Our text for exposition today is going to be
verse 23. Let us hold fast the confession of
our hope without wavering, for he who promised
is faithful. Now all of us in this room who know
the Lord Jesus Christ, I know with certainty,
because of the Bible, that all of those in this
room who know Christ have yet reached perfection.
We have yet to be fully and completely sanctified
and conformed to the likeness of Christ. We have
yet to enjoy the depths of God's grace that are
available to us in Christ. We have yet to reach
the heights of Christian faithfulness and godliness
in our own lives. And I know for those of us
who are pilgrims in this world that God has saved
and given faith repentance to that we must hold
fast because we have this hope that's been given
to us in Christ we have the truth of the gospel
we have the work of the gospel in our lives we
enjoy it and we experience it but brothers and
sisters there's still a desperate need in each
of our lives to press on to persevere To hold
fast the confession of our hope There are times
when it seems like everything's against us When
it seems like everything is opposed to us There
are times when it seems like everything's coming
out of everything comes out of the crack Just
to get you There are times brothers and sisters
there are seasons there are periods in our lives
When it is tempting not to hold fast the gospel
of Jesus Christ. When it is tempting, when we
are pressured to forsake the confession of our
hope. And it's significant that the author says
that we are to hold fast the confession of our
hope, because it is so easy to become hopeless
in this life. It is so easy to despair and to
be brought low and to get into a rut in the Christian
life. Brothers and sisters, that's what the devil
wants. That's what the greatest enemy of God's
people desires. That's what sin works toward
in our souls to keep us in hopelessness and despair.
Those who dwell in hopelessness and despair and
convey to the unbelieving world around them that
there's no hope in Christ. Brothers and sisters,
That's a sad place for a believer to be. That's
a sad place for one who knows Christ in all his
glory to be and it ought not to be. So the author
really crystallizes everything that he is working
towards, all of his argumentation, all of his
rhetoric, all of his writing in the book of Epistle,
in the book of Hebrews. He's crystallizing it
all and he's putting it all in this one verse
in verse 23. Let us hold fast the confession
of our hope without wavering. For he who promised
is faithful. This is what he wants the Hebrew
Christians to do. He doesn't want them to forsake
Christ and the hope they have in the gospel.
He wants them to hold fast. to the confession
of their hope. The first thing we're going to
consider this morning is the Christian's confession
of hope. The text is exhorting us, and it says,
the confession of our hope. When we consider
this idea of confession or profession, It's an
outward display of or an outward expression of
an inward conviction or believed convictions,
believed truths. So there's the heartfelt convictions
in the heart and they make themselves known and
they come out publicly and they are witnessed
and they make themselves known, they express
themselves. But it can also mean a body of doctrine
or a body of beliefs, a set of beliefs. I think
the author is referring to both in this case
when he is urging them to do this, when he's
urging them to hold fast. In the book of Romans,
we read In chapter 10, we learn about confession
to God, what a genuine confession of faith, a
genuine confession of our hope, or what a confession
is. Chapter 10, verse 9, we read these words.
We'll start in verse 8. But what does it say?
The word is near you in your mouth and in your
heart That is the word of faith which we are
preaching that if you confess with your mouth
Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that
God raised him from the dead you will be saved
for with the heart a person believes resulting
in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses
resulting in salvation. So there's two things
taking place with regards to this personal confession
of faith. There's convictions and beliefs in
the heart that are believed, and that makes itself
known. They are professed. They become audible,
or they become public in a sense. They're made
known to others. It comes from the heart and
it results with the mouth communicating that
it identifies with Christ and His Word. The author
is urging the Hebrew Christians to maintain and
hold fast to their distinctly Christian confession.
not to return to the Old Covenant ceremonial
system, the Jewish way of worship. He's urging
them to maintain their confession of Christ and
Him crucified, the effectiveness of His sacrifice,
His priesthood, and so on and so on. He's not
urging them to an initial confession. He's urging
them to the maintenance of their personal confession
in their lives because the pressure was so great
around them that was seeking to get them to forsake
that confession. He's saying maintain it, keep
it, hold it fast, sustain your personal confession
of faith in Christ. in these new covenant realities.
The reality is that Christianity has always been
a religion that requires a personal confession
of faith. That someone professed that they believe
in Jesus Christ. Christianity has always been
a religion that requires a valid or an authentic
confession of faith. In a sense, if one is to
be a true evangelical Christian, they must have
the adequacy and the ability to articulate what
the gospel of Jesus Christ is. How can you believe
the gospel if you don't know what the gospel
is? Christianity is always held that the believer
must be able to articulate. confess or profess
what they believe. But that in and of itself
does not mean that that's a valid, a legitimate,
or a credible profession of faith. Just saying
words that agree with the body of doctrine or
truth of the Scripture does not make a person
a Christian. There are any number of people that
are secular scholars, that are unbelieving men,
that can articulate the gospel of Jesus Christ
very, very clearly. They can say it out loud,
they can explain it to you, they can wrap their
mind around all the technical aspects and all
the technical parts of that truth, but that does
not mean that that is a credible profession of
faith. Do you know why? because it's not believed
in the heart. The realities they are speaking
are not heartfelt convictions and heartfelt beliefs.
What makes it valid is the truthfulness of it
or its agreement with the Scriptures and the
belief in the heart that is trusting in those
realities. confession has to be present. Every
true Christian will make an initial confession
and every true Christian will maintain and sustain
their confession of faith. Every sinner at some
point in time that comes to know Christ will
come to the point in their life where they say,
I am a believer in Jesus Christ. Whether that
be with their mom and their dad, whether that
be with their friends or with the people they're
hanging out with, whether that be a church or
whether that be out in public, every born -again
believer that has a regenerate heart, brothers
and sisters, and is a professing Christian will
come to that point. where they say, I believe
in Jesus Christ. He's my Lord. He's my master.
He's my Savior. They will publicly align themselves
with Christ's purposes, with His people, and
with His Word. So as a Christian grows, as they
mature, as they develop, as they increase in
their knowledge and their understanding of the
Scriptures, as the work of the Spirit of God
continually renews them and changes them and
transforms them, they will strengthen and solidify
their confession of this hope throughout their
life. As they grow in boldness and holiness and
godliness in their life, They will look for ways
to own their confession of faith, to lean into
it in a sense. There are several ways that believers
own their confession of faith. The first is through
baptism. They're owning their confession of faith
in baptism. They're publicly identifying with
the death and the burial and the resurrection
of Jesus Christ. They are saying that I'm no
longer my own. I associate and I affiliate with
the lordship of Jesus Christ. I'm with him. It's
a public act. But they also own this confession.
through a church membership and public or publicly
associating with a distinct Christian community
that adheres to a distinct set of doctrines.
Publicly associating, publicly affiliating with
that body of believers. The world knows and it
ought to know what churches are, why they exist.
They ought to know that the people to gather
together there in that building and that place
every week, they're not like everybody else in
the world. They ought to know That the people
to get together in that building at that place
they don't act like everybody else in the group
Their language and their attitudes different
these individuals they have hope These individuals
they have contentment these people have joy these
people have peace these people are genuinely
and truly kind to all men These individuals truly
love me. The world looking on ought to know that's
what the church is. But in reality, brothers
and sisters, it's a public thing to associate
with a church. You being here is a public act.
You are associating with this church. You are
associating with this people and guess what?
Our beliefs, our doctrines that we adhere to
are unique and distinct from even other churches.
So your public identification with this body
sets you apart from the world. It's a form of
owning your personal confession of faith. But
there's another way that believing Christians
own their profession, and that's on a regular,
ongoing basis. That's through the ongoing association
and identification with Christ's crushed body
in the Lord's table. Every time that believers
stand up and get out of their pews and walk forward
in the presence of everyone present. You are
claiming and you are proclaiming that Christ
died for me. He is my Lord. He is my sacrifice
and I believe in Him. I'm trusting in Him. It's
a public association. and identification with
Jesus Christ. And there's another way that believers
own this. And this is the natural outworking
of a godly life. It's living a godly life and
performing good deeds or good works in the world,
in the public square. Letting men see and know
and understand and grasp. that you love God and
you love men and that you are a fruitful believer
in Jesus Christ. So the author of Hebrews is
exhorting his readers to hold fast without wavering
to their convictions, to their beliefs, to their
personal confession of these truths. But he's
also saying this. Remember this is to the Jewish
believers. Keep up, maintain, and sustain your
public ties with Christianity. He's saying keep
up, maintain, and sustain your duties and your
responsibilities as those who have given themselves
to the Church of Jesus Christ. That's what Christ
is saying. That's what they're saying. That's
what the author is saying. He's saying, continue
to publicly adhere to your public confession
of faith, your identification with the people
of God. He's saying, don't shrink back away from
Christianity and the church to the Jewish ceremonial
sacrificial system. Stand up proudly and confidently
as a new covenant believer in Jesus Christ associating
with his death and his people. That's what it
means not to forsake, and that's what it means
to hold fast. Brothers and sisters, is there
any relevance in that for us? Is there any relevance
in that for you? Is there any relevance in that
for your heart and your mind? Does anything prick
you in that? Brothers and sisters, the same expectations
that the author of Hebrews had for his readers,
he has for New Covenant Christians today. Remember,
with these great and blessed privileges, Come
great responsibility Because of the work and
the sacrifice of Christ We ought to do our best
to persevere and holding fast the confession
of our hope Meaning you and me Us as a body we
have to forsake we must not forsake We must persevere.
This leads us to the second thing we have to
consider in this text, the hope of the Christian's
confession. The author says, the confession of
our hope. In other words, we also need to try
and understand what the substance of the author's
conf... what the recipient's confession is, what
the nature and character of the hope is, or we
could say what the content of their confession
of hope is. Now, we know with certainty that
the author is talking about biblical hope. And
if the author is talking about biblical hope,
brothers and sisters, then he's not talking about
something that's ambiguous and uncertain. He's
not talking about wishful thinking. He's not
talking about likely probabilities. He's not
talking about things we just really want or desire
to take place. That's not biblical hope. And
that's not how the term is used in the Word of
God. The hope that the author is referencing
is something that gives and encourages and aids
believers in their perseverance and in their
holding fast. It's something that gives steadfastness
and joy. It's something that gives peace. It's
something That enables them to enjoy that hope
in this life as they're weary Pilgrims So he's
not talking about some uncertainty He's talking
about certain sure true realities Now when we
think about biblical hope and as it's used in
this context There's a broad spectrum that we
have to reference, and there's also a narrower
spectrum of hope. I think sometimes it's helpful
to understand what they're not talking about,
what he's not speaking of, in order to more clearly
understand what he is referencing. So we know,
without a shadow of a doubt, because of the book
of Hebrews, that he's not talking about any sort
of hope that comes from the ceremonial law. He's
not talking about any kind of hope that comes
from ritualism. He's not talking about any kind
of hope that comes from self -righteous endeavors
or self -righteous works or labors. He's not
talking about any kind of hope that originates
with sinful man at all. He's not talking about
hope that comes from the moral law, the civil
law, or the ceremonial law of God in the old
covenant. He's not even speaking about hope that
was in form substance or in form type. He's talking
about new covenant. realities in Christ. He's
speaking of realities which are secured, accomplished,
and realized and brought about because of the
gospel of Jesus Christ. Remember the context.
He's urging his readers throughout this book,
and especially this section, 10, 1 through 18
in particular, to remember and to hold fast to
the truth about Christ. His sacrifice, not the
old covenant sacrifice. The new covenant that
is Christ's covenant, not the old covenant that
was associated with Moses and the old covenant
priesthood. He's talking about the effective
work of Christ in His sacrifice, His priesthood,
His promised rest, His salvation, brothers and
sisters. He's talking about hope that is only
found in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's talking
about hope that can't be separated from the Lord
Jesus Christ. We could say in the broad Broadly
speaking, that this hope is the whole work of
redemption which has been accomplished by God
in Christ and is applied by the Spirit of God.
This would include Christ's atoning death as
a substitute, propitiation of God's wrath. This
would include the forgiveness of sins, justification.
This would include sanctification and progressive
growth in sanctification, the work of the Holy
Spirit, adoption, everything, brothers and sisters.
It would include all of redemption. And this
is the broad spectrum of hope. But there is a
narrower section of hope as we think about what
the author means by this. understand fully what
this hope is, I believe, here in a few moments,
but I want to ask any unbeliever here, any of
those who don't know Christ, any of those who
haven't had a supernatural work of God take place
in their heart where they have been transformed
and made a new creature in Christ, answer this
question for me. What are you believing in in
your life that gives you hope? What are you trusting
in in your life? That gives you hope. I'm not
talking temporary satisfaction in this life.
Hope beyond the grave What are you looking to?
What are you going after? that gives you lasting
permanent eternal future hope that sustains you
in this life. The only hope that's effective
and that truly is to be enjoyed in eternal sense
is found in Christ. The only way you can genuinely
enjoy, the only way that you can sincerely know
hopefulness in this life and not despair is by
giving yourself fully and freely to the Lord
Jesus Christ and trusting in Him and forsaking
your sin. That's the only way you will ever know
hope in this life, and that's the only way you
can face your death with utter confidence knowing
what is to come by looking to Christ and the
hope that he has accomplished. So this narrower
aspect of hope is particularly designed to aid
those in need. This narrower aspect of biblical
hope It is particularly designed to strengthen
us in perseverance, and diligence, and trials,
and suffering, and pain, and an ever -changing
fallen world, and ever -changing fallen bodies,
the hope that we have in Christ, the narrower
it gets. the stronger it gets, the more effective
it gets in our souls. So what is it? The narrower
aspect of hope has to do with things that are
to come. The narrower aspect of hope has to do
with the return of Jesus Christ, the blessed
hope. The narrow aspect of hope has to do with
his eternal kingdom or his heavenly kingdom,
the resurrection and the new heavens and the
new earth. This hope is referenced throughout
the book of Hebrews and it's referenced throughout
the Bible. We could say that this is the tip
of the spear. When it comes to hope for the believer
brothers and sisters Hebrews 11 verse 10 says
this Speaking of the city which has foundations
whose architect and builder is God Hebrews 11
also says that they were seeking a country of
their own what country are they seeking a better
country that is a heavenly one. And listen to
this. This is Hebrews 11, 16. Therefore God is
not ashamed to be called their God, for he has
prepared a city for them. That's hope, brothers
and sisters. God himself has prepared a dwelling
place for the people of God. He himself has taken
on the task of building a place for us to dwell
with him in eternity. That's the tip of the spear,
brothers and sisters. We read in Hebrews chapter
12 of Mount Zion. We read of the heavenly kingdom,
the unshakable kingdom, which will outlast everything
because it will not be shaken, while everything
else will be the eternal kingdom of God. This
hope is referenced in Hebrews 9 verse 28 when
we read this. So Christ also, having been offered
once to bear the sins of many, will appear a
second time for salvation without reference to
sin to those who eagerly await Him. That's hope.
Then we read in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 13 of
the same event waiting from that time onward
until his enemies be made a footstool for his
feet. The hope spoken of begins at the next great
redemptive historic event in the world, the return
of Jesus Christ. Isn't it amazing? how something
we eagerly wait for, we eagerly long for, something
that is the source and basis of hope for thousands
around the world, brothers and sisters, can also
be the source of great dread and the source of
great terror for many, many others. The hope
of the Christian at the return of Christ is the
dread of the unbeliever. The hope of the believer
when Christ comes in the sky with his flaming
angels, brothers and sisters, and he calls back
the saints and they're caught up in the air with
him, that's the hope. But that is not hope for
the unbelieving man who does not know Jesus Christ.
That is fear and that is dread. So what does
that mean for you? That means look to Christ
now before he comes. Look to Christ now before
you die. Look to Christ now while you have the
opportunity. While the gospel is still proclaimed,
look to the Lord Jesus that you might look upon
that great day as hope. and not dread and not
terror. This is the promised hope of the believer.
According to Hebrews 6, 9 -20, the Christian
hope is promised and future, yet it's fully and
completely secured by the work of Christ. and
his entrance into heaven as our forerunner, in
our place, as the pioneer for the believers,
we could say. This is why the author can say
in Hebrews 6 19, this hope we have as an anchor
of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and
one which enters within the veil. The Hebrew
Christians are being exhorted to hold fast and
maintain their personal convictions, their personal
beliefs, their personal confession of faith,
and their public identification with these doctrines
concerning Christ Jesus, His sacrifice, and those
realities which He has secured and He will bring
about. in that great and coming day. This is
the hope of the believer. We're not talking partial
deliverance. We're not talking partial salvation,
brothers and sisters. We're not talking sin remains
in us and we continue fighting and battling with
sin in us. Brothers and sisters, what we're referring
to is consummate salvation. Full and final deliverance
for the people of God. Full and final redemption.
That means the removal of suffering. That means
the removal of hardship. That means the removal
of pain and tears. That means the removal of
the affliction of sin and death, brothers and
sisters. This is the hope of the believer, full
and final redemption. And that comes with Christ
when he appears in the sky. The Hebrew Christians
are exhorted to cling to this hope. Nothing else.
Don't look to another escape. Don't look for
an easy way out of your hardship and your difficulty.
He's saying cling to the hope. Cling to what
is to come. Cling to what Christ has promised.
Hold fast to these realities. Don't look for
other ways of making it easy on yourself now.
It's only a little while that we have to endure,
brothers and sisters, and then Christ will come
for us. Or we will go to Him. Cling! Hold fast!
Persevere! Endure, brothers and sisters! A grand
future awaits the people of God. If you know
Christ, persevere! Press on for what is to come.
Christianity is a religion of hope, is it not?
Praise God! Christianity is made up of people
who are hopeful people. Be hopeful! Look to the
hope that is in Christ. Christianity is the only
religion of true hope. We have to understand
that. And that should impact our view of our
lives and how we live in a hopeless, dark, and
fallen world. Christians are those who have been
given hope in Christ. They've been given faith
to rest on that hope and to look to it. Someone
might say, well, then why does it seem and appear
that there are so many hopeless Christians. Why
does it seem that there are so many despairing
Christians? Well, it's either because they're
unaware of what their hope is, meaning they're
unaware of what the scripture teaches, Therefore,
they aren't believing what they ought to believe,
or they are not holding fast to the confession
of their hope. Apathy and sluggishness are antithetical
to the enjoyment of hope in the Christian's life.
We have to get that burned into our souls. Nothing
good comes from being slothful in the Christian
life, brothers and sisters. Nothing comes from
being apathetic and complacent with regards to
the Word of God and with regards to prayer. Nothing
good comes from it for your soul. You will not
be more helpful. You will not be more joyful.
You will not be more satisfied. You will not
be more content by neglecting the Word of God
and neglecting the face of God in prayer. The
Christian who tells the world There is no hope
in Christ as a poor specimen of Christianity.
The Christian ought to be a shining light of
the gospel and what Jesus Christ has promised.
The Christian ought to be a luminary in the darkness
because of the work of Christ. So one might also
ask another question. How does a Christian come
to enjoy this hope in a greater way, in a greater
extent? You just told me that apathy is not good.
That slothfulness is no good and no helpful.
So how do I remedy that? by growing in your knowledge
of the Scriptures, by growing in your understanding
of the Word of God and saturating yourself in
it, by meditating on the Word of God in your
heart, by praying to God and asking Him for help
and for strength and stopping and stop depending
on the flesh and carnality. It's by living...
It's living by faith. Brothers and sisters, it's
by growing in our understanding and our grasp
of the Scriptures and then believing those promises
and trusting those promises and living an obedient
life as a result of those promises. Ignorance
is not bliss in the Christian faith. I don't
say that to be mean. I don't say that to be harsh.
I say that to stir up something in you so that
you will understand that God has given us a full
revelation of His Word. He has given us the Word
of God. He has revealed Himself. He has revealed
His works. He has revealed... Christ has revealed
redemption. He has given us the means, brothers
and sisters, to more fully enjoy the hope that
Christ has given to us. Don't just be okay with
not knowing. Seek out the scriptures. Seek out
to understand what they say, what they mean.
And don't just read the portions that you like
and it makes you have a positive feeling. Read
the whole of the Bible so that we have the hope
in Christ, but we have the hatred of God against
sin. We need to know the Bible and we need to
believe the Bible, brothers and sisters. And
we need to hold fast to the Bible if we are to
be a hopeful joyful people in this world. This
leads us to the last thing we have to consider.
The reason Christians ought to hold fast the
confession of their hope. The text says, for
he who promised is faithful. The focus of this
part of the text is on the faithful character
of God who gives, performs, and accomplishes
all His promises. I want to look at Numbers 23
19 very briefly here. I'll just read that. Numbers
23 19 says this, God is not a man. Now, when
we think about that statement, just immediately,
we all too often project what we think about
God on God, when in reality that's not actually
true of the living God. We make him to be more
like a man than he is God, who is spirit and
divine and sovereign and powerful. So God is
not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man
that he should repent or change. Has he said
and will he not do it? Or has he spoken and will
he not make it good? Men, as moral creatures
who are finite, have the capacity to change.
Men who are moral creatures and who are finite
have the capacity to lie and to deceive. But
brothers and sisters, God does not have that
capacity. God is a spirit. He is infinite. and
eternal, he is sovereign, he is immutable and
unchanging, and he is faithful because of his
character, because of who he is and what he has
promised. Consider the faithful character of
God as we've seen it in the book of Hebrews in
our study so far. Because of his faithfulness,
redemption has been accomplished. He has made
a new covenant with us in Christ, and he will
be faithful to that covenant. Because of his
faithfulness, Christ died as a perfect once -for
-all sacrifice on behalf of sinners. Has he not
forgotten? our sins? Has He not atoned for our
sins? Has He not removed our wrath? Was Christ
not bloodied on the cross when He gave up His
Spirit? He will continue to faithfully treat
us as justified men and women who are free from
condemnation and guilt because of Christ's sacrifice.
Because of his faithfulness, the sacrifice of
Christ is applied to each one of those whom that
sacrifice was intended for. He cleanses their
hearts by the waters of regeneration and he purifies
their conscience through the blood of Christ.
Because of his faithfulness, brothers and sisters.
We have been reconciled to the Living God and
we have free access to that God because Christ
has prepared the way for us. We can enter into
His presence. Why have these things come about?
Is it because I'm faithful? Is it because you're
faithful? Brothers and sisters, it's because
God is faithful. These promises that he has accomplished
are by his own power, his own might, and his
own zeal. He has done these things himself, in
his own being, his own character, and his own
purposes. And if he's been this faithful in Christ,
mustn't we conclude that he will be faithful
to his people in this life? as they seek to hold
fast the confession of their hope. As we live
by faith in this world, mustn't we conclude that
He will strengthen us, that He will aid us, that
He will be with us, that He will edify us? Will
He not be good to His promise of sanctification?
Will He not be good to His promise of justification?
Will he not discipline us because we are legitimate
children whom he loves? Will he not comfort us
in our times of need and distress? Brothers and
sisters, God will be faithful to his people in
this life. Is that not cause or motive for us?
to be faithful in our lives unto that God. The
author of Hebrews adds this word. He adds this
portion of the text, for he who promised is faithful.
Why does he add this? Because he wants his readers
to understand that God is faithful and true to
every single redemptive promise he has ever made
to his people. That's motive for perseverance,
for endurance, for strength, for holding fast
in our lives. The author wrote earlier, for when
God made the promise to Abraham, since he could
swear by no one greater, He swore by himself,
saying, I will surely bless you, and I will surely
multiply you. In the same way, God, desiring
even more to show the errors of the promise,
the unchangeableness of his purpose, interposed
in oath. That was Hebrews 6, 13 -14 and 6, 17.
Every promise of God is built on the strong,
sturdy foundation of God Himself. This includes
our hope, brothers and sisters. The hope the
believer has depends not on man not on man's
faithfulness, not on man's perseverance, but
it depends on the divine, unchanging, faithful
character of a sovereign, good God. That's the
foundation of every promise, and that's the foundation
of the hope the believer has. Friends, if you
know Christ, cling to the Lord Jesus Christ by
faith. If you know the Lord Jesus, give everything
you have to knowing Him more. Grip Him like you've
never gripped anything else. and all the while
be sure, be confident that His hand will never
ever let go of you. These two things, our faith
in Him and His grip on us are what get us to
the hope that we so long to enjoy as believers
in Jesus Christ. The fulfillment of our hope
is not dependent on us. Our future enjoyment
of the hope is not dependent on us. But brothers
and sisters, our enjoyment of it in this life
is dependent on our faith in that hope. That
means that our joy and our contentment, our satisfaction,
and our hopefulness come to us through faith.
We must believe the unchanging promises that
are given to us by an unchanging God. Then we
will be steadfast, hopeful, and joyful people
in this ever -changing world.