Louder Than Words | Pastor Matt Pennington | Week 3

Well, thanks for joining us today.

We are in the middle of a series that we've titled Louder Than Words.

And if you're not familiar with what this series is, or maybe you're just tuning in for the first time, then maybe you want to pause and go back and watch the first message in the series.

But to summarize and kind of simplify what we're doing is we're basically taking songs that we sing or have sung and just looking at what these songs are all about and then kind of overlapping that with what are the biblical truths that these songs communicate.

And so in many ways, this series is multifaceted because we're looking at individual songs.

Some of these songs tell personal stories, like we talked about last week, with a song that was very much a testimony about who Jesus is and how Jesus meets us in hardship and hard times.

But each of these songs that we're looking at are kind of about the stories they tell, but also the biblical truths that they communicate.

And then in all in many ways, we're also looking at this idea of like what is worship as a whole.

So if I could say it this way, is that this series is really like a lot of different things coming together, how the songs and the truths and the idea of worship as a whole are all kind of intertwined together.

And today, what I want to talk about is this idea that worship is not based on our circumstances.

Now, I know many of us, if we if we hear that statement, then many of us will say, Oh, yeah, absolutely, I agree.

But also, we're so quick to post things online or to give God praise or credit when things go our way, but what about when things don't necessarily go our way?

And the point that I want us to look at, and what we will see later in this passage that we look at, is that worship is not based on our circumstances.

I want to read some lyrics from the song that we're gonna reference today, a song that for many of us is very familiar.

Maybe we grew up singing this song or we at least know it from a distance.

The lyrics read like this Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.

Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine.

Air of salvation, purchase of God, born of his spirit, washed in his blood.

And then that famous chorus that reads like this This is my story.

So everything that we've just said about this assurance, about Jesus being mine, about the heir of salvation, the purchase of God, that we have been born of his spirit, washed in his blood, is that this is my story, and this is my song.

And because of that, praising my savior all the day long, this is my story, this is my song, praising my savior all the day long.

The person who pinned those words was Fanny Crosby.

And the story goes that two friends were once in an apartment in New York City when one friend uh one friend played a little refrain on a piano and asked the second friend, what does that sound like?

And Fanny Crosby, the second friend, she immediately replied, Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.

Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine.

Almost effortlessly and within a few minutes, she had written the words to that song that we now know as Blessed Assurance.

The new hymn was an almost instant hit, and in the past 150 years, this hymn, Blessed Assurance, has been published by faith communities throughout the world and has been recorded by the likes of Carrie Underwood, Alan Jackson, Cece Wynans, Glenn Campbell, and Third Day.

While you may be familiar with the song or even the name Fanny Crosby, you may not be familiar that Fanny Crosby became blind at the age of six weeks old.

What that means is that Fanny Crosby was not born blind, but unfortunately her blindness at the age of six weeks was due to the improper treatment of an effect an infection.

But regarding her circumstances, Fanny Crosby once remarked, If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow, I would not accept it.

She said, I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me.

Is that worship is not about our circumstances, or maybe we say it differently, is that we can worship in spite of our circumstances.

And I think the author of Hebrews reminds us that this idea of blessed assurance, our confidence in Jesus and who he is and what he has done for us, our blessed assurance is made possible by Jesus.

We're going to look at Hebrews chapter 10, where I think this becomes clear to us.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

But before we read this passage, here's a couple things that we need to know is that there's a lot of mystery around the book of Hebrews, this letter to the Hebrews.

In fact, it's been debated ever since the second century about who actually wrote this letter.

And there is no consensus.

We don't actually know who pinned this letter to the Hebrews, but what we do know is that Hebrews is very intentionally written to a Jewish audience.

Jewish Christians, and what is obvious from this letter is that these Jewish Christians were enduring hardship and it seems as if even elements of persecution.

Life is not easy for them.

They are enduring hardships and persecutions, and because of that, they are growing weary.

Their faith is being tried and they're growing weary.

They're it result or their the faith that they live out is resulting in hardship.

Like the faith that they live is inviting difficulties into their lives.

And it seems that they're growing weary.

It seems that there's a temptation to turn back.

Maybe it's to turn back to the things of Judaism because it's easy.

Maybe it's to turn back to the things of Judaism because it's familiar.

Maybe it's to turn back to the things of Judaism because there's pressure from without that Judaism is true.

Whatever the case is, that these Hebrews find themselves under difficult circumstances.

And so the writer to the Hebrews he writes and he encourages them to press on to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and the blessed assurance that he offers to us.

This passage that we're going to read is in Hebrews chapter 10, verses 19 and 25.

Hebrews 10:19

But here's what we see is that this passage centers around three let us statements.

Three times the author will say, let us.

But that let us flows out of this worship that is made possible by Jesus.

And that's what we see right when we begin in verse 19 is that worship is made possible by Jesus.

One thing we need to understand in the Old Testament.

In the Old Testament, worship was administered through the priests at the temple.

That meant that to formalize worship, to participate in formal worship, you had to go to the temple, and a priest would stand in on your behalf before God and offer sacrifices for you.

Is that worship was administered through the priest, these designated people who would represent you before God, and it had to happen at the temple.

But in the New Testament, here's what we see is that worship is made possible by Jesus.

And here's what we read is that Jesus gives us direct access to God.

No longer is it administered through the priest, and no longer is it occurring just at the temple.

But Jesus himself gives us access to God.

Hebrews chapter 10, verse 19, this is what we see.

Hebrews 10:19

Therefore, brothers and sisters, that therefore is basically everything in chapters 1 through 9.

Everything the writer of Hebrews has done.

Here's what he's done.

He has shown that Jesus is supreme.

He has shown that Jesus is greater than every Jewish tradition.

And here's why is because Jesus is the fulfillment of everything in the Old Testament.

He is the fulfillment of the Jewish law.

He is the substance that was the shadows of the things to come.

The Old Testament was the shadows, the sacrifices, the priestly service, the temple, Moses, all of these people and things that are mentioned in the Old Testament that were kind of the highlights of Judaism, the writer of Hebrews reminds us that Jesus is the fulfillment of all of those things.

And he is far greater.

So he says, therefore, brothers and sisters, based on everything that we've already seen, that Jesus is greater than every Jewish tradition, every Jewish law, every Jewish uh sacrifice and his systems in the temple, is that Jesus is greater.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus.

That idea of sanctuary is this.

In the Jewish sacrificial system, one day a year on the Day of Atonement, one person, the high priest, could go into one room, the Holy of Holies.

And in that room, the high priest would offer the sacrifice of a bull so that that bull and the blood of that bull would cover the sins of that priest, so he could go into the presence of God in the Holy of Holies and offer sacrifice for the sins of the people as a whole.

And what the writer of Hebrews says is that Jesus went into the sanctuary, and he and his blood is what makes him and us able to appear before God.

Is that Jesus goes into the Holy of Holies, so to speak?

He goes into the presence of God, and through his blood, we now have access to God.

It's no longer administered through a priest, covered by the sacrifice of bulls, so that a priest can represent us before God, but through the shed blood of Jesus is that we have the boldness to enter into the very presence of God ourselves.

He writes in verse 20, he has inaugurated, that is Jesus.

He has inaugurated for us a new and living way through the curtain.

The curtain was this veil.

It was this very thick veil, curtain that would block access into the Holy of Holies.

You may remember in Matthew's gospel that when Jesus says it is finished, when he gave up his spirit, this very veil was torn from top to bottom, representing symbolically that God's presence was no longer hindered from his people, but now we could enter into the presence of God through the sacrifice, the blood of Jesus.

He has inaugurated for us a new and living way through the curtain, that is his flesh, that Jesus has made possible for his followers to enter into the very presence of God, that through Jesus we have access to God.

And what that means is that worship is made possible now through Jesus.

Because of Jesus' shed blood, because of his body that was offered on our behalf, broken on a Roman cross, is that we can worship God truly.

And we can worship God by ourselves.

We don't need somebody to represent us before God because Jesus Himself has gone into the sanctuary on our behalf, that Jesus is now the high priest who appeals to God the Father on our behalf, that we, covered by his blood, have access to God.

We have access to God through Jesus.

And because of that, we can draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith.

And so here's what I want us to see about Hebrews.

It's built around these three statements.

Let us.

What the writer of Hebrews establishes is because of who Jesus is, then there are three things that we can do as a result of who Jesus is.

What we would say is that worship is made possible by Jesus.

But what does that worship look like?

Well, as we continue, here's what we see.

Our confidence in Jesus and who he is, that he has made a way for us to have direct access to God.

Therefore we can enter boldly before the presence of God, is that our confidence in Jesus allows us to draw near to God.

Because of who Jesus is, we have the confidence to enter into the presence of God, and because we have the opportunity to enter into the presence of God, is that we can draw near to him.

Verse 21, this is what the writer says, and since we have a great high priest, that is Jesus, over the house of God, here's that first let us statement, verse 22.

Let us draw near because of who Jesus is, because he has made a way for us, that he has abolished the sacrificial systems of the temple, and now through his blood we enter into the presence of God.

Therefore we can draw near to him.

And that's the encouragement of the Hebrew writer to these people who were weary and beaten and battered, these people who are enduring hardship because of their circumstances.

He says, In spite of your circumstances, draw near to God because Jesus has made this possible for us.

Then when things around us get difficult, when things around us get hard, then that is an invitation to draw nearer to God, not to grow further away.

Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance.

That word that is utilized by Fanny Crosby in this famous hymn, Blessed Assurance, let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith.

In other words, because you can be sure that through Jesus and his shed blood that we have access to God, then we have full assurance of that.

That assurance then enables us to draw near.

With our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.

That statement is what the priests used to do through the offering of a sacrifice of bulls, that they would be sprinkled clean because a bull was sacrificed on their behalf.

But now we are clean in the eyes of God because we have been covered with the shed blood of Jesus.

Therefore, because we have been covered, we have been cleansed, we have the audacity and the boldness and the privilege and the freedom to enter into the presence of God.

We can boldly come before God, knowing that our sins have been covered, that we have been forgiven, and that therefore God is inviting us into his presence, and therefore we can draw near.

Second thing that we see, this let us statement, is that our confidence in Jesus allows us to not waver.

Our confidence in Jesus allows us to draw near to God, but it also allows us to not waver in our faith.

Verse 23, therefore, let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering.

Remember, all of these let us statements flow out of who Jesus is, that worship is made possible by Jesus.

So because of Jesus, we can draw near, but also because of Jesus, we can hold on to the confession of our hope.

We can hold on to our faith without wavering.

That means that no matter the circumstances we find ourselves in, no matter how difficult, no matter how excruciating, no matter how painful, no matter what our faith invites into our lives through attack or ridicule or whatever it may be, is that our faith is still remains because our confidence in Jesus allows us not to waver.

Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering.

And here's why we don't have to waver in our faith is because he who promised is faithful.

In other words, what we hold on to in faith is that we hold on to a salvation.

We hold on to a day that is coming that is far greater than we could ever imagine.

We hold on to a hope that extends beyond this life, a resurrection hope that one day we will inhabit resurrected bodies in the new and perfected and physical world, and we will live forever with God, and he will be our God, and we will be his people.

That is the hope of the Bible.

We talked about this a few weeks ago in our storyline series.

That is the hope that it awaits us.

Therefore, the writer to the Hebrews writing the people who are beaten and battered, who are ready to turn back, ready to give up.

And he says, No, no, no, no, no.

Don't forget that Jesus made it possible.

Jesus made worship possible.

We can draw near to God, but we can also hold on to this promise that we have.

I know it seems difficult now.

I know the faith that we hold on to now is inviting hardship into our lives, but hold on.

Don't give up because the one who promised is faithful.

Therefore, whatever he said will come to fruition.

God made a promise that one day we will inherit eternal life.

We will live forever in his kingdom for all of eternity.

So don't give up now.

Our confidence in Jesus allows us to not waver.

Therefore, the second let us statement is this let us hold on to.

Don't give up.

Listen, I get it.

Sometimes we go through very difficult things.

Sometimes the circumstances we find ourselves in feel like a tunnel with no light at the end.

Sometimes it feels difficult that I don't know if I can keep going.

I don't know if I can make it another day.

Ready to throw in the tower, ready to give up.

The writer of the Hebrews would say, hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering.

Because the one who promised you salvation, the one who promised you eternal life, the one who promised that I'm going away to prepare a place for you, the one who promised is faithful, that he said it, therefore you can believe it.

So it may be difficult now, but hold on.

And our confidence in Jesus allows us not to waver.

What we see here is that worship is not based on our circumstances, because sometimes our circumstances cause us to want to give up.

But the writer of the Hebrews would say, though, worship is based on the character of God, and this is the character of God we can have confidence in is that he who promised is faithful.

So hold on and trust that what God said will come to fruition and that what he said is true, that one day there is coming a day where it is far greater than anything that you have ever endured on this side of eternity.

Worship is based on the character of God, and the character of God is this is that he who promised is faithful.

We serve a faithful God.

It may not feel like it now because of your circumstances, but you can rest assured that what God has said, he will bring to fruition.

And our hope in this life, the reason that we hope and we hold on to now is because our hope is anchored in the character of God.

We rest in that we can trust him because he is trustworthy.

He is faithful.

And so Jesus makes worship possible.

And this worship allows us to draw near to God.

This worship also allows us to endure, to hold fast, to persevere, to hold on to the faith that we cling to, regardless of where we find ourselves, because our confidence is not based on our circumstances, our confidence is rooted in the character of God.

And then lastly, our confidence in Jesus allows us to gather together.

And so, verse 24, this is what the writer says.

He says, draw near to God because Jesus makes that possible.

Hold on to this faith that you cling to, regardless of your circumstances, because God is faithful to keep his promises.

And then lastly, let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together as some are in the habit of doing, but instead encouraging each other and all the more as you see the day approaching.

What the writer says is he says, you can draw near to God, you can hold fast to the faith regardless of your circumstances.

And then lastly, is that you can gather together.

Now I know for us, especially in the Bible about South, gathering together is usually centered around a certain day and time on a calendar.

Oh, at this day and this time, we just go to church, but that's that loses the essence of what the church is really intended to be.

According to the writer of Hebrews, he says, no, is that through Jesus you have the ability to gather together.

You have access to God through Jesus, but you also have access to each other.

And so when you gather together, he says this be intentional.

This is not about checking a day and a time at a certain location where you just go and you consume and you leave.

He says, consider one another.

That idea of consider is this.

It means to fix one's attention on something.

That means that your focus is on gathering together, not just because it's Sunday and you gather together at a certain time with certain people.

Is that no, you gather together in order to, with this purpose, that you are intentional about doing this in order to provoke love and good works.

That idea of provoke there is to stimulate something.

In a negative sense, it would be to irritate.

I mean, if you have kids, you know what it means to provoke, right?

It means that you may have a child who's like teetering on the line of they're not really breaking the rules, but they are pressing all of the right buttons so that their sibling will snap.

And then usually their sibling will get in trouble because they cross the line even though they pushed every button to get them there.

The idea is that with our kids, they are intentional or intentional about what they are doing to get a certain result.

And in the same way, the Hebrew writer says this he says, and let us consider, let our attention, our focus be intentional.

Let us gather intentionally for this purpose.

Let us press all the right buttons, and those buttons are in order to provoke love and good works.

Not neglecting to gather together.

That word neglecting means to abandon, to leave in isolation.

The idea, the picture here is this when things get hard, when our circumstances around us are caving in and we aren't sure if we're gonna make it, is that the temptation is that we want to go into self-preservation mode.

The temptation is, hey, I'm gonna go and every person fend for themselves.

What the writer of Hebrews says is no, gather together intentionally, and when you gather, intentionally try to stimulate or produce these types of actions in each other.

Do whatever it takes, push the right buttons to encourage one another so that you will produce love and good works.

And the reason is because when things around us get hard, when the circumstances around us are caving in, is that we need each other.

We need people in our lives to remind us of the hope that we have, the blessed assurance that Fanny Crosby writes about.

We need people around us to remind us of what is true because of who Jesus is, that he makes worship possible.

That when things around us get hard, we need people around us who are intentionally pressing the right buttons and say, Hey, draw near to God because Jesus made it possible where you can go into the Holy of Holies.

You can go before God and you can you can cry the very desperations of your heart.

You can weep before him, all of the frustrations and the things that you're walking.

You can go before God and you can take all of these things and you can lay them at his feet.

But in order to do that, to do this, we need to gather together intentionally.

Not just so that we sit in the same rooms on Sunday and hear the same message and sing the same songs, but we need to gather intentionally with our focus on how can I encourage the people around me?

The people around me who are ready to give up, who are ready to throw the towel in.

How can I encourage the people around me to keep their eyes fixed on Jesus so that they would hold on to the faith?

Not throw the towel and say, hey, I'm turning my back and I'm going away because this is too difficult.

But no, how can I encourage them?

How can I stir them up to love and good works?

How can I remind them to draw near to God?

When we gather together, we remind and encourage one another to draw near and to hold on in spite of our circumstances.

This is what the gathering of the church is all about.

It's not about checking boxes, it's not about fulfilling what your grandma wants you to do.

The point of gathering together is that we would be able to live out these statements of draw near to God.

And here's the thing: when we gather together in our services and we do sing the same songs, if our heart or if our worship is true and our hearts are fixed in the right place and our eyes are fixed on Jesus, then our worship collectively together will declare these truths to us.

We will be reminded through the songs that we sing.

We have the ability to draw near to God, that we have the ability to hold on to this faith that we have, that we profess.

And so when we gather together, if we do so intentionally, if we consider how to provoke one another, how to stimulate one another for these achieved purposes, for these outcomes that we desire for them, that they would hold on.

They would draw near.

It changes the way that we gather, because now our gatherings are fixed on the truths of who Jesus is.

But also, how can I encourage other people to be reminded of these truths?

And that's what we do when we gather together.

We remind and encourage one another to draw near and to hold on in spite of our circumstances.

I think this is why the message of blessed assurance continues to resonate with believers generation after generation for 150 years.

Because this song reminds us that Christianity is not built upon uncertainty.

Our circumstances may be uncertain, but the hope and the faith that we cling to is not uncertain.

It is assured to us because Jesus has accomplished for us through his shed blood access to the very God of heaven that we can draw near and we can hold on.

It is built upon confidence.

Not confidence in ourselves, not confidence in our performance, not confidence in our circumstances, but confidence in the finished work of Jesus.

And because of that, every believer can declare with confidence, blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.

And if you can say that confidently, that Jesus is mine, then that means that you can persevere through whatever circumstances you find yourselves in.

Because your perseverance is not built on the certainty of your circumstances.

Your perseverance is built on the certainty that through Jesus you have the assurance that you can draw near to God and you have the assurance to hold fast to the faith that you cling to because he who promised is faithful.

Our faith is not built on our circumstances, and therefore worship is not dependent on our circumstances.

Worship is built on the certainty of who Jesus is and what he has made available to us.

And here's what Jesus does for us Jesus enables us to draw near.

Jesus enables us to hold fast in spite of our circumstances to the faith that we hold, because he who promised is faithful.

And coming is a day that is far greater than we could ever imagine.

Coming is a day where all will be perfected, where the old will pass away, where we will live with God for all of eternity, where he will be our God and we will be his people.

So here's the thought that I want to leave us with today is that perseverance, the ability to push through, the ability to draw near when things get hard, the ability to hold on to our faith in spite of our circumstances, is that perseverance is the fruit of assurance.

This blessed assurance that Fanny Crosby wrote about 150 years ago, that this is my story, that this is my song, that Jesus is mine, and because Jesus is mine and I belong to him, then I can draw near to God and I can hold fast to the faith that I profess.

I pray that through this song, written by a lady who her circumstances said that she would be blind for all of her life, and yet she would say, And yet I choose to worship Jesus.

Over 8,000 hymns were pinned by this lady who was born and at six weeks old became blind, and for all of her days, despite her blindness, she chose to worship the God who gave her the assurance that he she held on to.

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.

Let me pray for you.

God, we thank you for today.

God, we thank you for the opportunity that we can declare these words with confidence that Jesus is mine.

And if Jesus is mine, then we can draw near to you.

Because through his shed blood, we have access directly to you, no longer administered through priests and temples, but instead we go directly to the throne and we approach boldly.

Because our sins have been atoned for by the perfect, sinless, spotless sacrifice of the Lamb of God.

So, God, I pray that we would draw near and that we would hold on.

That we would hold on to the confession of the hope that we have because he who promised is faithful.

I can continue, I can press on, and I can hold on.

We love you, we thank you, we ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.