Confidence to Enter, Boldness to Go

September 10, 2023 · Luke

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Series · Luke · Week 30 of 34

Scripture referenced 11 passages

The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.

Luke 18:9-14 the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, which had been preached two weeks prior and was revisited as the thematic foundation of the sermon

9 He spoke also this parable to certain people who were convinced of their own righteousness, and who despised all others.
10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector.
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself like this: ‘God, I thank you, that I am not like the rest of men, extortionists, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
12 I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get.’
13 But the tax collector, standing far away, wouldn’t even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

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Hebrews 9

the old covenant and its sacrificial system contrasted with Jesus as the once-for-all atoning sacrifice

1 Now indeed even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service, and an earthly sanctuary.

2 For a tabernacle was prepared. In the first part were the lamp stand, the table, and the show bread; which is called the Holy Place.

3 After the second veil was the tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies,

4 having a golden altar of incense, and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which was a golden pot holding the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;

5 and above it cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat, of which things we can’t speak now in detail.

6 Now these things having been thus prepared, the priests go in continually into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the services,

7 but into the second the high priest alone, once in the year, not without blood, which he offers for himself, and for the errors of the people.

8 The Holy Spirit is indicating this, that the way into the Holy Place wasn’t yet revealed while the first tabernacle was still standing;

9 which is a symbol of the present age, where gifts and sacrifices are offered that are incapable, concerning the conscience, of making the worshiper perfect;

10 being only (with meats and drinks and various washings) fleshly ordinances, imposed until a time of reformation.

11 But Christ having come as a high priest of the coming good things, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation,

12 nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption.

13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify to the cleanness of the flesh:

14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without defect to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

15 For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, since a death has occurred for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, that those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

16 For where a last will and testament is, there must of necessity be the death of him who made it.

17 For a will is in force where there has been death, for it is never in force while he who made it lives.

18 Therefore even the first covenant has not been dedicated without blood.

19 For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,

20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.”

21 Moreover he sprinkled the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry in the same way with the blood.

22 According to the law, nearly everything is cleansed with blood, and apart from shedding of blood there is no remission.

23 It was necessary therefore that the copies of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

24 For Christ hasn’t entered into holy places made with hands, which are representations of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;

25 nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest enters into the holy place year by year with blood not his own,

26 or else he must have suffered often since the foundation of the world. But now once at the end of the ages, he has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

27 Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment,

28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, without sin, to those who are eagerly waiting for him for salvation.

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Hebrews 10:19-25

the main text read and expounded, covering confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus and the three let-us exhortations

19 Having therefore, brothers, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus,

20 by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

21 and having a great priest over God’s house,

22 let’s draw near with a true heart in fullness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and having our body washed with pure water,

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

24 Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good works,

25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as you see the Day approaching.

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Hebrews 4:1

cited as an earlier let-us exhortation: therefore let us fear

1 Let us fear therefore, lest perhaps anyone of you should seem to have come short of a promise of entering into his rest.

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Hebrews 4:11

cited as a let-us exhortation: let us be diligent to enter that rest so that no one will fall through following the same example of disobedience

11 Let us therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, lest anyone fall after the same example of disobedience.

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Hebrews 4:14-16

cited for the great high priest who has passed through the heavens, tempted in all things yet without sin, so let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace to receive mercy

14 Having then a great high priest, who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold tightly to our confession.

15 For we don’t have a high priest who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin.

16 Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace for help in time of need.

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Hebrews 6:1

cited as a let-us exhortation: let us press on to maturity, leaving behind elementary teachings about Christ

1 Therefore leaving the teaching of the first principles of Christ, let us press on to perfection—not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, of faith toward God,

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Acts 15:36-39

cited to illustrate the same Greek word used in Hebrews for stirring up, here describing the sharp disagreement between Paul and Barnabas over John Mark

36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s return now and visit our brothers in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, to see how they are doing.”

37 Barnabas planned to take John, who was called Mark, with them also.

38 But Paul didn’t think that it was a good idea to take with them someone who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia, and didn’t go with them to do the work.

39 Then the contention grew so sharp that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him, and sailed away to Cyprus,

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Jeremiah 31

referenced as the Old Testament proclamation of the new covenant that Jesus declared fulfilled at the Last Supper

1 “At that time,” says Yahweh, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.”

2 Yahweh says, “The people who survive the sword found favor in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.”

3 Yahweh appeared of old to me, saying, “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness.

4 I will build you again, and you will be built, O virgin of Israel. You will again be adorned with your tambourines, and will go out in the dances of those who make merry.

5 Again you will plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria. The planters will plant, and will enjoy its fruit.

6 For there will be a day that the watchmen on the hills of Ephraim cry, ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion to Yahweh our God.’”

7 For Yahweh says, “Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout for the chief of the nations. Publish, praise, and say, ‘Yahweh, save your people, the remnant of Israel!’

8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, along with the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her who travails with child together. They will return as a great company.

9 They will come with weeping. I will lead them with petitions. I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they won’t stumble; for I am a father to Israel. Ephraim is my firstborn.

10 “Hear Yahweh’s word, you nations, and declare it in the distant islands. Say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock.’

11 For Yahweh has ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.

12 They will come and sing in the height of Zion, and will flow to the goodness of Yahweh, to the grain, to the new wine, to the oil, and to the young of the flock and of the herd. Their soul will be as a watered garden. They will not sorrow any more at all.

13 Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance; the young men and the old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.

14 I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people will be satisfied with my goodness,” says Yahweh.

15 Yahweh says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children. She refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.”

16 Yahweh says: “Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work will be rewarded,” says Yahweh. “They will come again from the land of the enemy.

17 There is hope for your latter end,” says Yahweh. “Your children will come again to their own territory.

18 “I have surely heard Ephraim grieving thus, ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as an untrained calf. Turn me, and I will be turned; for you are Yahweh my God.

19 Surely after that I was turned. I repented. After that I was instructed. I struck my thigh. I was ashamed, yes, even confounded, because I bore the reproach of my youth.’

20 Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I still earnestly remember him. therefore my heart yearns for him. I will surely have mercy on him,” says Yahweh.

21 “Set up road signs. Make guideposts. Set your heart toward the highway, even the way by which you went. Turn again, virgin of Israel. Turn again to these your cities.

22 How long will you go here and there, you backsliding daughter? For Yahweh has created a new thing in the earth: a woman will encompass a man.”

23 Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Yet again they will use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I reverse their captivity: ‘Yahweh bless you, habitation of righteousness, mountain of holiness.’

24 Judah and all its cities will dwell therein together, the farmers, and those who go about with flocks.

25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.”

26 On this I awakened, and saw; and my sleep was sweet to me.

27 “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of animal.

28 It will happen that, like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to overthrow and to destroy and to afflict, so will I watch over them to build and to plant,” says Yahweh.

29 “In those days they will say no more, “‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’

30 But everyone will die for his own iniquity. Every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth will be set on edge.

31 “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which covenant of mine they broke, although I was a husband to them,” says Yahweh.

33 “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says Yahweh: I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart. I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

34 They will no longer each teach his neighbor, and every man teach his brother, saying, ‘Know Yahweh;’ for they will all know me, from their least to their greatest,” says Yahweh: “for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

35 Yahweh, who gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirs up the sea, so that its waves roar; Yahweh of Armies is his name, says:

36 “If these ordinances depart from before me,” says Yahweh, “then the offspring of Israel also will cease from being a nation before me forever.”

37 Yahweh says: “If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they…

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Joel

briefly referenced alongside Jeremiah as a source of the new covenant promise

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Romans 12:1

closing charge to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, as your true and proper worship

1 Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.

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Recap

The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.

Pastor Ray returned to the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector from Luke 18, which had been on his mind since preaching it a few weeks earlier. From there he moved into the closing verses of Hebrews 10, framing the morning's communion service around three "let us" exhortations. A story from a short-term mission trip to Morocco, made heavy by the morning's news of the earthquake near Marrakech, served as the bridge between those two passages.

What was said

The tax collector in Luke 18 has stayed with Pastor Ray since he preached it. The man stood at a distance, beat his chest, and asked God to be merciful to him, the sinner. Jesus declared that man justified, not the Pharisee who listed his own religious credentials. Pastor Ray said he thinks the tax collector sensed something even the temple system couldn't fully explain: he knew he needed mercy, he didn't know exactly how it could reach him, but he reached out to God anyway.

That image of reaching out for mercy became the lens for the Hebrews passage. Pastor Ray described how the entire argument of Hebrews up to that point is that Jesus is better than the prophets, the angels, Moses, the priesthood, and the old covenant. The old system required a priest to purify himself and then pass through a veil to offer sacrifice for the people's sins, year after year. The writer of Hebrews argues that Jesus, as the great high priest, made a once-for-all atoning sacrifice and opened a new and living way through the veil.

Before arriving at the text, Pastor Ray told a story about a trip to Amezmiz, a town near Marrakech that was on his mind because of the earthquake. A man he called Abdel drove the group from Marrakech out to the mountains, started asking hard questions about Christian faith, and received a sealed letter from a mutual friend. At the end of the hiking week, Abdel gathered the group around a breakfast table, pounded it, and asked everyone to stand hip to hip and pray together that God would reveal the truth, and that whoever was in that circle would spend the rest of their lives following it wherever it led. Pastor Ray said a year later he and his wife Tanya and their daughter Pascal saw Abdel again, and he had given his life in pursuit of Jesus.

The three "let us" statements in Hebrews 10 formed the body of the sermon. The first is to draw near with a sincere heart and full assurance of faith, with hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience. Pastor Ray said the goal of modern psychology is to remove the feeling of guilt, but the goal of God is to remove the guilt itself, which then properly removes the feeling. Approaching the communion table with a sincere heart, he said, is the posture: agreeing with God about sin and trusting that agreement is enough for Him to forgive and cleanse.

The second exhortation is to hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. Pastor Ray used the word "unswervingly," noting that from Genesis 3 onward God promised He would be the one to provide the atoning sacrifice, and He kept that promise. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one and nothing replaces that.

The third exhortation is to consider how to stimulate one another toward love and good deeds. Pastor Ray pointed out that the word translated "stimulate" or "stir up" is strong, appearing only twice in the New Testament, the other instance describing the sharp disagreement between Paul and Barnabas over John Mark. The point is not a gentle nudge but an active, intentional agitation toward love and good works. The instruction not to forsake assembling together sits underneath these three commands as a supporting thought rather than the main point, though Pastor Ray acknowledged it came up constantly during the COVID years and that the church's expanded reach through the internet has allowed more people than ever to hear the gospel on a Sunday morning.

Communion followed directly from the sermon. Pastor Ray connected the cup to the new covenant announced in Jeremiah 31 and fulfilled in the upper room, and closed with Paul's line from Corinthians that as often as the church does this, it proclaims the Lord's atoning death until He comes again.

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Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.

The tax collector beat his chest and prayed, 'God be merciful to me, the sinner,' and Jesus said he went home justified. What do you think it actually costs a person to pray that prayer and mean it?
Pastor Ray described Abdel praying that God would reveal the truth, and promising to live the rest of his life for whatever God showed him. What strikes you about that kind of prayer, and what would it look like for us to pray with that same openness?

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Speaker 1This morning. Good. All is well. We are working on the sound. We had a, situation this this week that kinda changed things up a little bit, and we might be working on it the whole, service.

So if you would, stand up and join us. We're going to sing Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.

Speaker 2What a fellowship what a joint divine leaning on the everlasting arms. What a blessedness. What a peace is mine. Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Speaker 1Amen. My blessed assurance, we got some great greatest hits this morning. This is good.

Speaker 2This is my story. This my song. Praising my savior all the day long. This is my story. This is my song.

Praising my savior all the day long. Perfect submission, perfectly light. Visions of rapture now burst on my side. Is my song praising my savior all the day long. This is my story.

This is my song praising my savior Praising my savior all the day long.

Speaker 1Y'all y'all can have a seat. I have a few announcements. To start off with, we have Awana is kicking off next week, like next week but we're having an Awana leader meeting at the same time tomorrow night. So, if you're a leader, volunteer, a listener, if you, are going to be here to help out with Awana, we're having a meeting tomorrow night, six p. M.

We're going to do it in the fellowship hall. These days, Monday nights at First B is on pause for now. And so we're going to meet in the fellowship hall. Mike is making tacos. So it's going to be a good night to be here.

Come on if you are going to be one of the Awana leaders. We're having a meeting down the hall. And that will be good. So it seems like there was something else Awana is starting the eighteenth. So the next week on Monday night at six So we're getting together to kind of in preparation for that.

Old Bills. So the race yesterday, the fund run was yesterday. I said in the first service, the fund run continues. It's continuing until September 15. The giving season is still open.

If you'd like to help out with First Baptist Benevolence Fund, you can do that through the Community Foundation Old Bills. Or you could go give to the Good Samaritan Mission or to Compass Women's Care. You can do that still through Old Bills for a limited time. It's just this week, September 15. So that's happening.

Yesterday, by the way, was fun. It really was a lot of fun. First B sets up a tent. Nick and Chris and Mike hung out there most all day long and some of the rest of us were satellites orbiting the place. It was just a beautiful thing.

And folks we know from the hootenanny, folks we know from the fire department, folks we know from all over the place gathered around. It was a good, good time. So, it's fun. Precept Bible study. Starting September 14, that's this week, 9AM.

Sharpen your colored pencils and come on to Isaiah part two in the fellowship hall. If you have questions, you can contact Heidi and she should be able to answer most of those. There's also women's Bible study fellowship that is happening. The book of Daniel on Thursday nights from six to eight and that's going on. Everybody's invited.

I saw some new faces in there last week. It's a pretty fantastic group. They care about one another, eat together, pray together, and they study the word together. There's another one that happened. Started this week, but you're not too late.

You can come be a part. Wednesdays, ten to twelve in this room right here. Jackson Hole Women's Bible Study is rooted, growing a deeply rooted faith. So that's happening. It started last week but it's continuing on.

And there are like a there's a lot of energy in the room. Put it that way. There are like a 110 folks here which is pretty good. Sitting around tables, enjoying one another. They break up into small groups later.

We have been advertising this to you all since, I think, April. This is the Will Graham, Billy Graham's grandson. We have been advertising this for them since April. But they have been advertising it to us for the last two years. It's a huge event.

It takes a lot of volunteers to get this to come off. This Mountain America Center, September 23 is like kids' fest and teenagers, youth night. And the twenty fourth is for everybody. So grab a friend and take them. This is like an old Billy Graham style rally.

But Will Graham will be preaching look up tour Idaho Falls September twenty third and twenty fourth. That's this month. We are also doing on September 24 between services in the morning, we're doing a discovery class. It will be in my office down the hall, second door on the left. If you want to know more about the church or have some questions or if you just want to talk to somebody instead of me just talking at you.

It's good. Discovery class will answer many of your questions, if not all of your questions. September 24 between services. Youth group. Cool, cool raccoons.

The youth group is meeting. Middle school is meeting Sunday, three to five here in the Fellowship Hall, three to five on Sundays. The high school meets on Thursdays at 06:30 to eight at Tribes Ministry Center. So this is a group. It's sort of an alliance of the churches in Jackson.

And Tribe Ministry Center on Broadway just past Farm Bureau on the left there, down across from Carquest and Whole Grocer. That is where youth group is made. 06:30 to eight. It's a good group of people and they're receiving all the time extra folks into the fold. It's really good.

Connect hour between services. We do need volunteers. We might actually need a coordinator also. If you're thinking that you're that person, let us know please. But also Monday nights, we're not doing Monday nights at First B, but we are feeding the Awana volunteers ahead of time around 05:20.

Is that right? About 05:20 in the evening. So, you can get meals together or if you can coordinate to get a meal together, just a meal together, then, we'd love to have you sign up for that. Is there anything I've missed? Sign up for church emails if you want to know more.

You can get this and kind of know this stuff ahead of time. Or you can call the office and we'll try to answer anything. Anything else? I'm glad to see y'all. Would you stand?

And we will sing a melodic one. Now now I belong to Jesus. One more. The longer I serve him. Y'all can have a seat.

I will invite the ushers to come forward too. They're usually there they are. I was gonna say, they're usually standing right there at the door. God almighty, we just come together. I'm I'm coming here this morning, Lord, overwhelmed by your goodness and your grace, by the spreading circle that your gospel is always, always on the advance.

In Jesus' name, I pray that you would bless, everyone in this room. Lord, everyone that's supported by the people in this room, everyone supported by this church, that they would, awaken in the morning knowing that we long to do your will, our Lord. We long to do your will. In Jesus' name we pray. And we're thankful that we're part of plan a, Lord, that your willing and humble servants would be advancing your gospel and that there's no plan b.

Lord, would you impress it upon us how important it is, to live out the faith and to share, the gospel. In Jesus' name, we ask that you would advance your will in your way however you should choose to do it with everything that's placed in these plates. Amen. Beautiful. Thank you, Judy.

So we have a friend that is here this morning. I won't get him to come up. But I can tell you with confidence this time, the Internet feed is dropping out for a moment. There'll be a we'll be right back for the people watching at home. Last week, I said thank you.

Brad is not hearing this one, but Brad being here last week was just a great thing. Sermon was wonderful for me, and I trust for y'all too. But two weeks ago, what the last thing that I preached here was from Luke nineteen nine to 14 and y'all know my style. Typically, I just pick up in Luke nineteen fifteen, you know. But that's not what we're gonna do this week.

That's not what we're gonna do this week. I actually woke up this well, it's a long story. This is what we cover two weeks ago. It's the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector. And it's been pursuing me before I preached it and afterwards, I've been thinking about it a lot.

Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. And the Pharisee stood and began praying this in regard to himself. God, I thank you that I'm not like other people, swindlers, crooked adulterers. That's not me. Or even like this tax collector.

I fast twice a week. I pray. I pay tithes of everything I get. He's so full of himself that he really doesn't have a need for God. But the tax collector, standing some distance away at the same service.

And I actually posed, I believe that it's probably the afternoon service where they were sacrificing animals. And he's standing some distance away, was unwilling to raise his eye towards heaven. But he was beating his chest and he was saying, God be merciful to me, the sinner. How That image has been pursuing me for the past couple of weeks or three or four weeks maybe. And just been thinking about it.

And Jesus' statement is, I tell you this man went to his house justified rather than the other one. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted. This guy beating his chest, which is not a show of bravado, it's a show of extreme distress and and even shame. He is praying for God's mercy because he knows he needs it. I even put forward in the sermon that I think that he recognized that how could the blood of a bull transfer to me?

How could the blood of a goat transfer to me? How I don't understand it, but I do reach out to you, God, and ask for your mercy. Whatever that entails. God be merciful to me, the sinner. So, more than slightly out of chronological order.

Normally, it's chronological order for me. It's when we leave off, it's the next day, it's the next paragraph, it's the next section. Now we're getting back into where Matthew, Mark, and Luke are speaking together on the subjects, but we'll get to that next week. I've got a reason for waiting a week. Slightly out of chronic logic order by about eighty years at least.

A ton of scripture all at once was my plan. This is what I plan to do. All of Hebrews nine, most of Hebrews 10. And then woke up this morning, and I read the newspaper and online, really. Not really anymore.

We're not doing that anymore. But I read the newspaper, and a place where Tanya and Pascal and I have been on a short mission trip, a couple of week mission trip, in Morocco, outside of Marrakech, was in the news this morning. So there's a bad earthquake if you read about it or didn't. There's a really bad earthquake around Marrakech. It actually was towards the little town.

It actually was on the other side of the little town that we visited. But I've got a story about this town I thought I'd share because this is really, really long. The main portion of what I wanted to do is the last six verses of it anyway, and I was just gonna ramp up to it with all the rest. But I think the story might do that. So consider it all an extended communion service.

Okay? The story. You can go to a black screen if you want to. Press it. We went, and I think it was 2010 as a family.

And in 2009, I had been before. So it's two different trips, couple weeks each time. I'm as Meej is the name of the town. So while I'm sitting in class in seminary, I have a long haired buddy who took almost every class with me. We were good friends, grew up in the same county, known him for my whole life.

And long haired buddy and I are sitting there. And another fellow in the class, Daniel, says, hey. I heard y'all were going to Morocco. Where are you headed? And we said, it's a little town nobody's ever heard of.

He goes, where are you headed? And we said, it's outside of Marrakesh. Where are you headed? I'm Jameesh. I'm Jameesh.

I'm Jameesh. He goes, I lived there for six months. I want you to come over to my house, and I'm gonna teach you a few little polite things that you can do. You're gonna be, I imagine, greeting with people and staying with people. So he said, come over.

He made a tajin, taught us how to lay down and eat the right way, you know, all of the things you do and things you don't do sort of stuff. And he said, listen, I had a great friend there, and I imagine that y'all will be seeing him when you when we told him where we were going, he said, is that guide, the guy who's gonna guide you up into I know you all don't believe I hike ever, but it's only because you know me. We did hike. We were going on a hiking trip. We were staying with families all the way.

If you've been in my office, there are two pictures on the wall of of this place, north, above there, in the mountains. So we were hiking the High Atlas Mountains, and our guide I was named Jamal. And this, guy said Daniel says, if you're going hiking, do you happen to know Jamal? We do. That's the guy.

So he said, come when he we're at his house, he had written three letters, and he sealed them up. And he said, take these, and Jamal will distribute them. You know, one of them is for him, one of is for somebody else, one's for somebody else. But he'll give them he knows the people. So he lived there for six months.

He took on normal, dress while he was there, and he was a pretty extreme guy. And he, taught us a few things, enough to be polite. You know? And we get into Marrakesh. Before we made it from Marrakesh to the old Medina downtown tourist kind of area, we ran across a traffic accident that was like nothing I'd ever seen before.

A lot of people standing around blaming and screaming and bleeding, and it was really bad. So that's gets you off your game just a little bit. We get into town. I hadn't been there ten minutes. Somebody put a snake around my neck.

I'm from Georgia. I've been around snakes my whole life. But it doesn't cost anything to get a snake put around your neck in Morocco. It does cost to get it off of your neck though. So they say kiss the snake, kiss the snake, holding the mouth snake's mouth shut and say kiss the snake, kiss the it's Muslim blessing.

I was like, And it'll be 200 dirham. You know? And so I I said, you know, I'm not afraid of snakes, and I'm not gonna kiss it. And if you don't get it off my neck, I'm gonna kill it. And they did take it off immediately after the snake hit somebody threw me a monkey.

And what do you do? You can't just stand there and let the monkey hit the ground. You gotta catch the monkey. He's trained to hold on to you until you pay him. Grabbed the monkey, threw him back to the guy.

So this is the year before Tanya and Pascal and I went. It's almost exactly a year before. And so on this trip, we were in Marrakesh, old town. We stayed in a Riyadh one night, the hotel that night. And we get up the next morning, first thing we're going to Ammesmiche.

That's the deal. So we asked the front desk down there and said, we need a cab. We don't really know how to call them. Would you call us a cab that will get us to Ames Mies? So they did.

Nobody else set it up. We set it up through them and they got the guy there. He's in a beat up old Mercedes like it's common for taxis. And he picks us up and takes us out there. It's hot, really hot.

The next year was 10 degrees hotter, but it was hot. And as we're going out to Ammesmiej, he begins, you know, he sees that we have on wedding rings, and that's not something that normally Muslims do. And he kinda makes some assumptions. So he says, so you're Christians. And he starts with all the Muslim apologetic stuff just right off the bat.

We didn't start it. He started. You know? And as he did, we were going along with him and kinda answering the questions very personally. And and as we're going the whole time, he's not arguing back, but he's he speaks like seven languages, and he's a really, really good guy.

You know? And he took us to the place when we get to where we're going. I'm usually in the parking lot. It's market day. You can't drive downtown.

We get out. We go in. We've got our backpack with our three letters. And we get to meet our guide. He brings us in and we're sitting down and eating and hanging out and trying to be polite.

And so we said, oh, Daniel sent these to you. Hand the letters. And he said, this one's for me. And he says, this one is for my wife. And he said, this one's for your cab driver.

Now, he didn't set this meeting up. Okay. Wow. So he said, I'll get it to him. I'll probably call him back and have him come back and get you, you know.

But I'll I'll get the letter to him. So we go ahead and we hike all week, and it was it's about it's it's a lot it's it's something. It ain't the grand, but it's it's getting there. You know, we're going if you see the pictures in my office too, Pascal rode most of the way to the top. She's five on the on a mule.

So she rides to the top of the High Atlas Mountains. We're walking mostly roads, but we did a little bit of scrambling too. And we stayed with people each night. And those are the pictures in there of the people that we stayed with in these families. Now, when we got to the other side of our journey, it wasn't the same place he dropped us off.

But we get there and he comes in at breakfast. We're supposed to leave that day. I'll call the guy Abdel. Abdel comes in and sits down. He's gotten the letter by this point.

And it's from Daniel. But Daniel always went with local dress, he also went by Amin, which means truth. Right? So he says, I got this letter from Daniel. And he says, who are you?

And what's your what what are your names? And I said, I'm Ray McDaniel, which means son of Daniel, son of truth. Just so happens. And he took it that way. And then the long haired guy and the Japanese Brazilian guy that was with us one more quick funny story.

The Japanese Brazilian guy that's with us, I'm me. I'm big. I look like this. Long haired guys, long haired guy with oaklies like this spread around. We look like security guards because the Japanese Brazilian guy looks almost exactly like the king of Morocco.

He doesn't wear the red fez, but he looks just like the guy. He could be a body double. So when we're walking around the streets of Morocco and it looks like we're bodyguarding for this guy. Walked all around town. And when I woke up this morning again, all of these places that we saw were stacked rock houses and most of them are leveled right now.

So it's heavy on my heart, it reminded me of the story. So Abel, we get to the end of our week. It's going be our last day there. And he sits around at the breakfast table, and he starts bringing up some harder apologetic type issues for him. The harder stuff for him.

It's like, how could God have a child? It doesn't make any sense at all. That's a big hurdle to get over for a Muslim background person. He goes, how is this? I don't understand this.

And he kept doing it and kept doing it. And so we were there for a long time. Then all of a sudden, with nothing ahead of it, he just pounds the plastic table, the plastic breakfast table sitting down. We pray. Okay.

But stand up. We're gonna stand hip to hip. So close that the djinn, the demons can't get in between us. So he says, hip to hip, hip bone to hip bone, rubbing hip bones. There were three of us in one hand.

That's close for men to stand. We're standing this close to each other in this little circle, a yerga, they call it. Right? Something like that. If my memory is correct.

And he said, we pray. I pray in classical Arabic because that's what God hears. Big guy, you play in English. Long haired guy, you pray in English. Japanese, Brazilian, do whatever you got you got to do.

But what we're going to pray for is that God would reveal to us the truth. And and whatever he shows us is true, we promise all of us to live the rest of our lives for it. Oh my goodness. That's humbling, but it's also the greatest opportunity ever given to somebody attempting to spread the love of God and the gospel. And so that was that was one year.

Two thousand nine or ten. And then one year later, Tanya and Pascal a buddy named Mike. Mike reminded me of this story too. Mike is the leader of the college group that we were in last week when we were teaching in North Georgia. We were all there, and we got to see Abdel a year later.

And he had made an extreme change in his life because God had revealed to him the truth that he was praying for, and he had he's given the rest of his life in the pursuit of Jesus and his will. So that I hope will cover the first 49 slides. Preston, can you skip to slide number 49? If you wanna know what the the ramp up was gonna be, it's all of chapter nine of Hebrews. Okay?

And basically, Hebrews up to this point has been Jesus is better than the prophets. Jesus is better than the angels. Jesus is better than Moses. Jesus is better than the priesthood. Jesus is better than in chapter nine says, the old covenant.

This that we're gonna celebrate, this extended communion service is the new celebrating the new covenant in Jesus' blood. So he's better than the old covenant, and he's better than any sacrifice. And that's the part that reminded me of this guy that's beating his chest and going, I'm not worthy of this, Lord, but I am asking for your mercy. I agree. I am the sinner, and I'm looking to you for mercy.

This is the way. Hebrews argues, this is the way. Jesus is the way. The exact representation of God. He's the exact image of God in human flesh.

He walked out a perfect life and complete submission to the spirit of God, the father. And because of that, his sacrificial voluntary death is an atoning sacrifice. So that's what we're celebrating today. I'm switching over. My ramp up was in New Living because it's easier to read.

Hebrews nine nineteen through 25 is what we're shooting for right here. So, therefore. The therefore, read chapter nine up through ten eighteen if you want to see what that's there for. But, this is it. Therefore, brethren, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, this sacrificial blood of Jesus, the once and for all, the preceding verses say, once and for all.

Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter into the holy place. Now, the previous chapter also talks about how on the day of atonement, someone would have to purify himself first and then go into the holy holies in anticipation or in in participation with the old covenant to sacrifice for the sins of the people, in addition to all the daily sacrifice stuff. The confidence to enter into the holy place is a huge thing. Since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he inaugurated for us through the veil, that is his flesh. And since we have a great high priest over the house of God.

This is not the only time Jesus is called the great high priest, over the house of God in Hebrews. It happens a couple a few times. That little beginning there really is the rationale. It's the rationale for the what's to follow 21, 22 through 25 is gonna be an exhortation. But this is the rationale.

Because we have the right as children of God to enter into that holy place by the new and living way, Jesus is the reason we can. Since we have that great high priest over the house of God, let us. Let us. Let us what? Let us well, actually, says it multiple times in Hebrews two.

There it's an exhortation. Now, it's not only for you to do, a command form of you do this. Let us is a command form that we do this. Let us. Let us pray as a we.

We're gonna pray now. But that's what we take it as. I'll let us pray. It's a command. Let us all be praying right now.

Right? So this is Hebrews four, therefore, let us fear. In Hebrews four eleven, it's therefore, let us be diligent to enter that rest so that no one will fall through following the same example of disobedience. Again, in Hebrews four. Therefore, since we have a great high priest, there it is again, who has passed through the heavens.

Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast our confession for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses. He knows what it's like to walk this soil. But one who has been tempted in all things as we are. Yet, he was without sin. Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace.

Oh, so that we may receive mercy. Have mercy on me, a sinner, and find grace to help in time of need. Goes on in chapter six, let us press on maturity. Leaving behind the elementary teachings about Christ, let's press on to maturity. It's not just salvation, it's also sanctification.

So let us. Let us what? Let us draw near. To be able to approach God. And since we're the family of God and we're approaching him, the closer we get to him, the closer we get to each other.

Let us draw near with a sincere heart. A sincere heart in full assurance of the faith. It's not just whatever we believe, it is the faith that Jesus is the great high priest. That he has made the atonement sacrifice. Let us then draw near with a sincere heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience.

It is possible to get rid of the guilty feeling. You know what helps that? Getting rid of the guilt. I say often in the counseling room that the goal of modern psychology is to get rid of guilty feelings. But the goal of God is to get rid of guilt, which eliminates properly understood, eliminates the guilty feeling.

Having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, we can know blessed assurance, and we can know that we have trusted in him and his death was sufficient. And where we falter, he forgives, and where he leads, we can follow. Having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience. And our bodies washed with pure water. I won't go to the normal Baptist take on this because it is no doubt, bodies washed all over, not just the head.

Alright? Our bodies washed with pure water. I do think it's a reference to baptism, the initiatory rite that comes in to say, I have decided to follow Jesus. Sprinkle clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us, let us hold fast.

The confession of our hope without wavering. Letting us hold fast the confession of our hope. Jesus is our hope. Utter reliance on God and the way that he is made. Jesus said, I'm the way, I'm the truth, I'm the life, and he meant it.

And when we fall short, we can draw near sincerely, and we can hold fast this confession of our hope. Don't ever let anybody convince you that anything else replaces this. Right? Why? Because the one who promised is faithful.

Since Genesis three twelve, pick a place through the whole Old Testament. God has promised that he would be the one that would make the atone and sacrifice. He made the promise and he's faithful to keep it. Jesus is the one and the only eternal sacrifice. Everything else was pointing to that ahead of time.

Let us hold fast confession our hope without wavering for he who promised us faithful and let us what? Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. So, I mentioned, it's not just salvation. It's not just sanctification. Sanctification process is always process.

But leaning into the the call of the gospel is to try your best to stimulate other people into love and good deeds. It's a part of it. I'm so glad you're here this morning, brother. I'm so glad Because it it stimulates us to see people that have given all and run towards that call. Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds.

The New King James says, let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. Stirring up is good. It's used twice, that word. It's used twice in the New Testament. And it's used it's two completely different ways, I think.

But it's still interesting the the word there. It means stimulation, provocation, even irritation. It's saying, let's figure out a way to come together to make good works go forward. To to come together to love one another. It's not just an irritation.

It is an irritation towards something. It's not just stimulation or provocation. It is towards loving good works. This is the one place. The other one, maybe said angry dispute.

This is it. It's from Acts 15. After some days, Paul said to Barnabas, let us return and visit the brothers and sisters in every city in which we proclaim the word of the Lord and see how they are. Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with him also. But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia, not gone with them to the work.

There occurred such a, there's the word, a sharp disagreement. It's not a small thing. The stimulation unto or the stirring up, the agitation towards is a pretty strong word. They separated from one another. Barbas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.

But let's be considering how to agitate in a good way towards love and good works. Not forsaking our own assembling together as is the habit of some. This is a tertiary point. It's there, but it's down there. It's up under the lettuce exhortations.

Right? I heard this one a lot in the last three years. I really heard it when we were not meeting in person. That seemed to be a thing. I also heard it a lot when I was little.

If you miss church on Sunday, you got somebody that would come up and say, well, we're not supposed to facsimile ourselves together. Missing church on Sunday. We have some bully verses in there. But be encouraging one another. Find a way.

Find a way to encourage one another. And do it all the more as you see the day drawing near. We're approaching that great and mighty day of the Lord, and there are still people who have not heard the gospel. And so, let's be encouraging one another and pushing each other and stirring each other up into love and good works in a way that gets the gospel out of our little cells. Three lettuces here.

We'll go back, cover. Let the let the text do the the work. Let us draw near with a sincere heart. We approach the table. This is for everyone who has ever put their faith in Christ.

Now, are some warnings about taking unworthily, but he gives opportunity. I'm giving you the opportunity right now to just say with a sincere heart, I know what I did and I know what was wrong. I agree with you. And that is enough, believers. That is enough for God to cleanse you of that sin, forgive you, and he's in the process of cleansing you from all unrighteousness.

Let us draw near with a sincere heart. Lord, please take this. It is too much for me. I'm not gonna hold on to unforgiveness any longer. I'm gonna let it go.

Would you forgive me the same way I'm forgiving them? Let's draw near with a sincere heart. Let's hold fast the confession, I like the word, unswervingly. Don't ever stray to the left or to the right. Stick get your mind on the gospel of Jesus, that he loves you and that he loves others, and he can love others through you.

Let's hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, unswervingly. And, let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and to good deeds. The not forsaking our own assembling together as is the habit of some. That one, it it did come up a lot during COVID. I actually was going back, and I thought I'm gonna preach from the sermon immediately before we closed the doors.

And we still we never really closed the doors. We asked people not to come, and most everybody didn't for a couple months. But that not forsaken our own that was pursuing, pursuing, pursuing. I think that if we concentrated efforts on these three things, we'd be getting together. It would look different at different times.

But the circumstances of life in the now, in the last three years, we have advanced the capability for more people to be able to hear a sermon on a Sunday morning than we ever had before. We've got people on the other side of the earth can watch the Internet and keep up with the series. My mom was doing it every week. Right? It's pretty amazing.

Let's draw near around the table. Let's hold fast to confession. Jesus said that he was gonna die as a ransom for many. Let us consider then how to go out from here and spread that love and joy to others. I'm gonna ask the ushers to come forward, if you would.

Now, I do wanna have a little explanatory note. These little bowls here, this is a kind of a bread and cup that is gluten free. Okay? It's gluten free. If you're not gluten free, don't grab one of these.

We're going to partake the same way. We'll hand out bread, and then we'll come back and hand out the the juice. But if you are gluten free, grab one of those and just stay with us with the bread and then later with the cup. Lord God almighty, we ask for your blessing right now on these elements as we distribute them. I pray, Lord, that if there's someone here that is is knows that they don't believe, knows that they've never placed their faith in you and doesn't understand this at all, I pray that the people around them, Lord, would be able through the way they live their lives and the way they live their words, would be able to help articulate the gospel in a way that can be understood.

I pray that you would soften hearts so that people would become believers. That Lord, if anyone is in search of truth or goodness or beauty, that you would be drawing them in to your family. God bless this little ceremony of the bread and the cup. Amen. So on the same night that Jesus was betrayed, he gathered his disciples together, the whole upper room discourse as we call it.

And after supper and after he had blessed it, he broke bread and said to his disciples there, this is my body which is given for you. Take this and eat of it and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Thank you. Thank you, Lord, for that perfect sacrifice. Thank you for the perfect record.

Thank you, Jesus, for walking out in submission to the spirit. Would you show us how to do that? Thank you. Also, Lord, would you bless this cup as we distribute it? Representative of the sacrificial blood that was spilled that is worthy and able into eternity future.

There's no other way but this way. In Jesus' name, amen. That he had taken the bread, he also took the cup after supper. And he said to them, this is the new covenant in my blood. There's a reference actually in Hebrews nine if you wanna read that later.

Jeremiah 31, he proclaims this, new covenant. And Joel, this new covenant, all of the disciples sitting there, and Jesus is saying, this is it. This is the time. This is the new covenant in my blood. Take this and drink of it and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me.

And Paul tells us in Corinthians that as often as we do this, we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes again. I actually say his sacrificial and atoning death until he comes again. Would you I think we're gonna go with the with the doxology, Judy. My family makes fun of me because I forgot the first words of the doxology one time. Would you stand up?

We're gonna sing praise God from whom all blessings flow. How about a g chord?

Speaker 2Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him all creatures here below. Praise him above you heavenly host praise father son and holy ghost Amen.

Speaker 1Amen. And Romans twelve one says this, therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters in view of God's mercy, offered and accepted, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. Amen. May it be so.

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Communion Draw Near To God Hebrews 10 Humility Prayer New Covenant

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