Chapter 10:19-25

“¹⁹ Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, ²¹ and having a High Priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, ²⁵ not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”

One may ask why I have been harping so much on the salvation that we have in Jesus and constantly repeating that Jesus is the only One—repeating that Jesus is all anyone who has ever entered Heaven has ever had. There is no other way. You may look back at the last few months of lessons and wonder if I am like an old stuck record. Some of you will have to Google a picture of a stuck record. But one of the great warnings that Jesus gave us in Matthew 24, not once but three times, is to not allow ourselves to be deceived.

I recently saw a short video clip about what percentage of churches are actively teaching the absolute truths of the scriptures. It was shocking to watch, frankly. There are churches on every corner in many towns and cities in North America. I live in a small town of 6,000 or so, and we have about 10 churches. The video discussed how only about 30% of churches even believe the fundamental truths that the Bible teaches. Doctrines like the virgin birth of Jesus, that Jesus was actually 100% God, that He died and rose from the dead. Doctrines like seeing Jesus in the Old Testament, like marriage is between a man and a woman, and that there is a literal Hell.

These doctrines are actually only believed by about 30% of churches in the USA ( I would think the ratios are similar in Canada). But what really got me was that upon further investigation, they found that only about 2% of churches actually taught these doctrines. That really hit me. But this is why I harp on these fundamental truths; this is why we must repeat that Jesus is the way, the only way to be saved.

• Hold fast to the Confession of our Faith, verse 23

The phrase ‘hold fast’ is a military command. When ordered, the soldiers know that they are to hold a position until death if necessary. There are countless stories of brave soldiers holding fast to an entry point to a base or fort and paying the ultimate price with their lives. The writers of Hebrews tell us to ‘hold fast’; don’t back up, don’t let the enemy through, and keep fighting until death if necessary.

There is this ‘inclusive’ push in many churches to make the Gospel more palatable to the masses. There is no talk of repentance and being sorry for our sins, no call to shame for the sin that caused Jesus’ death. No understanding that it was my sin and their sin that nailed Jesus to the cross. Just call on Jesus, and He will save you. The thief on the cross acknowledged his sin; he agreed that he deserved to be there on his cross being punished, then he called on Jesus to save him. Jesus immediately saved him, no questions asked. But the man repented at that moment and was sorry for his sin. Too many churches no longer call sin, sin. The drive to get seats in the pews is more important than the truth. More important than Jesus’ death.

Many no longer teach the truth, making the excuse that Jesus’ death was barbaric and cruel. Yes, it was; that was the point. God HATES sin, and He poured out His wrath on Jesus instead of on you and me. But the writer tells us to ‘hold fast,’ stand and speak the truth. Don’t shut up, don’t be quiet, and don’t water down the truth. Speak in love, BUT speak the truth about Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection; someone needs to hear it, and like the thief on the cross, they can call on Jesus and be saved.

• Make Assembly a Priority, verse 25

The word church comes from a Greek word meaning ‘an assembly out from within a city.’ Each church is a local body; thus, we have letters in the New Testament written to specific churches in specific locations. Jesus began the assembly long before the day of Pentecost when He called out several men to ‘follow Him.’ These men and some ladies ‘assembled’ in various locations, they were taught the truths of the scriptures, and then they went about teaching and preaching even before Jesus left to go home. Many people think that the church was born on the day of Pentecost, but Jesus breathed into them the Holy Spirit as they assembled in John 20: 21-22.

“Again, Jesus said to them, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so also I am sending you.’ 22 When He had said this, He breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”

You and I need to be assembled with men and women who know the truth, stand for the truth, speak the truth, and hold to Jesus as the only means of salvation. And the writer tells us that as we get closer and closer to the return of Jesus, this will become more and more important. We need to find Godly churches that put Jesus first and recognize Him as the Head, not the pastor. We need churches that make the Gospel and its purity a priority. We need churches that teach the whole Bible and still believe in its infallibility.

We need churches that understand that God is gracious; yes, He is, but He is also Holy. The same God that sent Jesus to save me killed the whole world in a flood, except for 8 people in the ark. The same God that passed over the blood-covered doors in the Israelite section of Egypt killed all of the firstborns of Egypt.

We need churches, assemblies that still stand for the Gospel, preach the pure Gospel, and where people who believe these truths can find like-minded people with whom to praise the Lord and celebrate His salvation, giving Him all the glory. I pray that you are a part of this kind of church, one that is eagerly warning people that Jesus is coming soon. Hold fast; our redemption is very, very near.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How to Connect with Us

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch
Online: https://mmbchurch.ca/
Email: seangooding@mmbchurch.ca; support@mmbchurch.ca

Chapter 10:11-18

¹¹ “And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. ¹² But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³ from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. ¹⁴ For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. ¹⁵ But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before ¹⁶ ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,’ ¹⁷ then He adds, ‘Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.’ ¹⁸ Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.”

Hebrews 10:8-10; “Previously saying, ‘Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them’ (which are offered according to the law), then He said, ‘Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.’ He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.'”

It has been a few weeks since last we were together. Sadly, one of my dear sisters here went home to be with the Lord. I say sad, but we know that the sadness is tempered by the realization that she is home; she is no longer in pain, and cancer can’t get her there. We miss her, but we are not sad for her; we rejoice for her. I pray that you know this kind of hope and that you live in this kind of hope — a hope that transcends the trials, pains, and losses of this life.

At times it may seem that we are repeating ourselves, but we are not. The writer of Hebrews wanted us to be sure beyond any doubt that Jesus was and is the only means of our salvation. Hebrews is the New Testament version of Daniel in a way. In the Old Testament, Daniel was written to the Gentiles primarily in a section of the Bible that was mainly to the Jews and the founding and expansion of Israel.

Daniel lived in a Gentile Kingdom (Babylon), and God told him of the things that would happen to the Gentiles for all eternity right into and past our time if the Lord tarries. Hebrews is written primarily to the Jews in a part of the Bible that is primarily about the Gentile church. This book dispels for the Jews any and all sentiments that may have them believe that salvation comes by keeping the Law.

It is astonishing that there are some sects that still hold to the Law as their means of salvation. They still think that if they keep the Law faithfully, it will be counted to them for righteousness before God. There are still many devout Jews who feel the same way; they see God, acknowledge God, and know the Law but deny and refuse Jesus. John tells us that anyone who denies Jesus does not have God.

1 John 2: 21-23; “I have not written to you because you lack knowledge of the truth, but because you have it, and because no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar, if it is not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well” (Berean Study Bible).

If you deny that Jesus is the Son of God according to John 5:18, which makes Him equal to God, then you do not have God the Father. These are sobering words to many sects and to many Jews; they are damning words. There will be many who know God but deny the Son, Jesus, and they will die in their sins and spend eternity in Hell. This is why the book of Hebrews was written to dispel any myths and doctrines about being able to be saved by keeping the Law. This passage we will explore is so clear that I do not need to do much explaining at all. I will try to be brief and do all I can to let the simple statements of the Scriptures jump off the page.

• The Rituals of the Laws can NEVER take away our sins, verse 11

This is one of the clearest statements in the Bible. In Romans 3:20 and Galatians 2:16, we are told that a man cannot be justified (declared righteous) by the works of the Law. We have three very clear verses that reinforce this doctrine. There are no persons who have ever walked the planet who are justified by keeping the Law. No one will ever come before the Throne of God and offer obedience to the Law as a reason for being justified and thus being saved from eternal doom. Jesus was never lost; He kept the Law not for himself but for us.

In Galatians 3:24 KJV, Paul tells us the purpose of the Law; please recall that this man was a Pharisee. He kept the Law from the time he was a very young man.

“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”

The Law, Paul says, was designed to show us we need Jesus to justify us. The Law was never designed to save us but to show us that we need to be saved. Keeping the Law never changes our nature. We are born sinners separated from God forever, but when we are ‘born again, John 3:3, then we have eternal life given to us by faith, and we are saved forever. The Old Testament and New Testament priests had to repeat the ritual of sacrifice over and over, again and again. There were no chairs in the Temple or the Tabernacle because their work was never finished; they never got to sit down while performing the duties of the high priests; their temporary atonements could not save anyone, not even the priests.

• Jesus Sat Down; the Job was Done, verse 12

“It is finished” – only Jesus could make that statement. His sacrifice was the one to end all others. His death was the one to end the sting of death, His resurrection was the one to take away the fear of the grave, and now He is simply waiting to come and get His bride. God is gradually making the enemies of Christ and His bride come to a place where Jesus can come back and deal with them. We, you and I, have the Holy Spirit in us, and God has fulfilled in us, the Gentile Church, the promise of verse 16.

“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds, I will write them” (NKJV).

The Holy Spirit living in us has put God’s law into our hearts and minds, and He is the down payment of our salvation, Ephesian 1:14-16, and we have this even greater promise from verse 17, God does not remember our sins any longer because we are in Jesus and the Holy Spirit in us, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

One day soon, this will also be true for Israel, and the promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be all fulfilled to their entirety. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How To Connect with Us

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch
Online: https://mmbchurch.ca/
Email: seangooding@mmbchurch.ca; support@mmbchurch.ca