Knowing God and One Another - Hebrews 10:19–25

Children love to play hide-and-seek. I remember playing as a child, hiding up in the rafters of a shed, above a tractor, and watching as others searched for me, trying not to laugh out loud as they walked by again and again. Nothing was more satisfying than finding a place to hide where no one could find you. Now I watch as my own children love to hide.

But I’ve learned that hiding is not just for kids. Adults like to hide too, but not as a game. You see, fun is not the only reason to hide. Fear leads to hiding; shame leads to hiding. Pride causes us to hide. Pain and desperation lead to hiding as well. Genesis 3 in the OT says that when Adam and Eve had sinned, they “hid themselves from the presence of God.” Their God-given inward sense of right and wrong told them that they were guilty, and they sought to avoid God. They were ashamed; they knew they were defiled. So they hid, and since that time, all people avoid or hide from God.

We also hide much of our true selves from one another because we are afraid that others will know the whole truth about us, we are ashamed of things we’ve done, and we are prideful. We want to curate a certain image. We naturally resist being fully known by God and by others, controlling how we are seen rather than revealing what is beneath the surface.

However, Jesus Christ made a way for us to stop hiding. We can draw near to God and be honest with each other because of the way opened up by Jesus. So, if you claim to trust in Jesus, if you believe you are born again, then you cannot be content to hide. If Jesus Christ has truly accomplished what the Scriptures proclaim, then we should be determined to know God and one another.

But how can we stop hiding, when our apprehension and hesitancy is so real, when our shame and pride are so great, and when our natural bent is to hide? These verses of Hebrews 10 tell us how. Simply put, it is through faith, hope, and love. You can find an outline on page 6 and 7 in the WG. We see faith, hope, and love mentioned together in multiple places in Scripture, and we see it here. With faith in the work of Jesus, hope in His promises, and love for His people, we can stop hiding. We can emerge from darkness and live in the light! Those three together - faith, hope, and love - that is the way. So let’s look at each of these.

At this point in the book of Hebrews, the writer is changing gears. Thus far he has mostly explained truth, with a small amount of pastoral urging for the people to act. But going forward, that reverses somewhat, and he mostly urges and warns them as a good pastor should, offering only a small amount of theological explanation.

This is a good example of how the indicatives and imperatives of Christianity exist together. By “indicatives” I mean the things that are true, the things which we are to believe. These are the facts of the faith. They tell us, among other things, who we are to God and who He is to us.

By “imperatives” I mean what we should do in response to what is true. The imperatives are the commands of God. You see, how we are to live as Christians rests upon who we are in Christ, not the other way around. God does not love us because we trust and obey. Rather, we trust and obey because God loves us and gave His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. For over three months now, we have seen in Hebrews mostly explanations of what is true. We have studied very in-depth explanations of great theological truths, chapter after chapter of mostly indicatives, mostly facts.

But the language of verses 19-21 shows a shift. Notice verse 19, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus.” The high priest in ancient Israel, under the old covenant, was the only one who could enter the holy place in the tabernacle, where the presence of God dwelt, and to do so, blood sacrifices were required which demonstrated the great offense of sin against the holiness of the one true God and God’s sovereign right to possess the life of every sinner.

Blood, death, life, i.e. everything is required for the forgiveness of your sins. The ritual using animal blood was repeated yearly because it was not sufficient to deal with sin permanently. However, under the new covenant, because Jesus gave his life, his blood, his everything to remove our sins once and for all, now not only one person, but every man, woman, and child who trusts in Jesus may come to God and experience His awesome and holy presence.

How? Verse 20, “by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh.” There was a curtain which separated the people from the holy presence of God, a curtain behind which only the high priest of ancient Israel could go as much preparation. Matthew 27 states that when Jesus Christ died on the cross, the curtain of the temple was supernaturally torn in two from top to bottom. Because of the breaking of Jesus’ very body and the spilling of his precious blood, the way to God has been opened.

The curtain was in place to symbolize how sin separated man from God. Because of the saving work of Jesus, the way to God has been made clear. We can move toward God to know and be known by Him because of these things, and also, verse [21] “since we have a great priest over the house of God.” Jesus’ qualifications as high priest have been explored in-depth in previous chapters. He mediates our relationship with God.

And so because of these things that are true, because of these indicatives, listen to this imperative statement, this direction for how to respond, for what to do. Verse [22] “let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.” With sincerity, moved by what God has done through Jesus, we should move toward God. And we are comforted and made confident to do so knowing that we approach God, “with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. This is a reference to the Christian ritual of baptism and recalls the old covenant cleansing rituals.

Have you ever been working, and you get a lot of dirt, or grease, or oil on you, and so you scrub and scrub your skin with the soap and let the water wash over it, but you still can’t get it all off? When Jesus washes you of your sins, He gets it all off.

We sang earlier, “The vilest offender who truly believes / That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.” Jesus washes us clean in the eyes of God, dealing with not only our past sins and present sins but our future ones as well! Also, His washing addresses the accusations of our consciences, the inward sense of right and wrong. Like Adam and Eve, we know what we’ve done. But now, we also know what Jesus has done. In 1 John 3, the apostle John writes, “whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart.” Your conscience says, “I’m guilty!” The gospel says, “Jesus took away your guilt.”

With faith in the work of Jesus, we can move toward God to know and be known by Him. We can pray boldly and continually. We can cast our cares on Him because He has demonstrated that He cares for us. Look at all He’s done! Look at the way that He has made. Do you find yourself moving toward God, compelled by this truth, drawn by this reality, or are you hiding from God?

Do you avoid him? Perhaps in a blatant way, perhaps subtly. How does it look to subtly avoid or hide from God? Well, perhaps you attend church and you may read the Bible and pray some, you may interact with Christians, you talk the talk, but you rebuff the lordship of Jesus in certain areas of your life. There are things which you simply do not want to surrender to God. There are things in your life or your past that you are unwilling to deal with. Fears and anxieties control you. Doubts hold you back. Pride and disobedience press you down.

And here’s the thing: in your heart, you know that you are holding back. See, that’s why it says in verse 22 that we must draw near with a true heart. We must be honest with God. We must be genuine with Him, if for no other reason than for the simple fact that no one actually hides from God.

That may seem disturbing to you, but in reality, it can be freeing. You can drop the charade. You can stop with the nonsense. By faith you can start new right now. And you can do so with hope in the promises of Jesus. Look at verse 23.

This is another imperative, another command. “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 3 says Jesus is faithful. He fulfills all the promises of God. God has promised that He will be our God and we will be His people. He will never leave us or desert us.

The prophet Jeremiah said that God would write His eternal truth on our hearts and allow each of us to know Him. God promised to forgive our guilt, and remember our sin no more. Jesus accomplished these things and He puts us on a course to go through our lives with God close by all the way. The prophet Ezekiel proclaimed God’s promise to put His Holy Spirit within us. God said that He would give us a new heart and cause us to walk in His ways, making us able to do His will.

By God’s power we can do what we could never do on our own. And so throughout life, we who are born again have the hope of coming to know God more and more and being increasingly known by God. The relationship grows and flourishes. We learn more about God, we learn more about ourselves. We speak to God more and more, and we hear from God more and more. We have His oath, His vow, that this will be the case.

And so we must uphold our vow, we must hold fast our confession, the declaration we made with our mouths that we trusted in Jesus. We confess faith in Jesus with hope, literally, with expectation of things to come. What things? Things God will yet do, that He will be with us and guide us and He will complete our salvation one day, removing sin forever. We expect this. And we expect, because of the promises of Jesus, that God is for us and ready to receive us.

When I was a young boy, we were visiting some friends. My dad was at work. My mom had a nice 1987 Ford Thunderbird. And my friend and I wanted her car moved from the driveway so we could play basketball. And I begged my mom, “Please let me move the car,” and she eventually let me.

I think some showing off in front of my friend was going on. I was definitely in over my head because I started to panic, and I scraped the car’s front bumper on the side of my friend’s father’s truck. It was an old farm truck, so not a huge deal to them. But I was petrified. I cried, primarily because I expected my dad to be furious with me.

So, when he got home from work, I was in no rush to tell him about it. In fact, I wondered if he might not see the damage, because it wasn’t terrible. But he did see it, and eventually, he approached me. I braced myself for the worst. And he said, “Son, you been driving lately.” He had mercy on me. The response I expected was the opposite of what I actually received.

How do you expect God to respond to you when you move toward Him? How do you expect God to respond when you lay your thoughts and fears and desires before Him? God will make good on every promise: Jesus himself is our guarantee of this. So with hope, you can look forward to being received by God and knowing Him more. You can rest.

As you fail, God will remain faithful to you. As you struggle, God will support you. Again, look at all God has done through Jesus, and hold on to Him. He is not finished with you or with His plans in the world. Tell God everything. Admit your sin, confess your doubts, reveal your fears, express your dreams and your needs. Jesus made a way for us to be real with God and not be afraid or ashamed.

Psalm 25 says that God offers His friendship to those who have reverence for Him. Jesus is our King, but He is also our friend. He sympathizes and understands. And because of this, we can move toward and be real with each other. Look at these final verses.

In light of all God has done in Jesus, verse [24] “let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” The Christian faith is often interpreted as something that is primarily individualistic. But consider that this whole book of Scripture we are reading addresses a congregation.

All of the pronouns in these verses today are plural. “We have confidence,” “we have a great priest,” “let us draw near,” “our hearts sprinkled,” “our bodies washed,” “let us hold fast.” And later on, in chapter 13, a whole section is devoted to how the congregation should behave toward their leaders, toward the men who fill the offices established by Jesus and the apostles.

It makes no sense to think that the Christian life can be lived in isolation or apart from the local congregation, the local assembly. When Jesus says in Matthew 16 that he will build his “church,” he uses the Greek word that simply meant “public assembly” or “congregation.” Many people coming together. Jesus brings people together and forms a community which he structured with leadership and cohesiveness, over which He alone is the head. The church is His body.

Notice, verse 24 does not say, “let us consider how to love and do good works.” This group of people, in union with Jesus, should be urging each other to grow in loving one another and doing good works for each other. How do you help someone grow in loving others? By loving them! How do you help someone grow in doing good works? Do good works for them!

And look at verse [25] “not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some.” This language is fascinating. It totally refutes the idea that gathering as a public assembly is unnecessary. A more literal translation might be “not neglecting our meeting together” or “our assembling.” The word is related to the Jews’ word “synagogue.” In other words, keep on “synagoging,” keep on “churching,” keep gathering publicly and “encouraging one another.”

Simon Kistemaker is one of the bible scholars whose work helps me as I preach through Hebrews. He sees a connection between the command to love in verse 24 and the command to keep gathering in verse 25. Listen to what he writes, “One of the first indications of a lack of love toward God and neighbor is for a Christian to stay away from the worship services. He [or she] forsakes the communal obligations of attending these meetings and displays the symptoms of selfishness and self-centeredness.” You need us, and we need you.

We all need one another as we go through life and wait for Jesus to return. I realize many people think that being part of a church and attending public worship on the Lord’s Day is unnecessary, especially now that you can watch services online. But viewing this on a screen is not the same thing and it never will be.

We broadcast our service now. We didn’t from the beginning, and that was intentional. It was my conviction that if people wanted to know what was going on at Good Shepherd, they should come see for themselves. That is my conviction still. Certainly, there can be special circumstances. The online broadcast is helpful if something hinders you from being here, but all things being equal, you need to be here.

Verse 25 is enough to prove this, but there is additional evidence from first-century church writings that this was a problem even then. Many professing believers dismissed the essential nature of gathering for worship and at other times as well. Jesus loves his people, and if you love his people, you must be committed to gathering with them to know them and be known by them. And when we worship together according to God’s command and His plan for His church, we share something very special. We do something we were created to do together.

We should be able to come together as Jesus’ church and be real with one another. This doesn’t mean you must tell everything to everyone, but who better to receive and love you than brothers and sisters who are living in the grasp of grace. We all need God’s mercy and grace, we are all helpless apart from Jesus, our sins must be washed away or we are doomed.

So, are we a congregation where people can be truly known by each other? Is this a place where a young woman would be able to admit she had an abortion at some previous time in her life? Is this a place a man could admit he pressured a woman into aborting an unborn child? Is this a place where people can reveal their addictions, their marriage troubles, their parental difficulties, their struggles with sexuality, or their endurance of terrible abuse at some time in their lives? Is this somewhere that folks can reveal the things they are most ashamed of and then hold their head high in the congregation because they have seen Jesus, and they have turned from their sin and trusted in Him?

In 1 Corinthians 6, the apostle Paul said something fascinating to the church, to the public assembly gathered together. He wrote, “Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, [10] nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. [11] And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

Do you know Christ Jesus in this way? Surrender yourself to Him. Turn from your sin and follow Him. And be free to be real, to be honest. With faith in Jesus’ work, hope in His promises, and love for His people, we can.

Let’s pray together.