

where jesus is gone as a forerunner on our behalf having become a high priest forever

it's a lovely image

we have an anchor for the soul

when the storm rages we have an anchor waves are washing over but our soul is anchored

it's anchored because our hope has entered into the inner place behind the curtain

that's that temple imagery again into god's most

immediate presence the most holy place in heaven

obviously that's talking about what we looked at last week christ has gone there ahead of us

us and because he's gone ahead of us and he's done it all for us we will be there one day fully

yes we access god's presence by faith now but we will have that immediate presence with him fully one day

so we aren't told to hold fast our hope we're actually told to hold fast to our confession

without wavering

the hope is sorted by jesus he's got that covered

that's not our job to control the hope

what we're told to do is hold fast to the confession of our hope

confession here is more than just

telling someone that we're a christian or sharing the gospel with them although it includes those things

confession is an all of life thing everyone is hoping all of the time in things and you show it by

what you say and what you do you can't help that we're all hoping

so what what are you displaying what are you confessing with your life

that your hope is

in 1 peter chapter 2 where we're told to be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

that assumes that someone who's going to ask for a reason can see something different in us

by the way we live

why do you have hope and the context in 1 peter is the same as hebrews the context is hardship

hardship is

the time when hope is seen most clearly because other things that you could be trusting in have been

taken away

how can you be so sure you will live again after being diagnosed with a terminal illness

that is out of this world hope to to believe that

how can you still believe god is good when you've lost the person you love

that hope of future being together again that's incredible or remaining calm when being made redundant

people people should be able to see it and hardship is the best opportunity to show it

that our hope is in heaven it's not it's not here in a sense

so hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering

what could make us waver

what would what could make us stop identifying with christ or just drawing away from christ and all he is offering us

in us

in the world

by faith in him

let me mention just two things one is sin

prizing something in this world

more than what christ offers us

and we just

play around with sin and

over time our conscience

just stops pricking us anymore

we used to care and feel guilty or ashamed but

we just got so used to it and

our conscience gets hardened

and we slowly move away from anyone who would challenge us

from our christians brothers and sisters that that beautiful accountability and encouragement that we have here

John Owen says

be killing sin or sin will be killing you

i think i think another thing that would make us just shrink back what from what christ offers us is just the relational cost of following jesus

at uni or school or in the workplace

you just want to shrink from conversations sometimes don't you just want to hide and go oh gee i wish i wasn't a christian right now

i feel like i need to say

the christian perspective is here or

maybe that's just me who feels that sometimes that pressure

it would just be so much easier

to fit in if you weren't a christian and so we can be tempted to just

pull away

you

why

would we act

like this

as if we didn't have hope

these paths only lead to a dead end which is what the next paragraph is about

in hebrews

to reject

to absolutely reject

so this isn't

wavering isn't just talking about

the sin that we all struggle with we need to keep using our access to god that

that forgiveness and that power to keep going on in the struggle that is the normal christian walk

but this absolute wavering and pulling away from christ

is

and to treat christ's blood as worthless

there's only one thing at the end of that road and that is a fearful expectation of god's judgment

why would we live that way why would we go down that road

when we have such a great hope

hope

so that's the negative side

what does holding fast look like positively

i think we see that in the next paragraph so in verses 32 to 34

the original readers are reminded of their holding fast in the early days of their christian faith

have a look at verses 32 to 34

but recall the former days when after you were enlightened

you endured a hard struggle with sufferings sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction

and sometimes being partners with those so treated for you had compassion on those in prison

and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property since you knew that you yourselves had a better

possession and an abiding one

that's incredible

holding fast confessing christ as our hope will look like endurance

no matter what comes

not just endurance but endurance with joy

because we know our hope is certain

if our hope was in the things of this world when they're taken away

we can't have joy

but if our hope is bound up with christ waiting for that promised kingdom that can't be shaken

then whatever else fails us we can remain firm with joy

our hope has entered into heaven behind the curtain we have an anchor for the soul

i like to picture like the anchor cord is just like going up to heaven and is kind of attached up in heaven

this season of upheaval as a church family is not a time to despair

it is one of the best opportunities we have to display that our hope is in christ and it's certain

i'm not trying to just hype us all up to rally together and press on

i'm not trying to hype us up

but i'm saying we can we have an opportunity here to display our hope

amidst covid amidst the disruption in our church family as well

we can show that the source of our confidence is in christ and not in ourselves here and now

how do we know that our hope is not just wishful thinking for he who promised is faithful

i think promises can be cheap today can't they like indicating on facebook that you're going to an event

we're pretty cheap with what we put on facebook

or maybe you just put maybe and not commit sound like a slide do you but anyway

that's not in my script um or politicians promising something that they just can't deliver on they don't have the power to

it's a cheap promise or as a society we have cheapened the marriage covenant promise

i'm saying wider society

i think promises can be cheap in our world this is the opposite of god's character

we see his character in the history of the old testament in how he relates to sinful people offering

them life again and again and again we see it after israel is delivered from egypt in the wilderness

they've just seen all his miracles a great salvation from slavery and they're just grumbling did you bring us out here to die

are you kidding me you you just got saved

and yet god is faithful with them he's patient with them

and then the judges period just chaos people did what they wanted

what they thought best in their own eyes and yet god was faithful to his promises to abraham

and then under the kings so many of the kings led the whole nation astray

doing what was evil in the eyes of the lord and yet god remained faithful even when they went into

exile he was sending prophets saying come back i'm faithful to my promise my promise still stands

come and have life in me and where did all those promises lead

it led to god's son's blood

his body given for us

jesus risen seated at the father's side having secured our salvation once and for all

all those promises being yes in christ

is there greater faithfulness than that

our god is a faithful god you won't find anyone like him

father son and spirit

all our hope is bound up in a person in the character of a person

it is bound up in what jesus has already done

on the cross and his resurrection

our hope is sitting next to the father in heaven

that's where our hope is

just as we saw last week that our confidence to enter god's presence has nothing to do with our merit

but what christ has done so too our hope for the future has nothing to do with our ability to feel hopeful

or our ability to maintain the basis of our hope our hope is outside ourselves christ himself and what he accomplished

is our hope

our hope for the future has already been secured by christ's blood and ascension in the past

so we can live out our hope in the present

our future hope is secured in the past it's already done

so we can live it out

so during this season of upheaval we have an anchor for our souls

i don't think we should despair

i don't think we should fret and try and maintain control

as if tomorrow depends on us

i think it is a time to grieve as a church family

i think it's a time to draw near to god to maintain our joy

and i think it's a time to continue to encourage one another's faith as we're going to hear in the

next few verses of hebrews next week

this time of upheaval is the best opportunity to show that we have hope

a certain hope

let's not wave up but hold fast

our future is sure because he who promised is faithful

i'm going to finish by reading the lyrics of um of our next song cornerstone i'm just so glad that

the muses chose this song it just fits this word to us today from hebrews so well

so let me read these lyrics and then and then muses will will sing it for us i think

my hope is built on nothing less

than jesus blood and righteousness

i dare not trust the sweetest frame but holy trust in jesus name

when darkness seems to hide his face i rest on his unchanging grace

in every high and stormy gale my anchor holds within the veil

when he shall come with trumpet sound oh may i then in him be found dressed in his righteousness alone

faultless we will stand before the throne

and thanks

also

dear

you

dear