Let’s take our Bibles together and turn to the Book of Hebrews. We are continuing our series today, “Christ Supreme in All Things.” And today, as we come to a hinge point in the book of Hebrews, we’re going to deal with the topic of “confidence.” 

Of course, self-confidence is all the rage right now. Self-esteem is what everyone wants and needs. Right? Everybody’s trying to build up their own self-confidence. Everybody’s trying to build up their self-esteem. And it’s a tough day to be a pastor. Because to be quite frank, my job on Sunday morning is to help you have less confidence in yourself. 

Most of you know that I grew up in the sports world. And I’ve been exposed to a lot of coaching. And this is a little unfair, but I would say that a lot of coaches are like pop-psychologists. As a coach, you’ve got to pump up your players and get them to believe something unbelievable about themselves. And give them confidence. Coaches are like respectable “con men” trying to motivate their players. And sometimes it works… temporarily. 

Well my job as the “coach” of VBVF is actually to destabilize your self-confidence. I’m called to poke holes in your confident ability to save yourself or perfect yourself or be a good person on your own. I’m called to point out your inherent sinfulness, and how you can’t do anything about that yourself. Lucky me!

But don’t feel too bad for me. Because I also get the wonderful privilege as a preacher of God’s word to build up your confidence… in Christ! And, by the way, that’s a more lasting and meaningful confidence. Forget self-confidence. You don’t want confidence in self, because you will let your “self” down. You will fail yourself. 

Christ Jesus, on the other hand, will never fail you. In fact, let me say that more strongly—Christ Jesus is “un-failable.” I don’t know if that’s a real word, but if it isn’t, it should be. So put your faith in Christ, church. Put your confidence in him. 

The message today is entitled “Confident in Christ.” And I want to give you four statements on why you can be confident in Christ. Here’s the first. 

Your confidence in Christ is…

1) Based upon the curtain (10:19-20)

The author of Hebrews says in verse 19,

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence

Turn to your neighbor right now and say, “we have confidence…” “Confidence in what, Pastor Tony?” “Confidence that the San Antonio Spurs will make the Playoffs?” No! That’s not confidence. That’s delusion. 

So what do we have confidence in?

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 

By the way, the word “confidence” is this Greek word παρρησία. It’s a word that can be translated “boldness” or “courage,” but never “arrogance” or “hubris.”

I remember preaching through the book of Acts a few years ago and marveling at the number of times that word παρρησία showed up in that book. And usually it had to do with the preaching of the gospel. Peter and the other disciples had boldness, boldness, boldness, when telling people about Jesus. They got thrown into jail for their boldness, but they just kept on preaching! 

But this boldness, this confidence, in Hebrews 10 isn’t about preaching the gospel. It’s about entering the holy places. And this sentence is built on a present tense verb indicating a present tense reality. We have confidence to enter these holy places right now! What in that world does that mean? 

It means this. It means, that we, as Christians (as “brothers”) already have a spot in God’s eternal abode secured for us. We already have entrance into God’s presence. Jesus, our forerunner, established that for us (Heb 6:19-20). And it also means that we can bring our requests and our petitions right into the throne room of God. Warren Wiersbe said it this way: “The Old Covenant high priest visited the holy of holies once a year, but we are invited to dwell in the presence of God every moment of each day.”

We have access to God the Father through God the Son because we are born again and indwelt by God the Spirit. Hebrews 4:16, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

How? How is this possible? Because we are so smart and powerful and awesome and we found a way? NO! It’s by the “blood of Jesus.” Your confidence is in Christ. Your boldness in entering into the holy places and talking with God the Father is made possible because the blood of Jesus has cleansed you from all unrighteousness. Martin Luther called Jesus our “ferryman” who ferries us from our sinful state into the presence of God. With Christ you have everything. Without Christ you’ve got nothing. Everything hinges on him. 

A few months ago I was in Chicago at Moody Bible Institute recording some videos for a class that I’m teaching there. And while I was there I wanted to visit some friends of mine who are part of the faculty there. And I had to pass several security checkpoints to get into their offices. And I don’t have the credentials to do that. I’m just a lowly adjunct professor. So I had to sneak my way in, and I got blocked a few times. And if I wanted to go visit the President of Moody Bible Institute, Mark Jobe, forget about it. That’s not going to happen. I’d have to set up an appointment, and maybe then I’d be able to see him. 

But listen, church. You don’t have to make an appointment with God the Father. And you don’t have to sneak in to see him. In fact there is no sneaking in to see him. You have direct access to communication with him all the time. You can communicate with him any time you want via the blood of Jesus. You have confidence, you have boldness even, in Christ Jesus!   

Look at verse 20. 

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way 

The old way involved the blood of dead animals and an old covenant. Those animals aren’t alive anymore. They didn’t rise from the dead. The new way is through the blood of Jesus, who truly died just like those animals, but rose from the dead and sits at the right hand of God the Father. 

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

Now the author of Hebrews has said this before. But he hasn’t said it quite like this. One of the great things about this book is the way the author keeps reviewing and repeating material as he’s building his argument. But when he repeats something, he often repeats it with a different twist. And that’s the case here as he poetically and creatively talks about how Jesus has opened up a way to God through the curtain, that is Christ’s flesh. That is quite a statement!

Remember the tabernacle? The high priest goes into the Holy Place, and he does his thing. Then he passes through the curtain, the veil, into the Holy of Holies. And that’s where he offers up the blood of the once a year sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. 

Now, this is fascinating. The author of Hebrews is saying, “Jesus doesn’t do that. Jesus didn’t go through that curtain to get to God.” And that’s true. Jesus wasn’t a Levite. He never offered up the Day of Atonement sacrifice in the presence of God. Jesus, instead, went a different way. He went through the tabernacle of his flesh. His body was broken so that we might be saved. And coincidently when Jesus died on that cross, the veil of the temple was torn anyways signifying that Jesus had broken a barrier between us and God.

And now, he is offering us a way to come to God the Father—not through the curtain of the tabernacle—forget that! You can’t go in there, and neither can I. We’re not Levites. We’re not priests. We’re not even Jews, most of us! We can’t get to God that way. We get to God through the shed blood of his Son. We get to God through the curtain that is his flesh. What an amazing metaphor of Christ’s sacrificial death on our behalf! And it’s because of Christ’s shed blood and torn flesh on those two chunks of wood twenty centuries ago, that we can, with confidence, approach God’s throne.

“That’s amazing, Pastor Tony.” Yes it is. It gets better. Write this down as #2. 

Your confidence in Christ is…

2) Supported by your conscience (10:21-22)

You might notice at the end of verse 20, that there’s a comma not a period. That’s correct as far as the Greek goes. Hebrews 10:19-22 is one big, beautiful, and complex, sentence. The author of Hebrews likes big, beautiful, and complex sentences. 

And if you are wondering what’s the main verb for this sentence, it’s the statement in verse 22—“Let us draw near.” All of the sentence hinges on what he says in verse 22. “Let us draw near” is actually one word in Greek. It’s the verb προσέρχομαι. And it’s a verb in the subjunctive mood in Greek, which is the mood that is used to express possibility. 

The author of Hebrews is trying to persuade his readers to do something. What is he trying to persuade them to do? Draw near to God. Why? Because we need him. Why are we able to draw near to God? Because Jesus Christ has made a way for us through his blood (i.e. the curtain of his flesh). 

Look at verse 21 with me. Let’s pick up this sentence where we left off. 

21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 

What great priest? Jesus. He’s over the house of God? Yes, he’s over the house of God. Hebrews 3:6 says, “But Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.”

Since we have this great priest, Jesus, look at verse 22.

22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, 

We don’t have to be afraid. We don’t have to be terrified. If we didn’t have faith, we should be terrified! And we don’t have to fake confidence. We’re not con men trying to convince God that we’re good, even though we aren’t. We know we’re not good people! We know that we are sinners who deserve God’s wrath and not his mercy. But we also know that we are in Christ Jesus. And in Christ Jesus we have confidence. So now we have a true heart, a sincere heart that is full of the full assurance of faith. 

with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience 

That’s OT language right there. The OT priest would sprinkle the altars with blood as part of the atonement rites. But we don’t sprinkle an altar with the blood of animals. Instead Jesus Christ has metaphorically sprinkled our hearts with his own blood. So now we have a clean conscience. 

and our bodies washed with pure water. 

Our hearts metaphorically are sprinkled with blood, just like the ceremonies of the OT foreshadow. But also our bodies have been metaphorically washed with pure water, just like the ceremonies of the OT foreshadow. In fact there were several ritual cleansings in the OT that were part of the Israelite community. Some of those involved the priests. Some of those involved the people. But we don’t have those ceremonies in the NT era. Why? Because when we got saved Christ symbolically sprinkled our evil hearts and made them clean. And Christ washed our bodies with pure water. Paul alludes to this in Titus 3:5 when he says, “[God] saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.”

Now some of you might ask, is this washing with pure water a reference to water baptism? Good question. When we baptize here at Verse By Verse Fellowship, we baptize with the pure water of the Edwards Aquifer here in San Antonio. I was raised on that water. It’s good stuff. But that is not what the author of Hebrews is talking about directly here. The author of Hebrews is alluding to the metaphorical washing of our bodies when we get saved. We symbolize that work with baptism. But there may be a secondary allusion to water baptism here.

Al Mohler says it this way, “The washing with ‘pure water’ also points back to the Old Testament, where washings of the body were required for cleanliness. These washings were unable to truly cleanse the people, though. A washing that truly purifies seems to be the type the author of Hebrews has in mind here. This pure water washes us completely clean from sin. It is a comprehensive cleansing that purifies us internally, not just externally. The language of washing also suggests a beautiful image pointing to baptism as a picture of salvation. In baptism we are graphically buried with Christ and beautifully raised with him in newness of life. It is the external symbol of the internal work accomplished by Christ.”

The cleansing of our conscience and the purifying of our hearts is symbolized in water baptism. Your salvation isn’t the result of works—the work of baptism or any other work. Christ did the work. Christ is the author of our salvation. And our confidence, as believers, is a confidence in Christ.    

Write this down as #3. Your confidence in Christ is based upon the curtain. It’s supported by your conscience. It’s also…

3) Expressed by your confession (10:23)

Verse 23 says, 

23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 

Here’s another “Let us” statement. Here’s another subjunctive mood verb in Greek. Remember earlier it was “Let us draw near.” Now it’s “Let us hold fast.” There’s another one in the next verse: “Let us consider.” But let us stay on verse 23 for a moment. 

23 Let us hold fast the confession

What’s “the confession?” 

23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope

What’s “our hope?”

23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 

Who’s the “he who promised”? That’s an easy one. It’s Jesus who promised us eternal life with him. And he is indeed faithful. So let’s work backward from there. 

If Jesus is the one who promised, and if he is faithful, then what is our confession and what is our hope? Well our confession is that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead. If we confess that confession, then we are saved according to Paul. Paul said, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Rom 10:9-10).

But this is more than just that. This is “the confession of our hope.” What is “the confession of our hope?” Well it’s the confessing that Jesus died for us and that he will indeed return and save us for eternity. This is the great hope of God’s people. This is the great hope of the Jewish Christians that the author of Hebrews was writing to. And they needed to cling to that hope because they were getting persecuted and pommeled and humiliated for their faith in Christ. This is what they needed to cling to when they were being tempted to go back to a pre-Christ Judaism. The author of Hebrews is saying, like he’s said a few times already, “Don’t you quit on your confession. Don’t you sour on your hope.” “Hopelessness is the province of the unconverted. Hopelessness has no place in the Christian life. You hold fast to the confession of your hope.”

In our day, I would say it this way to twenty-first century Christians. Don’t you listen to those ridiculous people who de-converted from Christianity. Don’t you listen to their lies. Don’t you listen to those scoffers and those mockers and those enemies of Christ Jesus. You hold fast to your confession. You hold fast to your hope. You stay confident in Christ Jesus! Where are you going to go if you abandon Christ? What hope do you have apart from him. Hopelessness is the province of the unconverted. 

Speaking of hopelessness! The famous twentieth century atheist and author Bertrand Russell wrote, “The labours of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius, are destined to extinction in the vast death of the solar system… [and] the whole temple of Man’s achievement must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a universe in ruins… only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair can the soul’s habitation henceforth be safely built.” 

That’s the province of the unconverted—“the firm foundation of unyielding despair.” Sounds dreamy! That’s the province of the unconverted. That’s the province of the de-converted. I don’t believe that those who de-converted were converted in the first place, so they share the same hopelessness. 

Richard Dawkins, the modern day prophet for atheism, wrote similarly: “The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.” 

Compare that with Hebrews. 

23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 

What’s our hope? What’s our confession? What’s our confidence? Jesus loves us. Jesus died for us. Jesus is coming back for us. We’re going to hold fast to that because he who promised us is faithful.

Finally. Write this down as #4. 

Your confidence in Christ is…

4) Displayed by your conduct (10:24-25)

Look at verse 24. The author of Hebrews is going to get really practical with us now… uncomfortably practical. He says, 

24 And let us consider 

This is the third “let us” statement. First it was “let us draw near” (10:22). Then it was, “let us hold fast” (10:23). And now it’s “let us consider” (10:24). Consider what?

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 

That word “one another” is the Greek word ἀλλήλων, which is code in the NT for “fellow believers.” Let us consider how to stir up fellow believers to love and good works. 

And by the way, the word for “stir up” is the Greek παροξυσμός, which could be translated “provoke” or even “agitate.” We get our English word paroxysm from this word. The same word is used in Acts 15:29 to describe the “sharp disagreement” that Paul and Barnabas had amongst each other concerning John-Mark. So the author is saying here, “Let us provoke or agitate amongst one another for love and good works.” This is a really strong exhortation. We’re not just suggesting love and good works. We’re not just encouraging love and good works. We are provoking one another that direction.

“What’s that look like, Pastor Tony?” It looks like this. We’re asking one another as believers, “How have you grown in Christ Jesus?” “How has your love for believers and the church grown?” 

It looks like this. When we see people in the church who are unloving towards others, we confront them. We restore them. Watch yourself in that, though. Paul says restore gently lest you yourself be tempted (Gal 6:1).

It looks like this. When we see people in the church who are idle or unfruitful or lacking in good works, we say, “Brother, the Bible says be doers of God’s Word not just hearers.” We say, “Sister, the Bible says faith without works is dead.” We say things like this, “Listen, you say you have faith. But you need to demonstrate your faith with action. You talk a big game, but you’ve got no fruit!”

“How else can we provoke one another to love and good works, Pastor Tony.” Well, you can do this. You can tell people to “get to church.” Look at verse 25.

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 

25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, 

O boy! This is red meat for the pastor, right here! This is where I tell the congregation on no uncertain terms, “Get to church! Get to church! Get to church!” But before I do that. I’ll have my “Get to church!” moment in a second. But first, let’s try to understand the context of what was taking place at the time that the author of Hebrews wrote this. 

The reason they probably were neglecting to meet together is because they were scared. The reason they were probably in the habit of “not gathering” with other believers is because they were being persecuted. And gathering could lead to alienation, prison, or even worse. You see, cancel culture isn’t a new thing. These Jewish Christians were getting canceled by their families. They were getting canceled by their communities. They were being ostracized and minimized and alienated and intimidated. I’d be tempted to miss church in a setting like that too. And the author of Hebrews is telling them, “Provoke one another to get to church.” Not in order to get saved or in order to stay saved… but because you are saved… and you need it. 

Now in our day, we don’t miss church because of persecution, typically. We miss church because of little league baseball practice. We miss church because we stayed up too late Saturday night binge-watching episodes of our favorite TV show. We miss church because we put in 100 hours a week at the office and facilitating our hobbies, and we don’t have enough time, space, or energy for the Lord on Sunday. And we think we can replace church by listening to podcasted sermons. Look I praise God for podcasted sermons. I’ve got my own podcasts. But that’s not church. That’s not the gathering of the saints. 

“Are there times to miss church, Pastor Tony? When our kids are sick or when we are on vacation?” Yes, absolutely. We’re not keeping roll here at church. Going to church is a privilege and an expectation of God’s people from God’s Word. It’s a means of grace. It’s not a legalistic work that helps you retain your salvation. 

But not being able to meet with your fellow believers in worship shouldn’t be the norm, it should be the exception. It should be an anomaly, not a consistency. The truth is we need each other. We need this time of worship to steady our hearts and help us prioritize what’s most important. And we need the fellowship of believers that takes place on Sunday. 

By the way, the early church met on the first day of the week, and they met weekly (cf. Acts 20:7). So, “get to church, church!” “Church isn’t a building, Pastor Tony. We are the church.” Yes, I know. So, “get to the gathering of the church.” Or to use the words of Hebrews, “Don’t neglect to meet together, as is the habit of some.”

But instead, look at the end of verse 25. By the way, getting to church isn’t just about sitting in a pew. It’s not just coming and going and checking a box. It’s about mutuality of soul. And it’s about encouraging one another. 

but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

 What “Day”? What’s that talking about? Easter? No. The Day that the temple was destroyed in Jerusalem (70 AD)? No. This is a reference to the Day of Christ’s return. That Day has been anticipated for 2,000 years. And he’s coming. He’s coming back. Encourage one another with that fact. Encourage one another as you anticipate Christ’s return. 

You know one of the things about our confidence in Christ is that it can grow. It’s not a static thing; it can be enhanced. It can be enlarged. Our confidence grows when we read God’s Word. Our confidence grows when we gather for worship. Our confidence grows when we spend time with believers provoking one another to love and good works. That grows our confidence in Christ. In fact our confidence in Christ grows when we sin and fall short and realize how desperately we need Jesus. Even when we mess up, that’s a learning opportunity. That’s a teachable moment. 

Also our confidence in Christ grows as we age and grow weaker. Paul says when we are weak, we are strong (2 Cor 12:9-11). And that’s because we are less prone in weakness to depend on self. In our weakness we put our confidence in Christ. And that’s a good thing.  

I’ll close with this. Several years ago Keith Getty wrote a song with several other musicians entitled “Christ Our Hope in Life and Death.” It’s a song about our hope. It’s a song about our confidence. And it goes like this.

What is our hope in life and death?  

Christ alone, Christ alone.  

What is our only confidence?  

That our souls to Him belong.

Who holds our days within His hand?  

What comes, apart from His command?  

And what will keep us to the end?  

The love of Christ, in which we stand.

You know I don’t know where most people find their confidence. I don’t know where most people, apart from Christ, find their hope. If they are honest, then most people would have to agree with Bertrand Russell that their lives are “built on the firm foundation of unyielding despair.” 

I sure hope you are not finding your confidence in self-confidence. That’s a dead-end street. I’ll speak for myself and also for the majority of us here at this church. Our confidence is in Christ. Our hope is in Christ. Our faith is in Christ Jesus. 

And what will keep us to the end?  

The love of Christ, in which we stand.