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The Admonition podcast brings you Bible lessons and sermons from the Collierville Church of Christ with host Aaron Cozort. Each episode focuses on interpreting Scripture in its original context, exploring the background of key passages, events, and teachings. Gain deeper insight into God’s Word as we study together, applying timeless truths to everyday life.
I care not today what the morrow may
bring,
if shadow or sunshine or rain.
The Lord I know ruleth o'er everything,
and all of my worry is vain. Though
tempest may blow,
and the storm clouds arise, obscuring the
brightness of light,
I'm never alarmed at the overcast sky.
The master looks on at the strife.
Living by faith in Jesus above,
trusting
Confiding in his great love. From all harm
safe and his sheltering arm,
I'm living by faith and feel no alarm.
To the Christian, there should be a great
deal of confidence.
There should be a great deal of trust in
God.
There should be a great deal of assurance,
knowing that as long as I am living for
Him,
doing what He has called me to do,
doing what He wants me to do, following
those teachings found in the Bible,
I can be living by faith and I can be
sure.
That he will carry me through.
That eventually I can go to that reward in
heaven where I can be with
him and stay with him for all of eternity.
If you turn with me to Hebrews chapter 10
this afternoon.
Hebrews chapter 10. We'll be looking at
this concept of living by faith.
Hebrews chapter 10. Of course,
as we've for some reason we've all been
preaching from the book of Hebrews
recently.
From so if we as we've been looking
through the he book of Hebrews,
we've noticed chap
Chapter 1 and Chapter 2, there is a better
lawgiver.
We've looked at that better lawgiver,
who he is, it is Jesus. We've looked at
that better house,
referring to the covenant that we are
under,
referring to this new covenant.
You look, you go a little bit further and
you walk into this better priesthood.
This priesthood that is has Jesus at its
head,
that has Jesus' atonement in it.
You come to the better sacrifice.
And ultimately when you come to chapter
ten is where the rubber meets the road.
Where it is not just looking at how the
old law is better.
It's saying, see, now that you know it's
better,
you need to live it. You need to stick to
it.
You can't leave. You can't leave because
this is the only place where there
is salvation. So as we are talking about
living by faith,
he has proven that the New Testament is
the only way to be saved.
And he says there in Hebrews 10 and verse
38 that the just,
that the just.
Now the just shall live by faith.
Of course the just would be those who are
righteous,
those who are cleansed, those who are
clean in the sight of God.
Now the just shall live by faith,
but if any man draw back, my soul shall
have no pleasure in him.
But we are not of them which who draw back
unto perdition,
but of them that believe to the saving of
the soul.
So we are not of them that draw back.
We are not of them who leave, who desert,
who decide to stop pursuing that rest.
But we're of those who stay and who keep
living faithfully in the sight of God.
This morning we're going look at three,
we have three points this afternoon,
but before we get into those three points,
we'll look at what is faith. What are we
discussing there?
When we talk about faith, there are two
main definitions.
There is the truth that we need to believe
in.
That it is the truth that we need to
believe in in one aspect.
If you look at with me at Galatians
chapter two,
Galatians two.
Of course, Galatians, Paul is t talking to
those Hebrew these ~ Christians about
not want not going to the law of Moses,
not trusting in it for justification,
not trusting in it for cleansing.
And in ver in verse 16 of Hebrews of
Galatians 2,
he provides a contrast between the gospel
of Christ and the law of Moses.
In this, the faith is the truth to belief.
It says there, knowing that a man is not
justified by the works of the law.
But by the faith of Jesus Christ.
Even we have believed in Jesus Christ that
we might be justified by
the faith of Christ and not by the works
of the law.
For by the works of the law shall no flesh
be justified.
So over here he has a con he's looking at
the law of Moses,
and he's saying, This can't justify you.
This covenant is insufficient.
This covenant in and of itself cannot
cleanse you.
But then he looks over here at the faith,
the thing to believe.
And he says, This faith can cleanse you.
In this you can be clean and you can be
justified in the sight of God.
Modern translations will say we're faith
saved by faith in this passage.
We're just saved faith in Jesus Christ.
While that's true, that's not the point.
He is looking at two covenants,
and he's saying, we are saved by the
faith,
not by the the works of the law.
So as we look at that, we understand that
faith is,
for one, it is the thing that we need to
believe in.
Number two, faith is our belief.
Faith is our active belief, that belief
that moves you to obedience.
If you look with me at James 2,
James, of course, looks at that,
looks at faith in detail, and he talks
about that faith being accompanied by
works.
How it's not just merely intellectual,
but it also is faith which produces
action.
That's that's
coupled with obedience. And it says there,
you see then, verse twenty-four,
how a man is justified by works and not by
faith only.
Likewise also was not Rayla the harlot
justified with works,
when she had received messengers and sent
them out another way.
For as the body without the spirit is said
dead,
so faith without works is dead also.
So faith is that belief coupled with
action that produces works of God,
that where we obey him, where we do what
he has called us to do.
So we see both of those. We see these two
aspects of faith the thing that
we need to believe in and that belief
itself that moves us to obedience.
As we look at those two things,
let's go back to Hebrews ten.
Hebrews ten. So we'll ask the first
question,
What must I have faith in? What must I
have faith in?
If you begin reading with me in verse one,
for the law having a shadow of good things
to come,
and not the very image of things,
can never with those sacrifices which they
offered ever ev by year
by year continually make the comers
thereunto perfect.
For then would not they not have ceased to
be offered,
because that the worshippers once purged
should not have had no ~ should have
had no more conscience of sins.
But in those sacrifices there is a
remembrance again of sins every year.
For it is not possible that the blood of
bulls and goats should take away sins.
When we look at faith, what should we not?
The first thing that we're going to look
at,
what should I have faith in? It cannot be
in an insufficient system.
It cannot be in something which does not
save.
Of course, the law of Moses of itself
could not save,
and that was the point there. Sin is,
of course, against God. It is against a
perfect and holy God.
He is, of course, perfect. He is infinite.
And because he is infinite,
It took an infinite sacrifice to take away
sins.
And that would have that came in the form
of Jesus Christ.
But the blood in bulls and goats were
finite.
They were temporary. All they could do is
to point toward that ultimate sacrifice
of Christ. They could roll the sins
forward.
They could look forward to that ultimate
event,
but they could not of themselves save.
You could not in in the law of Moses be
justified in the sight of God in that
sense.
There would be no guilt forgiven.
You would still be you would still have
that remembrance of sins year by year.
It's not possible that they should take it
away ultimately.
But we can learn from this that there is
an,
if any, insufficient system. Anything
which does not of itself take away sins
is not something you can have faith in.
There are many false doctrines today which
are while that while the people
are good who believe in them, while the
people are nice who believe in them,
they are not sufficient. Because they
don't teach.
The whole of the truth. They don't teach
all of what is to be believed.
They don't have all that is needed for
they're not compl sufficient
in themselves to save you because they
don't teach all the truth.
They don't teach the pure gospel of Jesus
Christ.
Well you must have faith in something that
is sufficient.
If you look with me at Romans 10,
Romans 10 verses 3 and 4.
Romans ten verses two through four,
rather. It says there, it says there in
verse two,
for I bear them record that they have a
zeal of God,
but not according to knowledge.
For they being ignorant of God's
righteousness and going about
to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves to the
righteousness of God.
For Christ has become the end of the law
of righteousness
to everyone that believeth. To The
faithful Jew,
when they saw Christ die on the cross,
it should have pointed to them.
That this is the way to be justified,
this is the way to be right in the sight
of God,
and they should have obeyed it.
These people had a zeal for God.
They were zealous. They would do whatever
God would call them to do,
but they didn't do it according to
knowledge.
They didn't know the right way of carrying
out their zealousness.
And It is the case that many today are
zealous.
They want to do good, but they haven't
they don't have that zeal zeal
ze they don't have that zeal according to
knowledge.
We can have faith in an insufficient
system and it not save.
So what must we have faith in?
It can't be in an insufficient system.
It must be only in the gospel of Jesus
Christ.
Only in the got the cleansing that He
provides.
Only in His offering. If you look with me
in Ro at Hebrews 10,
continue in there, beginning at verse
five.
We'll read through verse about verse 10
and skip a couple verses.
Wherefore when he cometh into the world he
saith,
Sacrifice an offering thou wouldest not,
but a body hast thou prepared for me.
In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin
thou hast had no pleasure.
Then said I, Lo I come, in the volume of
the books is written of me to do thy will,
O God, above when he said, Sacrifice an
offering and burnt offering,
and offering for sin thou wouldest not,
neither had pleasure therein, which are
offered by the law.
Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will,
O God, He taketh away of the first that he
may establish the second,
by the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. Skip with me
to verse fifteen.
Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness
to us,
for after that he said before,
This is the covenant that I will make with
him.
After those days, saith the Lord,
I will put my law into their hearts,
and into their minds will I write them.
And their sins and their iniquities will I
remember no more.
Now, where remission of these is,
there is no more offering for sin.
God took away the first to establish the
second.
That offering was insufficient.
It could not do it on its own.
The blooding bulls of goats could not
justify,
but Christ can. Christ, in Christ,
you can be cleansed. In Christ you can be
right in the sight of God.
In Christ.
You can receive the cleansing completely.
It can make you cleansed.
This is, of course, in God's ultimate
purpose.
He said, Sacrifice and offering thou
wouldest not.
The sacrifices of the Old Testament,
those weren't enough. But that body of
Jesus Christ prepared.
When Christ came to this earth,
he came with a purpose. That purpose was
ultimately to suffer and to die and to be.
afflicted of his own creation,
and to be mocked, and to be scourged,
and to die for us. And then on the third
day he was resurrected,
and because he was resurrected,
because though he was seen of many
witnesses,
because the gospel has been preached,
we can be cleansed and we can be right in
his sight.
That of course is what's being looked to
at in verse fifteen.
It says the Holy Ghost saith, referring to
Isaiah chapter two.
Those prophecies where he said,
They will not and every man will not teach
his brethren saying,
No the Lord, for I will write their law on
their hearts,
their sins and iniquities will remember no
more no more.
When Isaiah t when the fulfillment of
Isaiah two happened and
the church was established in Acts chapter
two,
that remission and that cleansing from sin
took place.
And it took place and it was offered to
all of mankind bec as Christ
was being preached to all of man.
And their sins and under this covenant,
sins and iniquities will be remembered no
more.
You can be cleansed, you can be right,
you have you no longer have that stain on
you.
Second this, of course, was something that
took place.
Christ was willing to come and to suffer
and to die for us.
Second Corinthians five and verse twenty
one,
for he made him to be sin for us who knew
no sin,
that we should be made the righteousness
of God in him.
For he made him to be sin for us,
referring to him being made to be the sin
offering.
Re referring to him taking the punishment
which we should have borne,
the punishment that we were deserving of,
the punishment that we very well could
have given ourselves,
but we couldn't have paid it. We couldn't
have paid it and then cleansed sins.
He was the only one. Of course,
Isaiah 53 details that suffering in the
amount that he went to.
He was despised and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He was led to
l led as a lamb to the slaughter
and as a sheep before his shears is
silent.
So he opened not his mouth.
All we like like sheep have gone astray,
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity
of us all.
He bore the punishment we should have
bore.
He bore the pain we should have bore.
And he was afflicted and he died,
but he did it for us. He did it so that we
can be cleansed and so we could be right.
We must not believe in an insufficient
system,
but we have to have our trust in a
sufficient system.
A sufficient system which is based on the
gospel of Jesus Christ,
unadulterated, pure, without anything
affecting it.
We must recognize also that in this
offering is the only way we can approach
God.
In this offering, in this cleansing,
in that there is the ability to draw near
to God.
If you look with me at Hebrews ten verse
nineteen,
it says there, having therefore brethren,
boldness to enter into the holiness by the
blood of Jesus,
by a new and living way which He hath
consecrated for us through the veil,
that is to say his flesh.
And having a high priest over the house of
God,
we have a high priest. We have a new and
living way.
We have a way to be cleansed. We have to
wait to be right before God by
the blood of Jesus Christ. It says in
Hebrews chapter six that he entered into
the veil. He went in there. He provided he
went in he entered into heaven,
provided the atonement that we need,
so that we can be cleansed and so we can
stand as right before God.
We have the ability to approach God in
that offering.
In that he offering he is our high priest.
In that he cleanses us and provides
atonement that we need.
And we'll look more more into those
details of him being pri high priest,
how we can approach the throne of God as
well.
So what must we have faith in?
It cannot be in an insufficient system.
It must be in a system which is sufficient
and which in which we can be cleansed.
Number two, why must we have faith?
Why do I need to have faith in him?
Why do I need to live by faith?
Why can I why do I have to do this?
What does it matter? It matters because
This is the most important decision
you can ever make. To live by faith,
to follow him, to be diligent sir a
diligent servant of his.
Ultimately why? Because there is no
sacrifice for sin if you don't live by
faith,
if you don't keep going, if you don't keep
pressing on.
If you'd read with me, Hebrews ten and
verse twenty six.
It says, therefore, if we sin willfully
after that we have received
the knowledge of the truth, there
remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
but a certain fearful looking for of
judgment,
and a fiery indignation which shall devour
the adversaries.
If you were to walk away from Christ,
if you were to stop serving him and stop
doing what he would call you to do,
there is nothing to look forward to but
judgment.
Can you imagine getting there on the day
of judgment?
And you recognize just how close you had
it if you decided to walk away.
Can you recognize just how close you had
it and saying I had it in arm's reach,
but I let it slip away because I stopped
trying.
I didn't keep living by faith.
I didn't want to keep going. We must live
by faith,
because if without it there's no sacrifice
for sins,
and thus we're still we're we become
guilty again.
And thus we become unrighteous in the
sight of God,
and thus we're not saved anymore.
Galatians five.
Galatians five. The book of Galatians,
of course, we made rich mention of
earlier.
He's writing to those Gentile Christians
who were being threat that were
threatening
to go back and should try to trust in the
law of Moses to save them.
It says there
Verse one stand fast therefore in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us
free,
and be not entangled again with the yoke
of bondage.
Behold, I Paul say unto you that if ye be
circumcised,
Christ shall profit you nothing.
Verse four, Christ has become of no effect
to you.
Whosoever you are justified by the law,
ye are fallen from grace. If you seek to
be justified by the law,
if you seek to be justified by the
insufficient system now that
it doesn't work anymore,
You are fallen from grace. You're not
trusting in the one that saves you.
You're not trusting in the one where you
can be right in the sight of God.
And we could say that about any other
system from the pure gospel of Christ
today.
If you seek to be justified by it instead
of the gospel of Christ,
you are fallen from grace. It is
insufficient.
It will not save. It will not keep you up.
Without it we have to be justified in him
and in him alone because that's
the only way. Ephesians one and verse
three.
Ephesians one and verse three.
Blessed be God and even the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings and the
heavenly places in Christ.
If all spiritual blessings are in Christ,
then there could be no blessings out of
Christ.
If you decide to leave Christ and stop
living faithfully for him,
there can be no more blessings.
There can be no more cleansing.
There can be no you can no longer be right
in the sight of God.
Ultimately, what you' what are you saying
when you walk away from him?
You're saying that Christ is dead in vain.
Eph Galatians two and verse twenty one,
I do not frustrate the grace of God,
for if righteousness came by the law,
then Christ is dead in vain. There's no
more cleansing.
I'm saying Christ's sacrifice is worth
nothing.
He's dead in vain. It's not doing anything
for me if I try to not if
I don't follow him. It's not doing
anything for me if I don't live faithfully
for him.
Why must we live in faith? Because there
is no sacrifice for sin without it.
Because it is a fearful thing to fall into
the hands of the living God.
If you continue to read with me in Hebrews
10,
it says there, verse 28,
He that despiseth Moses' law died without
mercy under un under
two or three witnesses.
Of how much sore punishment, suppose ye
shall be he be thought worthy worthy,
who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God,
and hath counted the blood of the
covenant,
wherewith he was sanctified an unholy
thing,
and hath done despite unto the spirit of
grace.
For we know him that hath said,
Vengeance belongeth to me, I will
recompense,
saith the Lord. It is a fearful thing to
fall into the hands of the living God.
It is a fearful thing to fall into the
hands of God.
But why
It mentions three reasons why it's a
fearful thing.
It mentions three reasons. It says,
because if you've done this, Moses' law
was just,
and you would be condemned for not walking
in it,
and you would be condemned for breaking in
it.
Well, if you leave the gospel of Christ,
what have you done? You've trodden
underfoot the Son of God.
You've taken that suffering Savior,
the one that came to this earth to cleanse
you,
that the one that came to this earth to
make you ripe,
to make you clean, and you've thrown him
down,
and you've walked on him, stepped on him,
saying he's worth nothing.
You've taken the sacrifice of Christ and
you've spoken against it
and you've worked against it. And you've
said,
It's nothing to me, it doesn't matter to
anyone.
You've trodden underfoot the Son of God,
you've counted the the c covenant
wherewith you were sanctified,
an unholy thing. That covenant,
of course, was purchased by Christ.
Christ came to purchase his church.
And when he came to purchase his church,
Matthew 16, 18, he said, Upon this rock I
will build my church,
and the gates of Hades shall not prevail
against it.
When he came and he purchased that church,
he bought it with his blood. You've said
you've not only said that Christ
is worth nothing, you've said his blood
didn't cleanse anyone.
No one was bought. No one was cleansed.
He didn't come to buy a body. Walking away
from the Christ is,
of course, consequential. And of course,
you're all you've not only have you walked
away from Christ.
Not only have you thrown him down,
not only have you ~ said his covenant is
worth nothing,
you've also done despite to the spirit of
grace.
Of course, in that first century context,
that would be looking at the ~ miraculous.
Those miracles around you, and you said,
those are nothing. Those aren't real.
I didn't see those. I'm s I've I've looked
at those and I'm saying,
I don't think that's real. I don't want to
believe in it.
I'm looking at that and I'm walking away
from it.
For us today.
That would be saying the word of God
didn't speak about that.
The Bible didn't speak about that.
I don't wanna have faith in the Bible.
I'm gonna look at where the Bible says it
and I'm gonna mark it out 'cause
I wanna live how I wanna live.
If you do not obey God, and if you walk
away from it,
you're trotting underfoot the Son of God.
You're counting the covenant an unc an
uncommon thing,
and you've done despite to the Spirit of
Grace.
Vengeance belongeth to I will precompense,
saith the Lord. And again I say,
It is a fearful thing to fall into the
hands of the living God.
You don't want to arrive at judgment and
be unprepared.
You don't want to arrive at judgment
having done those things to God.
Having th said this is an ~ an unholy
thing,
an uncommon a common thing. Hebrews 4:1,
let us therefore fear having promised to
interest,
lest any one of you should come short of
it.
It is something to be feared. It is a
possibility to walk away from Christ.
That's of course identified many passages,
but imagine getting there that day and
realizing you haven't served
him when you should have, just as we
looked at we thought about earlier.
Just imagine getting there in that day and
realizing that you have done wrong
and you haven't been faithful to him.
When you were so close, you had it,
you were saved, and you decided it's not
anything any more.
Matthew twenty five verse forty six and
these shall go away into everlasting
punishment, but the righteous into eternal
life.
The everlasting and the word eternal are
the same word in the Greek.
Just as long as heaven will be,
hell will be. Just as long
They will not be there will not be any
difference in length.
Both will be equal. Both will be eternal.
Think of a world where there is no pres
there the presence of God is not there,
and you'll have a p idea of hell.
Second Thessalonians one. Think of a world
where there is nothing but weeping,
gnashing of teeth, fire and brimstone.
It's away from the presence of God and
from the glory of his power,
Matthew eight. Then you have a picture of
what hell would be like.
Think of a way a world where that pain
never ends,
and that suffering never stops.
You have an idea of what hell would be
like.
It's not somewhere you want to go,
but it's a very real reality that many
will face who have walked away from
Christ.
So we must live,
why must we live by faith? Because we it's
a fearful thing to fall into
the hands of the living God. But it is not
just a fearful thing to fall into
the hands of the living God. It's not just
because it's something
to be there's something to be feared,
because there's a reward also.
If you begin reading with me also,
pick up, we'll read about verse 36.
Verse thirty five. It says they're casting
not away therefore your confidence,
which hath great recompense of reward.
For have need for ye have need of patience
that after ye have done the will
of God ye might receive the promise for
yet a will little while,
and that sh that come ~ And he that shall
come will come and will not tarry.
He's saying, You just need to keep
pressing on,
you just need to keep going, keep dealing
with the persecutions you're going
through.
Keep dealing with the suffering you're
going through.
Keep going and keep striving and pressing
on because your reward is so close.
Because you can almost taste it.
It's right there. It's just ahead of you.
They were close. They had confidence.
They could trust that God would provide
for them,
that God would carry them through so long
as they kept serving Him.
If they stopped, they didn't have that
confidence.
If they stopped, they didn't have the
confidence and the assurance of a reward.
If they stopped, they weren't in the same
position before God.
So they had to keep going and they had to
keep pressing on.
They were, of course, being encouraged
through this throughout the entire book.
Don't go back. Don't stop.
You need to not be those who draw back
into perdition,
but those who believe to the saving of the
soul,
verse thirty-nine. But if you look with me
in chapter twelve,
chapter twelve, he's been encouraging them
to keep going,
keep pressing on. He says there,
verse twelve, after looking at all those
who have lived faithfully,
all those good examples that he's given of
living faithfully,
those who keep pressing on. He says there,
wherefore seeing we are compassed about
with so great a cloud of witnesses,
lay us lay us.
Let us lay aside every weight,
and the sin which doth so easily beset us,
and let us run with patience the race of
faith,
looking unto Jesus, the author and
finisher of our faith,
who, for the joy that was set before him,
endured the cross, despising the shame,
and is set down the right hand of the
throne of God.
For consider him that endured such
contradiction of sinners against himself,
lest ye be wearied and faint in your
minds.
Ye have not yet resisted unto blood,
striving against sin. He says there
You have a great cloud of witnesses.
You have these examples of people who have
kept going and looked to that reward
and said, That's something I'm heading
forward to.
I can't stop. And at the end of this list
of all these people in chapter eleven,
he c you come to chapter twelve and he
says,
Look at your ultimate example.
Look at Jesus, the one who for the joy
that was set before him.
I'd ask you to think, what was that joy?
What was that joy? Was that joy that he
was the reason he suffered
the cross because he loved the pain?
No, he endured the pain for the joy
because he wanted you to be in heaven with
him.
Because he wanted you to be saved and he
wanted you to be right in the sight of
God.
He wanted those he was seeking those true
worshipers.
John 4 and verse 23. He wanted you to be
cleansed and he wanted you to be right,
and he wanted you to be able to have an
opportunity for heaven.
We have confidence in him if we stay
faithful toward him.
It says in Hebrews eleven talks about that
promise a little bit.
It says there verse thirty nine and all
these things,
and all and these all, having obtained a
great good report through faith,
received not the promise. God having
provided something better for us,
that we should not be made perfect apart
from us.
But perhaps in earlier in the chapter is
even better.
It says there, it talks about they had the
lent.
It says there that they I've lost my
place.
Verse sixty, but now they desire that
better,
that is a heavenly country, whereas God is
not ashamed to be called their God,
for he has prepared a city for them.
God has prepared a city for them,
God has prepared a city for us that we can
go to,
where we can have confidence that God is
not ashamed of us,
he is not ashamed that we call ourselves
his,
because we live for him, because we are
faithful to him,
because he has given us that promise.
So, what must we have faith in?
We must have faith in the gospel system.
Why do we need to have that faith?
Because there is a great punishment on one
side.
But if I keep pressing on, there's a great
reward heading ahead of me.
So, third, how do we live out that faith?
How do we keep going? How do we keep being
faithful to Him?
How do I, what do I need to do?
If you look with me in verse 22,
the first of three points. It says there,
let us.
Draw near with a true heart, in full
assurance of faith,
having our con hearts sprinkled with a
pure conscience,
and our and our bodies washed with pure
water.
We have the opportunity to be cleansed.
We have the opportunity in Christ to be
right in the sight of God,
to have our bodies washed with pure water,
of course looking at the of course
pointing to baptism.
Where one is added to the body of Christ.
And in that we in that cleansing and in
that state where we are right
in the sight of God, we can draw near to
Him.
We are even under the obligation to draw
near to Him,
to grow closer, to build this relationship
with God.
Let us draw near with full assurance.
We can draw near, we can know that He will
hear us.
We can know that He wants us to do this.
If you look with me in verse 16.
chapter four and verse sixteen of Hebrews.
There's two ways that we're supposed to
draw near to God.
The first comes in prayer. First comes in
prayer.
We have it's of course been talking about
our high priest,
how we have not a high priest that cannot
be touched with the feeling
of our infirmities, a high priest who
knows us,
a high priest that is entered into the
heavens,
who is willing who will ~ who we can
approach God through.
It says there in verse sixteen,
let us therefore come boldly unto the
throne of his grace that we
may obtain mercy and find grace to help in
time of need.
In Jesus, in his cleansing, we can
approach the throne of God and obtain
mercy,
and obtain grace, and obtain the help that
we need as we live this life.
We have a Savior who understands,
who knows, who is willing to help us
approach God.
Who is willing, who has led us,
who lets us approach God. Who in and in
him we have the benefit of prayer.
And we can grow closer to God.
We can build we can be built up in him.
We are supposed to grow closer to God in
prayer.
Second, we are supposed to grow closer to
God in knowledge,
in study. Hebrews 5 and verse 12,
for when the first time you ought to be
teachers,
you have need that one ought to teach you
again the first.
I cannot read today. For when for the time
ye ought to be teachers,
ye have need that one teach you again,
which be the first principles of the
oracles of God,
and are become such that have need of milk
and not strong meat,
for everyone that useth milk is unskilful
in the word of righteousness,
for he is a babe. But strong meat
belongeth to them that are of full age,
even those who by reason of use have their
senses of exercise to discern both good
and evil. So you have those who have ate
nothing but milk.
They are immature.
They are not where they need to be
spiritually.
They can't do anything but process the
milk of the Word of God.
And he says, I have more to tell you,
but you can't bear them now. Verse eleven.
You're not built up where you need to be
to take this subject.
They haven't been progressing.
We should be those who strive to progress,
who strive to study the Word of God,
who strive to glow grow closer to Him in
knowledge.
And as we grow closer to Him, we exercise
our senses.
We can greater discern from between good
and evil as we grow closer to Him.
Walker used this first this morning,
first Peter two, two. As newborn babes
desire the sincere milk of the Word that
ye may grow thereby. Now that verse
doesn't necessar doesn't say that the
the we are only to look at those milk
aspects of the word.
That's not what it's saying. It's saying
just as much as newborn babes look
to the the their mother's milk,
just as much as they go after those
things,
we're supposed to grow after the word of
God.
Just the same way, just as newborn babes
do,
we need to see that as our priority and as
our constant w that we want to study,
we desire to study, we desire to learn
more about him,
and we desire to go closer to grow closer
to him in prayer as well.
We're supposed to be those who draw near
to God.
Second point. And or second way we should
live out faith.
We must hold fast our profession.
Verse twenty three of Hebrews ten.
It says there, let us let us hold fast the
profession of our faith without wavering,
for he is faithful that promised.
Recognize that God is faithful.
Recognize that he is consistent,
that he is not going to stop doing what he
has doing.
He is going to remain the same.
He will be faithful to us as long as we
remain faithful to him.
If I hold up my end of the bargain,
it's already sure that he will hold up
his.
He will carry.
He will do all that he has said he will
do.
In 2 Timothy one and verse 12,
of course, you think of 2 Timothy.
The Apostle Paul is nearing the end of his
life.
He knows that his days are going to be
short.
He knows that he doesn't have much more
time left on this earth.
Ultimately, at the end of this book,
he says, I'm now ready to be poured out
like a drink offering,
and the time of my departure is at hand.
I have fought the good fight, I have
finished the course,
I have kept the faith, and henceforth
there is laid up for me
a crown of righteousness, which the Lord
the righteous judge shall give
me in that day, and not to me only,
but to all those who love his appearing.
He has looked at that day and he says,
I know that this is we're near the end.
But he set gives a measure of assurance
early on in this book,
of the trust that he has in God.
Second Timothy one and verse twelve says,
For the which cause I suffer these things.
Nevertheless I am not ashamed,
for I know whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that he is able to keep
that which I have committed unto
him against that day. Hold fast the form
of sound words which thou hast heard
of me in faith and love which is in Jesus
Christ.
Paul's saying, for this which cause I
suffer these things?
For which cause? I'm willing to suffer.
I'm willing to die. I'm willing to give my
life because God's faithful.
Because I know that he has called me to
serve him.
And because he's called me to serve him,
so long as I keep serving, he's going to
carry me.
He is going to give me what I've been
waiting for.
He is going to give me the reward.
God is faithful, and we know that God in
whom we've had believed
and am persuaded that he's able.
We know God, and we know that He is not
going to give up on His promise,
but He is going to give us all that He
said He would.
We must live out the faith by drawing near
to God.
We must live out the faith by holding fast
to our profession.
And we must live out the faith by
considering one another.
Consider one another.
It says there in verse twenty four.
And let us consider one another to provoke
us unto to provoke one unto love
and to good works, not forsaking the
assembling of ourselves together
as the manner of some is, but exhorting
one another,
and so much the more as ye see the day
approaching.
He says there, let us consider one
another.
Let's not be selfish and only self
examining,
only looking to ourselves, but look to
your brother,
and see his need, and to see what he
needs.
And to see those things which he is
struggling with,
to see those places where he needs help
and encourage him.
Don't just help yourself.
Of course, often we look at verse 25 and
we say we can't forsake the assembly.
Absolutely. We should not. We should not
be those who forsake the assembly
who don't cut who don't remain with the
people of God.
But why do we assemble? What's the reason
for the assembling being given
in verse 25? It's so that we can look to
one another,
so we can consider one another,
so we can encourage one another,
build each other up, encourage each other
to live righteously
and godly throughout the week.
What do we do when we sing? We teach one
another in psalms,
hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and
making melody in our hearts to the Lord.
We're encouraging one another.
We're teaching each other the right ways.
We're teaching each other those things
that we need to live by.
We're teaching ourselves the things that
we need to build each other up.
It is encouraging when God's people get
come together and they sing.
It's encouraging when God's people come
together and they pray together.
It's encouraging when God's people come
together and look at one another and
And help each other live this life.
Because we're not in it alone.
We're not here to try to help ourselves
and ourselves only.
We're here to help one another,
to do whatever the others need done.
Galatians one or Galatians six.
Galatians six and verse one.
It says there, brethren, if any man be
overtaken in fault,
ye which are spiritual, restore such a one
in the spirit of meekness,
considering thyself, lest thou also be
tempted.
It says, bear ye one another's burdens and
so fulfill the law of Christ.
I'm not just self-seeking. I'm looking at
my brother.
If he's overtaken in a fault, if he's
struggling with sin,
I need to help him bear that burden.
To bear that thing which is hard to be
borne,
so that I'm fulfilling the law of Christ.
So that he's saved and I've saved and
we're helping one another get to heaven.
James five and verse twenty, of course.
Brethren, if any one of you do err from
the truth and one convert him,
let him know which he that convert let him
know that he which converted
a sinner from the error of his way shall
save a soul from death,
and shall hide a multitude of sins.
If he errs from the truth, you see him go
astray,
you see him get off the path of right,
and you convert him, you bring him back,
you have saved a sinner from the error of
his way.
He has not been right, but you made him
right.
You made you helped bring him back to the
path of right.
You've helped him to be saved.
We're supposed to consider one another,
help each other live this life.
Why are we supposed to do that?
Because ultimately Christ has forgiven us.
Ephesians 4 and verse 32. And be ye kind
one to another,
tender hearted, forgiving one another,
even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven
you.
We're supposed to be kind one to another.
Forgiving one another, tenderhearted,
helping one another, willing to forgive,
willing to help, willing to aid because
Christ forgave us.
He cared so much for me that I need to
show it to others.
I need to show that forgiveness I've
received and help others see the same
thing,
see the same care, see the same ~ see the
same care that I've received from him,
I need to show to others. We need to be
kind and we need to be stand right before
God. Maybe today.
Today we've talked about living by faith.
We've talked about that we need to have
faith in the system that works,
the system that is sufficient,
the system that is right. We need to have
faith and we need to carry
out that faith because there is a
punishment waiting on one side,
but there's a reward if we just live
faithfully,
if we just keep going and doing what He
has called us to.
And by having faith, we live out these
things where we care for one another,
where we hold fast our profession,
where we draw near to God.
Maybe today you have not been living
faithfully.
Maybe today you have not been doing what
you've been called to do.
Maybe today you have not been considering
your brother.
Maybe today you just have not been growing
closer to God.
You have the opportunity, if you have not
been living faithfully,
to be right in the sight of God today.
Maybe today you're not a Christian.
If you're not a Christian today,
you have
~
Opportunity, of course, to hear the Lord's
invitation.
Believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of
God,
that He came to this earth, that He came
and He died for you.
He gave you the opportunity to be cleansed
and to be right before God.
He came and He expects you to believe in
Him.
He expects you to repent of your sins,
Act 17, verse 30. He expects you to
confess His name before men,
Matthew 10, verses 32 and 33. And he
expects you to be baptized in
Into his body to be baptized into Christ,
Galatians three and verse twenty-seven.
And that we put on Christ, and in that we
are saved,
first Peter three twenty-one. And then he
expects you to take up this
his cross daily and live faithfully for
him.
If you are not a Christian today,
maybe you need the prayers of the church,
maybe you ne need encouragement.
Come now as we stand and as we