Students do homework to avoid failing fuelled by the hope of future employment. Athletes endure training to avoid losing inspired by the goal of winning. Militaries recruit soldiers to avoid invasion motivated by the ideals of freedom. People eat well to avoid illness because they want to live healthily. We all do certain things to avoid certain things fuelled by certain things. And what we’re willing to do and the urgency with which we’re willing to do it can depend on the terribleness of what we’re trying to avoid and the potency of the fuel motivating us.

As the author of Hebrews nears the end of his letter, all pretence begins to be dropped, his urgency is unmasked, and his expectations become explicit as he tells his readers, “You must do this so that you can avoid this fuelled by this.” Christians are called to action so as to avoid tragedy while fuelled by memory.

SERMON MANUSCRIPT 

By this point of Hebrews, the author has spilled a lot of ink to cleverly describe the superiority of Jesus, to express concern that his readers are drifting away from Jesus, and to warn of the consequence waiting if they don’t turn back to Jesus. 

But now, as we near the end of the letter, all pretence begins to be dropped, his urgency is unmasked, and his expectations become explicit as he tells his readers, “You must do this (it’s time for action) so that you can avoid this (a terrible threat) fuelled by this (motivation to do what needs to be done).” “Do this to avoid this fuelled by this.”

“DO THIS …”

Now, this inspired tough love opens with a summary of the nine-and-a-half chapters that preceded it. [10:19–21] Nothing new, only review. “Since” Jesus is immeasurably great, “since” his sacrifice was perfectly acceptable, “since” the people of God are eternally represented, “since” our relationship with God has been irreversibly restored, “since” all that’s true, he says, “Therefore, do this.” 

And what comes next are three rapid-fire assignments, the first of which is to approach guiltlessly. [10:22] Because of the New Covenant realities we enjoy in Christ, we’re to draw near to God rooted in a right understanding of your status before God as fully forgiven, “sprinkled clean” (cp. 9:13, 19, 21) and “washed with pure water.” 

Christ’s sacrifice made full atonement for the sins of his people. So, act like it! Go to him with a “sincere heart.” Don’t have “an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God” (3:12), but have hearts aligned with truth and run toward the living God “with full assurance of faith” knowing you belong there because of Jesus. “When he shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in him be found: dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.” Do this: approach guiltlessly.

The second thing the author tells his readers to do is to cling unwaveringly. [10:23] Because God’s faithful to what he said, we’re to be faithful to what we’ve said. God held perfectly to his promise to send a Saviour so we’re to hold unwaveringly to our profession of faith in that Saviour. Do this: Stand firm, hold tight, cling unwaveringly.

Finally, the author tells them to care urgently. [10:24–25] The day of Christ’s return could come at any moment, so Christians are to think carefully about how we can spur one another on to “love and good deeds,” two things the New Testament often presents as inseparable. Christlike love is an others-focused, need-meeting love and it requires the empowerment of God’s Spirit and the encouragement of God’s people. So, think hard about how you can help one another and care urgently for one another. 

Because of what we’ve been given by Christ and the privileges we have in Christ, God’s people are to do this: approach guiltlessly, cling unwaveringly, and care urgently. 

And while it’s true that we can and should do these things as individuals, you may have noticed that the context of Hebrews 10 is congregational. Christians are being told to do these things together: “Therefore, brothers and sisters … since we have … for us … since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near … having our hearts sprinkled … and our bodies washed … let us hold fast the confession of our hope … let us consider … one another … our own assembling together.” “Do this together,” the author says. 

Approach guiltlessly together, like we are right now: gathering, adoring, praying, confessing, singing, remembering, learning, submitting, and celebrating the greatness of our God in the presence of our God united by our God. We are the family of God, the household of God, the bride of Christ, the body of Christ. [1 Cor 3:16–17] We, together, have been washed by Christ and so, filled with Christ and becoming like Christ by the power of Christ, we’re to approach Christ guiltlessly together. 

And we’re to cling unwaveringly together, to our shared confession in our shared Saviour. As Ecclesiastes points out, “A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart” (4:12b). The plural is more powerful.

If I’m floating in a canoe tethered to shore, I may be able to hold tightly for a while, especially if the waters are calm. But we all know life’s waters don’t stay calm and when the years roll by and the waves get high, it’s essential to have other hands on the rope lest I drop the line, become unmoored, and drift away from the sure safety of land. We need one another in order to cling unwaveringly.

And we’re to care urgently together, serving one another, encouraging one another, loving one another, enduring one another, correcting one another, celebrating with one another, grieving with one another. An athlete is only as good as their team and a team that doesn’t show up together either loses or forfeits. 

“Do this,” the author commands: “approach guiltlessly, cling unwaveringly, and care urgently.” And you can’t do those things if you’re “forsaking the assembling together, as is the habit of some.” 

“Assembling together” doesn’t mean less than gathering once a week like we are today, but it does mean much more. It means treating the New Covenant community as a family not an institution, as a place to contribute not merely consume. It means not settling for surface-level, pseudo-intimacy and, instead, being a catalyst for true care. It means committing to a people, investing in a people, sacrificing for a people, forgiving a people, praying for a people, serving a people, supporting a people, fighting with, for, and alongside a people, all this if for no other reason than we are united by the finished work of Christ.

You can’t be a valid lawyer without a law degree. You can’t be a functioning baseball player without a team. You can’t be a legitimate conductor without an orchestra. You can’t be a thriving chef without a kitchen. And you can’t be a maturing follower of Christ without a church family.

A church family is a place where God-given shepherds know their people and their people know them, where sin is taken seriously and where grace is celebrated fervently. It’s a place where Christ’s person, work, and promise are front and centre, where members dedicate themselves to approaching him guiltlessly, corporately cling to their confession unwaveringly, and care for one another urgently, reminding one another that the time is short.

“TO AVOID THIS …”

The author says, “do this.” Approach guiltlessly, cling unwaveringly, and care urgently together. Why? Well, if we keep reading we see that they guard against significant danger. We’re to do this to avoid this.

[10:26a] Notice that the author includes himself in this warning: “if we go on sinning willfully.” This is not talking about a lifestyle of sin or habitual sin (which are also bad things). In Hebrews the willful sin that the author has been discussing is one sin in particular: the sin of apostasy (2:1; 3:12; 6:4–8; 10:23). These believers were forsaking the New Covenant, leaving the New Covenant community, and drifting from the New Covenant mediator, Jesus Christ. They had “received the knowledge of truth,” they had fully grasped their status in Jesus, but were now intentionally and knowingly dropping the line and drifting away. And, for them, the author warns, [10:26b–27].

Hebrews has made it clear: the Old Covenant, with its many sacrifices, has been replaced by the single, perfect sacrifice of the Christ: one for all, once for all, free for all. So, to go back to the Mosaic Law is to retreat to a system where “there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin.” 

But you know what does remain for wilful sinners? The expectation of judgement. Speaking to believers, Paul writes, [2 Cor 5:10]. Every saved person will one day look their Saviour in the eyes and give an account for how they lived their lives, not to determine salvation—that’s accomplished solely by grace through faith in Christ—but to determine rewards for faithfulness and experience loss for unfaithfulness.

In verse 28, the author reminds his readers of the penalty for apostasy under the Law. [10:28] An Israelite who left the Mosaic Law, a rebellion corroborated by two or three others, was put to death. A steep judgement. How much greater should the consequences be for those who leave the New Covenant? [10:29–30] 

An Israelite that was put to death under the Law wasn’t necessarily an unsaved person but they did experience the consequences for their willful sin. Likewise, if these believers trample underfoot the grace of God, the sacrifice of the Son of God, and the work of the Spirit they’ve experienced in their sanctification, they will give an account to the very one they abandoned.

And so will we. There is no sacrifice to be made for our immaturity, our drifting away, our deconstruction, our apostasy. Jesus paid it all. So when we go on sinning knowingly, we are trampling under foot the grace of God, spitting in the face of our Saviour, grieving the Spirit that has sealed us, and mocking the sacrifice Christ made for us. We are rubbing our rebellion in the face of he who redeemed us. And we can expect fearful consequences. In two chapters, the author of Hebrews himself will say, [12:6]. Our God sees all, knows all, and has said “I will repay.” [10:31].

There are dire consequences associated with becoming a beneficiary of the New Covenant by faith in its Mediator, Jesus Christ, and then irreverently shrinking back from it to some deficient reality. The author has been clear: “do this—approach, cling, and care together—to avoid this—earned punishment for insulting the God who saved us.” 

“FUELLED BY THIS”

But now he returns to encouragement, giving his readers motivation for the whole endeavour. “Do this to avoid this fuelled by this.” 

[10:32–34] “I know you’re on the precipice of walking away but, before you do, think back. Remember when, after being enlightened by the truth of Christ (cp. 6:4), you endured huge trials in the faith, mocked and mistreated by people in your life and in your town. And when other believers were treated that way, you came alongside them and shared their burden, even when they were imprisoned. Think back to the early days of your faith when you joyfully suffered for your allegiance to Christ because you knew to whom you belonged and what you have been promised.” In other words, “Remember when you were doing the things I’m telling you to do now—approaching, clinging, and caring together.”

[10:35–36] You can hear the author pointing ahead again to the judgement seat of Christ and the potential rewards given there for faithfulness. He says, “You didn’t throw away your faith back then. Don’t do it now. Persevere! That’s God’s will for you, that you may be rewarded for such endurance. 

[10:37–39] God’s people, those who have experience the blessings of the New Covenant in Christ’s blood by faith, should live by faith, walk by faith, approach by faith, cling by faith, and care for one another by faith. This pleases God. This is our motivation. This is our fuel. 

Remember faith to live by faith!

The author of Hebrews, concerned for his weary and fickle readers, reminds them of the greatness of Christ and, with that in the forefronts of their minds, says, “Do this—approach, cling, care. Why? So you can avoid this—the expectation of judgement. And all this can be done if you’re fuelled by this—memories of the efficacy and power of faith. You’ve done it before, do it again. Remember faith to live by faith!

We need that admonition as well, brothers and sisters. We need to remember faith. Right where you’re seated, think for a moment of a time on your Christian life when faith was all you had; when everything was stripped away and you had to call out to God for deliverance and, to your blessed relief, he showed up. Perhaps it was your conversion or baptism, a healing from sickness or a comfort in sickness, a joy inexpressible in suffering or a contentment through loss. Remember those former days. Perhaps write it in the margin of your Bible right now next to Hebrews 10:32. Remember faith.

And now, live by that faith. Turn your eyes from the past to the present and future. What are you dealing with right now that could cause you to fall away, that could prompt you to pull back from New Covenant realities and start trusting in deficient, sacrifice-less ideologies, and helpless systems. It’s time to bring that past faith, that remembered faith, to bear on the present need. Fuelled by faith, it’s time to not forsake the assembling together, by faith approaching guiltlessly, clinging unwaveringly, and caring urgently.

The pretence is gone and the urgency is unmasked. It’s time for action, brothers and sisters. If we want to avoid the consequences of unfaithfulness, we need to remember faith to live by faith. Fuelled by Christ’s greatness, we need to do the things we ought to do.

 

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