HEBREWS 10:19-39

Hebrews 10:19-39 brings out rather important exhortations for us as believers.

 

It is a call to hold fast our conviction of faith and to hold on to our certain hope in the faithfulness and promises of God in Christ Jesus. This is especially so as we recognise what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. The Lord Jesus has opened up the entrance into the holy of holies. God is now accessible to His people: not just once a year through the Day of Atonement but always by the blood of the Lamb of God. Also, Jesus has gone ahead of us as the first fruit; He is alive and He sits at the right of God the Father, interceding for us, advocating for us. He and His Father sent the Holy Spirit as our teacher, comforter and guide. Because He lives, we shall live. Because He overcomes, we shall overcome.

 

We are to run the race together; we are to build up the body of Christ in unity; we are to establish the temple of God; and we are to prepare ourselves as a bride of Christ. Notice that it is a collective calling; there is no such thing as an individualistic Christian. Jesus is the head of the body; He is the forerunner and leader of a new people of God to which we belong. If we belong to Him as His people, we are to encourage one another. We must stimulate one another to good works and love, and to finish the race together. The weak need to be supported; the strong must not ignore the weaker brethren. We do this by meeting together in fellowship, worship and studying the Word of God. We are to pray for one another and bear one another’s burdens in practical ways.

 

There is no place for turning back. If we deliberately turn back from God and become His enemy, we are in fact trampling down the Son of God and insulting the Holy Spirit of God; a fiery judgement then awaits us before the judgement seat of God. It is a terrifying prospect to face the fiery judgment of God. If the Old Testament saints faced a terrible judgement when they rebel against God, what more those who have been given the privilege to become members of the family of God in Christ Jesus.

 

We must endure, persevere and not shrink back. Our faith and hope in Christ must be the anchor that holds us in the storms of life and in the midst of persecutions and attacks of the evil one. The One who promises us is perfectly faithful and reliable. Let us press on together to the ultimate rest in Christ Jesus.