Sure of Saving Faith
September 17, 2017 Preacher: Jeff Griffis Series: Hebrews
Scripture: Hebrews 10:22–25
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Sure of Saving Faith – Hebrews 10:22-25
Here’s why we sing together. Listen again to some of the lyrics we just sang this morning:
- Joy floods my soul for Jesus has saved me, Freed me from sin that long had enslaved me, His precious blood He gave to redeem, Now I belong to Him.
- O to grace how great a debtor, daily I’m constrained to be. Let they goodness like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee.
- O Father use my ransomed life, In any way You choose, And let my song forever be, My only boast is You.
JESUS saved me. HE freed me from enslaving sin. Overwhelm me God with your goodness and grace. Use my life to display your glory and greatness, God. My only boast is you.
Do you want to have that kind of conviction? Do you want to be sure of saving faith? Then have a relationship with God through Christ and invest everything you’ve got to grow in it. And here’s how to do that: [Read together vv. 22-25] PRAY
In Hebrews… Christ has accomplished what the law could not. What you need is enduring faith in Him. So, by grace through faith, you have a new relationship with God through Jesus Christ. – And how do we maintain assurance of that relationship? (What makes us sure of saving faith?) Because of our new position in Christ, we keep pouring ourselves into our relationship to God.
Lion – last week we introduced this section by asking what makes us so bold as to draw near to a holy God…
Here was our conclusion. What Christ has accomplished is our confident conviction.
[What practices do you participate in that make you confident about your position in Christ with relationship to God?]
Three commands today (the first of which we started last week): Let us…
Continue drawing near to God in faith
Persevere in holding fast to the confession of our hope (NOT to other things)
Keep considering how to stir up one another to love
[Those will be the specifics, but keep in mind the big idea about why these practices give us assurance.] What makes us confident is when our practice matches our position. When we can see ourselves practically following Jesus as clear evidence of our position IN Jesus…
First, Let us draw near to God in faith… ONLY possible Through Christ, V. 19 (and read thru 21) [we have a clear conscience bc He has made us clean, v. 22b] – Thru Him, you have the boldness to draw near – Draw near in FAITH (trusting submission – trusting wholly in God thru Jesus… such that you submit to his will)
And practically speaking, HOW do I draw near to God? (God is spirit, so…) – This is so critical because Drawing near to God through Christ is the essence of Christianity.
- Set aside distractions. (12:1) – everything that gets in the way of that intimacy. (other gods, obsessions, priorities) So that your focus is solely on him.
- Listen to God. – with intent to agree (in fact the Gk word for draw near, proserchomai, which means to approach (come near) also means to agree with
- Communicate my heart to God. –
- Learn from others.
Hold fast – perseverance of the saints – present tense ongoing. Never let go. (Keep a tight grip, don’t let it slip away.) [Illust – rope swinging] “Faithful is he who promised.” Faithful is the one on the other end. Faithful.
Hold fast without wavering (unswervingly). Stability, immutability (which we would say of God’s character) no fickleness, no vacillating
Hold on to hope! (confession of hope is synonymous with confidence in Christ alone) Hope is confident expectation of the future result of your current faith.
Our description of the Hebrews theme: Endure in faith, holding fast to the knowledge that Jesus is better by far.
- marathon runner promised himself two things after mile 20; finish the race, and never do this again – but then he experienced that finish line feeling
And practically speaking, HOW do you hold on to hope in Christ for dear life?
- Don’t trust in anything else. – Not even, or especially, not in yourself.
- Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. (12:2) – On a treacherous journey, it’s awfully hard to follow the guy you’re not looking at.
- Go to him to strengthen your grip.
- Train with others who are holding fast.
How can you be sure? Draw near in faith like nothing else matters. Trusting that God is faithful, never let go. Finally, Stick with God’s people. – Let us stir up one another to love. (Mutual responsibility!)
The Greek word means to provoke or instigate, normally used negatively. But here used positively to mean stimulate, to encourage and challenge. To motivate one another.
Encourage one another to draw near and hold fast (I believe this is understood or assumed), (and what is expressly stated is…) stimulate one another to love expressed in good works. – Consider carefully (to care about in order to give careful consideration with full understanding) – Do you spend considerable energy thinking carefully about how to bless and challenge your brethren? (Some of us might find a pretty condemning piece of application right here. On most days, I’m a selfish jerk who mostly just invests energy thinking about me.)
Here too in these verses – What is the big deal-eo about corporate gathering of Christians?
In the context of encouraging and challenging each other, what we must NOT do is stop meeting together. What we MUST do is encourage each other BY meeting together.
Do you struggle some days with a right desire to meet collectively with God’s people? (“going to church”) You can’t always wait on your desire. Often you need to discipline yourself to do your duty, knowing that it should also be your desire. (And pray and trust God to fix your poor attitude.) Discipline yourself to do your duty until it becomes your delight.
So don’t expect to be near to God if you are far from his family. Don’t expect to be true to Christ if you are untrue to his Church.
And practically speaking, HOW do we stir each other up to loving service?
- Be grateful for God’s grace at work in the lives of others. – If you can’t spot what God is graciously doing and speak encouragement to that effect, you are literally the LAST person who should challenge that same person to make positive adjustments. (Even if all you can spot is the dignity and worth of a being created in the image of God… which is actually AMAZING!)
- Listen. Get to KNOW them by listening and observing. – Don’t make assumptions and jump to conclusions. Quit trying to fix everybody from your position of ignorance and pride. (It’s so true it’s not even funny.)
- Communicate Christ’s heart. – Make sure you keep clear the categories of “This is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” and “this is my opinion or recommendation on how to apply that”
- Be a person who embraces being stirred. – Like the first point, if you don’t want to be stirred up to change and grow, you’re literally going to be the worst teacher.
- Give one another grace. – Some stuff isn’t worth nagging over. And sometimes we stir up one another in an imperfect manner with less than ideal words.
Trusting that HE is faithful, hold on to Jesus for dear life. Stick with God’s saints, stirring them up to love like Jesus, to lead like Jesus, to live like Jesus.
Conclusion: How can you be sure? Draw near to God in faith like nothing else matters. (song we’ll sing momentarily: There is LIFE in your presence, I want to KNOW you.)
Walk away today with two things – a big picture principle and at least one practical application as well. If you want to experience assurance of your salvation by grace through faith in Christ, obey his command to continue drawing near, to persevere in holding fast, and to keep thinking hard about how to stir up his people to love and serve him.
Sure of Saving Faith – Hebrews 10:22-25
We experience confidence when our practice matches our position.
Continue drawing near to God in _____________________.
HOW do I draw near to God?
- Set aside _________________________.
- _____________________ to God.
- ___________________________ my heart to God.
- Learn from _______________________.
Persevere in holding fast to the confession of our ______________________.
HOW do you hold on to hope in Christ for dear life?
- Don’t trust in anything ___________________.
- Keep your eyes fixed on ______________________.
- Go to him to ________________________ your grip.
- _____________________ with others who are holding fast.
Keep considering how to stir up one another to ______________________.
HOW do we stir each other up to loving service?
- Thank God for His work in _____________________.
- Get to know them by ___________________________.
- Communicate _______________________ heart.
- Embrace ___________________ stirred.
- Give one another ___________________.
More in Hebrews
July 1, 2018
Equipped to Follow the Great ShepherdJune 24, 2018
Helping Leaders LeadJune 17, 2018
Follow the Leader: Leading Well