(Hebrews) ch.10:19-39 — Zac Poonen

The Finished Work and the New Covenant

We turn now to Hebrews chapter 10, verse 19. In the previous eighteen verses He has been establishing the fact, which He says in verse eighteen, that where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Jesus has finished the work for our redemption, not only for our pardon, but also for our being freed from sin. You remember the first promise in the New Testament that we read in Matthew 121, where the Lord spoke to Joseph and said, Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.

That was the first promise, not just that He would forgive us, but that He would save us from our sins. And this has been accomplished through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no more any need for any offering for sin, He says in verse eighteen, like there was under the old covenant, where every day they were offering sacrifices for sin.

By one offering, Hebrews 10 .14, He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. And now we come to Hebrews 10, verses 19 to 25, which is really, in a sense, the chief and most important passage of the whole letter to the Hebrews.

We could call it the central message of the book of Hebrews, the central passage of the whole letter. Everything revolves around what is written in this passage. Everything leads up to this passage and flows on from this passage, and in this passage we are told of the great blessings that are ours under the new covenant, the great privileges that are ours under the new covenant, how we can approach God under the new covenant and worship Him and commune with Him, and also the responsibility which the new covenant brings upon us.

To whom much is given, much will be expected. Now we read here in Hebrews 10, verses 19, 20 and 21, the four great blessings that are ours in this new covenant age. These were things that were not true under the old covenant.

Entering the Most Holy Place

The first of these is, verse 19, we now have liberty, boldness, confidence to enter the most holy place. Now under the old covenant, people could enter the most holy place, only the high priest, once a year.

One man in the whole nation, once a year. But under the new covenant, every child of God has freedom to enter the most holy place, the immediate presence of God, every moment of his life. The most holy place has been opened up under the new covenant.

We can come to God and speak to Him as a child speaks to his father. Under the old covenant, nobody could speak to God like this. Sometimes we don't appreciate sufficiently the privilege that is ours in prayer, that we can come freely into the most holy place and draw near with confidence which privilege was not there under the old covenant.

If you went to people under the old covenant before Christ came to earth and you told a Jew that he could walk into the most holy place and commune with God, he would think that was the greatest privilege any mortal man could ever have.

That is our privilege under the new covenant, to go to God in prayer, to talk to Him and to hear Him speak to us. The holiest has been opened up. That is the finished work. It's got nothing to do with whether you feel good or don't feel good.

It's finished. Then secondly, it says here this phrase, by the blood of Jesus. It goes on to say in verses 19 and 20, how the holiest place has been opened up, by the blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus was shed on Calvary's cross for the sins of man.

And it is because the sins of man have been completely atoned for through the shed blood of Jesus that we can go into the most holy place. Under the old covenant, people could go into the most holy place.

The high priest could go there only with blood, which he put upon the mercy seat. Now the blood of Jesus, which is better than the blood of bulls and goats, as we read in Hebrews 10 and verse 4 about the blood of bulls and goats, but the blood of Jesus is far superior to that.

We now come freely into the most holy place because that blood has cleansed us thoroughly. All our sins have been blotted out, cleansed in the blood. God gives us a clean heart and we don't have to call it unclean anymore.

We have to rejoice in the fact that the blood of Jesus cleanses us continually. If we walk in the light, it doesn't cleanse everybody. It cleanses only those who walk in the light and who are honest and straightforward.

They can come into the most holy place freely. And then thirdly, we read about the new and living way, verse 20. A new and living way which Jesus has opened or inaugurated for us through the veil that is his flesh.

Jesus came to earth in our flesh. We read in Romans 8 .3 that for our redemption, God sent his son in the likeness of sinful flesh. And through his flesh, he made a way by which we can enter into the most holy place.

Here the picture is of the veil that hung between the holy place and the most holy place, that shut out the presence of God. And that veil, we are told in Hebrews 10 .20, is symbolic of the flesh which Jesus took on when he came to earth.

And that veil was rent from top to bottom. And that means, Romans 8 .3, sin was condemned in the flesh of Jesus. How did this take place? Jesus was tempted in all points like as we are. We are tempted, we are told in James 1 and verses 14 and 15.

We are tempted through the desires in our flesh. When we give in to those desires, sin is conceived. But Jesus never gave in to those desires. So he never sinned. And the result was that veil of the flesh was rent.

Sin was judged in the flesh. It was condemned in the flesh. It was overcome in the flesh of Jesus. Every sin that we can commit, every temptation that can come to us, Jesus was tempted with. But he never sinned once.

And thus he opened a new and living way. The old way was a way of death which we walked in. But he opened a way of life, freedom from sin's power. Thus we enter the most holy place. The veil is torn. The power of the flesh is gone.

Sin can no longer have dominion over us. And fourthly, we read, verse 21, we have a high priest over the house of God. When we enter into the most holy place, what do we find there? Jesus is our high priest interceding for us, praying for us.

And because of these four established tracts, the holiest opened up, the blood of Jesus shed, the new and living way through the flesh of Jesus inaugurated, and he's standing there as our high priest.

We can enjoy the privileges of worship under the new covenant. We were looking at Hebrews 10, verses 19 to 25, which we said was the central passage of the whole letter to Hebrews. And we saw last week, in verses 19 to 21, some of the great privileges that are ours under this new covenant.

The most holy place, the immediate presence of God, is open to us. And how is this being made possible? By the shed blood of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. By a new and living way that he has made through his flesh, having condemned sin in his flesh, made a way for us to follow him into the most holy place.

And when we enter the most holy place, we find that Jesus himself is there as our high priest interceding for us. These are the facts that we looked at last week. Now let's look today at verses 22, primarily.

Drawing Near With a True Heart

It goes on in the remaining verses to tell us about the duties that we are called to. But first of all, we are told to 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.

And then he goes on in verse 23, 24 and 25 to say, let us hold fast the profession of our faith, of our hope. Let us consider one another to love, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. Here we read in verse 22.

Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our body washed with pure water. Now, in this verse, there is reference to our heart, that is the inner man, and to our body, which is the outer man.

And as we come near to God into the most holy place, we are to remember that God is interested in our heart and in our body. Notice, for example, in James chapter 4, verse 8, where we find almost similar words.

Draw near to God, that is, into the most holy place, and He will draw near to you. And how are we to draw near to God? Cleanse your hands, you sinners, that is, your body, free from sin, and purify your heart, you double-minded.

To be double-minded is to be unbelieving, hesitant in believing God. Purify your hearts. And there we find in verse 8, the body and the heart. Who shall ascend into the holy hill of the Lord? He who has clean hands and a pure heart.

Both are necessary. In other words, our internal life, which no one but God can see, and our external life, which others can see. So both are necessary. We read in Psalm 15, verses 1 and 2, working righteousness externally and speaking truth in the heart.

And that is why we are told in Hebrews 10 .22, Let us draw near with a true heart. What type of a heart must we have? A heart which is true and sincere, free from hypocrisy, free from a double attitude.

A sincere heart. God appreciates sincerity. There may be many things we are ignorant of. God will overlook them. But He can never overlook insincerity. We may not know the Scriptures. We can be excused for that.

We may not know the promises of God. We can be excused for that. But never for insincerity. Jesus hit out against hypocrisy more than anything else. How do we draw near to God under the new covenant? Let us draw near with a sincere heart.

And with a heart which is full of faith. Notice, it is a heart that is to be full of faith. Not our heads. Many Christians have a lot of faith in their heads. But no faith in their heart. And therefore they are not saved.

Salvation comes through faith in the heart. And there is a world of difference between faith in the head and faith in the heart. It can make the difference between hell and heaven to a person. We read in Romans 10, verse 9, if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, there again the body, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead.

Verse 10, with the heart man believes. The heart and the body are linked together. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. And faith, we are told in Romans 10, 10, is something that is in man's heart.

Not in his head. The devil has got faith in his head. And many Christians have got faith in their head. In other words, they read the Bible, they believe it. But it doesn't make any difference in their life because that faith has not entered into their heart.

It has not become a living thing. It has not saved their soul. When a man has faith in his heart, he commits his whole life to that which he believes. That is the evidence of faith in the heart. That is what it means to be wholehearted.

The whole heart trusting completely and therefore committing oneself completely to that which one believes. Paul says to the Roman Christians in Romans chapter 6 and verse 17, Thanks be to God that you who are the servants of sin have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you and you were freed from sin.

Many are not freed from sin because they haven't obeyed from the heart. So faith is to be in the heart. Which brings the committal of our life. And it is said here, we are to come here with the fullness of faith.

Full assurance of faith. Further, our hearts are to be sprinkled from an evil conscience. We are to have a clean conscience. And the conscience is a part of our heart. Part of the spirit in man. That is to be clean.

The only way to be clean is by confessing and forsaking our sin. If we walk in the light as he is in the light, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. Then we have a clean conscience. Then we can draw near to God the clean conscience.

Because hearts have been sprinkled clean through the blood of Jesus Christ. If we walk in the light as he is in the light, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us. Then we can come with a clean conscience.

Because we have received God's mercy and the blood of Christ has cleansed us. So we are told, we are to draw near with a sincere heart. A heart full of faith. And a heart sprinkled clean from an evil conscience.

Three things about the heart. And then one thing about the body. Our body washed with pure water. The symbolism here is of water. Symbolizing the life of the spirit. And coming through the word of God.

Jesus cleanses the church, we are told in Ephesians 5, through the washing of water with the word of God. And that is the washing of the life that comes to us through the Holy Spirit with the word of God.

Ephesians 5 .26. And our external life is to be cleansed by the life that comes to us through the word of God. Our bodies must be in subjection to the Holy Spirit. Not in subjection to our own animal passions.

That is what it means to have our bodies washed with pure water. Our hearts sincere, full of faith and cleansed from an evil conscience. And our body under the guidance and the cleansing of the water of life through the word of God.

Our body washed with pure water. It is thus that we enter into the most holy place and enjoy the privileges of the new covenant. We turn now to Hebrews chapter 10 verses 22 to 25. We were looking at verses 19 to 25 as the central passage of this letter.

And we have seen how the most holy place has been opened up. The blood of Jesus has been shed. The new and living way has been inaugurated. And our great high priest stands at the right hand of the father.

We also saw in verse 22 how we are to draw near with a sincere heart, a heart full of faith, a heart sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, and our body washed with the water of life through the word of God.

Four Responsibilities in the New Covenant

Now we would like to look at verses 22 to 25 where we have four exhortations given us concerning what we are to do now that we have entered into the most holy place. The privilege is first shown us in verses 19 to 21.

The way by which we are to enter is shown us in verse 22. And what we are to do once we enter is told us in verses 22 to 25. These are our responsibilities once we enter into the new covenant. First of all, verse 22, let us draw near in faith.

In other words, we are not to neglect this privilege. We are not to say, well, praise the Lord, the most holy place has been opened up. Praise the Lord, the blood of Jesus has been shed. Praise the Lord, the new and living way has been inaugurated.

Praise the Lord, we have a high priest in the most holy place. That's not enough. We are to take advantage of this privilege. We are to avail ourselves of this great honor that God has given us. We are to avail ourselves of this great privilege that is ours that Jesus has purchased for us at such tremendous cost.

What would you think if someone paid 15 ,000 rupees and got a very expensive air ticket for you to travel from one place to another and you just despised that privilege and tore up that ticket or thought lightly of it?

What would your friend think if you treated that which he purchased for you at such great cost? And what do you think Jesus thinks when he has opened the new and living way to enter the most holy place at such tremendous cost by shedding his blood, by walking faithfully through 33 and a half years and inaugurating the new and living way through his flesh?

And if we don't avail of it, if we don't come into the most holy place and live there, we don't avail of this opportunity to enter into the new covenant, oh, then it is a terrible crime. It's a great disappointment to God that that which he has purchased at such tremendous cost for us is ignored and neglected by us if we do not draw near.

And so the first exhortation is the most appropriate one. Let us draw near. Let us enter into the most holy place and avail ourselves of this privilege that has been purchased for us. And then we are told in verse 23, a second exhortation, let us hold fast the confession of our hope.

The word there should be hope as it is in the Revised Standard Version and other versions. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful. What is the hope of the New Testament Christian?

We are told in 1 John, chapter 3, verse 2 and 3 that we know that if Jesus should appear, we shall be like him because we shall see him just as he is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on him purifies himself just as he is pure.

So the hope of the Christian is that when we see Jesus face to face, we shall be like him. It is not merely the fact that Jesus is coming again. Many people think that the hope of the Christian is merely that Jesus will come again and that he will take us out of this world of sin and sorrow and make us walk the streets of gold in the New Jerusalem.

But there is something greater than merely the fact that Jesus will save us from the sorrow of this world, that we shall be like him. This is the greatest thing that the New Testament Christian looks forward to.

His greatest passion is not to walk the streets of gold in heaven, nor to enter through the pearly gates, nor to enjoy life, but his greatest longing is to be like Jesus. That is what the spiritually minded Christian is looking forward to, not streets of gold and gates of pearl, but likeness to Jesus Christ.

That is the hope, that when he shall come, we shall be like him. And everyone who has this hope purifies himself just as Jesus is pure. And so it says, let us hold fast the confession of this hope, Hebrews 10 .23, that we shall be like him, because he who promised is faithful.

How do we hold fast to this hope? By purifying ourselves as he is pure. If we really have this hope in us, we shall make every effort to purify ourselves as Jesus is pure. That is what it means to hold fast the confession of this hope, without wavering, because he who promised is faithful.

By his grace, we shall be transformed and conformed increasingly to the likeness of Christ by the Holy Spirit as we walk the new and living way that Jesus has inaugurated. Further, in verse 24, we are told, let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good works.

These three exhortations, verse 22, 23 and 24, deal with faith, hope and love. We are told in 1 Corinthians 13, verse 13, now abides faith, hope and love. And here in verses 22, 23 and 24, we read of faith, hope and love.

Let us draw near with a heart full of faith. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope. The confession is, we shall be like Jesus when he comes. And we hold fast to that and walk the new and living way and become more and more like him.

He who promised is faithful. Verse 24. Let us consider one another how to stimulate one another to love. Let us provoke one another not to anger, like the people of the world do, but to love. In other words, we are to think, how can I make my brother grow in love for the church, for his fellow believers?

How can I stir up love in his heart? How can I encourage him to do good works? This is what I am to consider all the time. Let us consider. Let us think. Let's use our mind and our imagination to see how we can help one another to love more.

We are never to provoke one another to wrath and anger and bitterness, but always seek to see how I can stir up love in my brother's heart for his fellow believers and how I can encourage him to do good works.

Then we come to the fourth exhortation, which leads on from loving one another. Let us not forsake our assembling together. Let us assemble together frequently as we see the day drawing near. Why do we assemble together?

To exhort one another, verse 25, and to encourage one another. And so this too is an exhortation, the privilege of those who enter into the most holy place, that they must meet together frequently. There is no place for those who enter into the new covenant to live on their own.

They must meet together frequently. Not once in a while, but frequently as the coming of the Lord draws near. Do you believe the coming of the Lord is drawing near? Then it is your responsibility to meet together more frequently with your fellow believers with the purpose of encouraging one another.

You need to encourage them. They need to encourage you. And to exhort one another. You need to exhort them and challenge them. And they need to exhort and challenge you. Many people were neglecting this in the first century and are neglecting it today.

But those who enter into the new covenant exhort one another daily so that their hearts can be kept from the deceitfulness of sin. Let us assemble together frequently. We have been looking at Hebrews, chapter 10, verses 19 to 25 these past three weeks.

And this passage, as I have said, is the central passage of the whole letter to the Hebrews. Everything leads up to this and everything flows on from this. And here is the central passage pointing out the distinctive privileges that are ours under the new covenant, how we can enter into those privileges and what are the responsibilities that are ours once we enter into these privileges.

So this passage really deals with three things. And we can look over what we have covered in the last three weeks and review this passage. First of all, the privileges and blessings that are ours under the new covenant.

We saw that in verses 19 to 21. And I mentioned four things. First of all, we have confidence to enter the most holy place. There is no hesitation now. There is no need to draw back. We can come with boldness, with confidence.

We have liberty, freedom to enter the most holy place. That which was shut off from people under the old covenant is ours today freely. And secondly, this entrance into the most holy place is through or by the blood of Jesus.

It's got nothing to do with us primarily. It's got primarily to do with what Jesus has done for us. And in verses 19 to 21, there's no reference to us. It's got nothing to do with our feeling or with what we believe or don't believe.

Everything that's mentioned in verses 19 to 21, all four things, are the result of Jesus' work. We must remember that, that it's got nothing to do with our feeling. The most holy place has been opened up whether we feel like it or not.

Jesus has done that work. He said it is finished on the cross, and it was finished. The blood of Jesus has already been shed. Whether you believe it or not, whether you feel like it or not, that blood has been shed on the cross of Calvary.

And that is a sufficient price for the atonement of the sins of any man. Thirdly, the new and living way has been inaugurated through His flesh. Through the flesh of Jesus, He made a way by which sin has been overcome.

Jesus taking our flesh overcame sin and made a way for us who in our flesh can overcome sin. This is the significance of the new and living way being inaugurated through the flesh of Jesus. And that is symbolized by the veil in the temple which separated the most holy place from the holy place, being rent.

The whole meaning of that is explained for us only here in Hebrews 10 .20. There is no other passage in Scripture which points out that that renting of the veil was the overcoming of sin in the flesh, the condemning of sin in the flesh, as Jesus inaugurated this new and living way by a sinless life in our flesh.

That also has been accomplished. What the law could not do, God did, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. And for sin, as an offering for sin, He condemned or overcame sin in the flesh so that, Romans 8 .4, the righteousness of the law, the will of God, might be fulfilled in us who do not walk any more after the flesh, but according to the Spirit by the new and living way.

And fourthly, the fourth blessing is that in the most holy place we have a great High Priest interceding for us. He is the High Priest over the whole house of God, and He intercedes for us. So there we have the four distinctive blessings of the new covenant.

The Holiest opened up, the blood of Jesus shed, the new and living way inaugurated, the High Priest standing interceding for us, all of which have got nothing to do with our faith or our feelings. Those are facts that are true, and we have to look away from ourselves at those facts, at those things which are eternally true.

But that doesn't mean we don't have any part. In verse 22 we read the second part of this passage, of this central passage, and in the second part we are told how we can enter in. In verse 19 -21 we are told of what Jesus has done for us.

In verse 22 we are told of what we have to do to enter in, how we can enter in, how we can draw near. We are told three things concerning the heart, one thing concerning the body. Again, four things. First of all, we have to draw near with a true heart, a sincere heart, free from all hypocrisy.

Walking in the light means free from all deception and hypocrisy. Secondly, we are to draw near with a heart full of faith. Free from hypocrisy, first of all. Secondly, full of faith, without any doubt.

The Bible says that a heart of unbelief is an evil heart. Hebrews 3, verse 12. Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart in falling away from the living God. He's not talking about an evil, unbelieving mind.

No. Unbelief is in the heart just like faith is in the heart. We can have faith in the mind and yet unbelief in the heart. And that's terrible. Many Christians are like that. They've got faith in their minds, but it doesn't change their life because they've got unbelief in their hearts.

Their life is not committed. Their heart is not totally committed to what God has promised. So we are to come with a true heart and with a heart full of faith. And, thirdly, a heart sprinkled clean from an evil conscience.

We are told in Hebrews 9, verse 14, that our conscience is purged through the blood of Christ. And so through the blood we are cleansed, and only we can draw near. All sin cleansed. A clean conscience.

And then, fourthly, Hebrews 10, verse 22, our body washed with pure water. We saw that that water refers to the life of the Holy Spirit that comes to us through the word of God. Ephesians 5, verse 26.

Jesus cleansing us by the washing of water. And water is a symbol of the Holy Spirit giving us life. Living water. Rivers of living water. Washing of water by the word, through the word of God, that life comes to us.

And our bodies must be brought in subjection to the teaching of the word of God through the Holy Spirit and cleansed by that life. Walking according to the standard laid down in the word of God. Our bodies submitted to God's word.

And then we have, in verses 22 to 25, the four responsibilities that are ours when we enter the new covenant. What are these four responsibilities? First, let us draw near. Let us not hold back. Let us not despise this privilege.

Secondly, let us hold fast to the confession of our hope. The reason why God brings us into the most holy place is that He might conform us increasingly to the likeness of Christ by the Holy Spirit. Our hope is that when Jesus comes again in glory, we shall be like Him.

Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope. Not having confidence in ourselves. No, we have no confidence in our flesh. But as it says in verse 23, he who promised is faithful. He will complete the work which he has begun in us by the Holy Spirit.

Thirdly, let us consider one another, how to stimulate one another to love. Faith, verse 22. Hope, verse 23. Love, verse 24. Let us consider, let us think, how we can provoke others to love others more.

How we can encourage others to do good works as a result of their faith. This is what we should be thinking of all the time. How we can encourage others to love more and to do good deeds more. And fourthly, let us assemble together as often as we are able.

In fact, it says here, even more as we see the coming of the Lord drawing near, encouraging one another and exhorting one another, challenging one another, seeking for the gifts of the Spirit that we might prophesy and exhort and encourage and comfort one another when we come together so that we might build one another up and thus build up the body of Christ through love all the more as we see the day drawing near.

And so we have seen the four great blessings and privileges, verses 19 to 21, the four requirements to enter, verse 22, and the four responsibilities that are ours in the New Covenant. Let us enjoy and fulfill our responsibilities under the New Covenant.

Willful Sin and the Severity of God

We turn to Hebrews, chapter 10, and verse 26. We have been looking at the privileges that are ours under the New Covenant, and we saw that we have the most holy place opened up to us by the blood of Jesus, by new and living way which Jesus has inaugurated for us through the veil that is His flesh that we read in verse 20.

And He Himself stands there as the great high priest over the house of God. Therefore, we are called to draw near with a sincere heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, our body washed with pure water.

And then we are told in verse 23 to 25 we are to draw near in faith, confess our hope, hold fast to that confession, consider one another in love, and not forsake the assembling of ourselves together.

These are our responsibilities. Now, we already saw when we studied chapter 8 that the New Covenant was as much superior to the Old Covenant as the blood of Jesus and the body of Jesus is superior to the blood of bulls and goats.

Therefore, because our privileges are greater, our responsibility also is greater. The way we respond to the New Covenant can bring greater blessing than the way people responded to the Old Covenant if they responded in a similar way.

At the same time, whenever privilege increases, the possibility of judgment, if we disobey, also increases. In other words, if we reject the New Covenant, that's a far more serious thing than rejecting the Old Covenant.

And this is one of the things that he begins to speak of here in chapter 10, verse 26 following, and he comes to deal with that later on in chapter 12 as well. And so it says in verse 26, if we sin willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there remains no longer any sacrifice for sin.

But instead of sacrifice, there remains a certain terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversary. Now the reason is because under the Old Covenant, verse 28, anyone who set aside the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.