Taking once again the help of God, I'd like you to turn with me to the chapter that we read, Hebrews 10, and the text you'll find in verse 35. Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward.

As we have read through this chapter 10 of the book of Hebrews, we have seen the greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ as the writer seeks to magnify, to to, as it were, hold a magnifying glass over Christ and then to compare him with the Old Testament law and the Old Testament sacrifices. And as we look through the book of Hebrews, It is always pointing us to the greater sacrifice, the greater fulfilment of all of the Old Testament ceremonial laws and worship. And so it seeks to compare the Old Covenant and the New with the greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ. the fullness of the Lord Jesus and his perfect sacrifice.

In the chapter we read in verse 1 it says, For the law, having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. And so as we read through the Old Testament and we see that the ceremonial worship and the detail by which the Lord spoke to Moses and how the ceremonial system was so laid out so carefully, and so it was so visual and so wonderful. We have the high priest and his garments and his clothing, we have the mercy seat, we have the altar, we have the table, the showbread, the candlestick, we have the holy of holies, then we have the temple that Solomon built and it was all very visual and then we have the continued sacrifices that were offered every single day and then we have the special sacrifices which were offered throughout the year and then we have the one sacrifice offered on the Day of Atonement for the sins of the whole nation and everything was very, very visual.

And yet, those sacrifices could never take away sin. They were just a mere shadow of the perfect sacrifice that was to come. We know that a shadow is not the real thing, but just a casting of that real thing. In chapter 9 and verse 9, it says that they were figures which was a figure for the time, then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did these sacrifices perfect, as pertaining to the conscience. And so they made somebody ceremonially clean, that if someone had committed a sin, they could offer a sacrifice and they could become ceremonially clean. They could wash themselves with water and they could be accepted externally into the temple or able to go back into society. But that never cleansed their conscience, their soul from sin unless it was done by faith.

As they laid their hands upon the beast that they were slaying and they looked by faith upon that beast to a greater sacrifice that would come, then they could be forgiven. They looked forward to this perfect sacrifice, realising that what they were doing was just types and shadows. of something that would come far in the future. In chapter 9 and verse 22, and almost all things are by the law purged with blood and without the shedding of blood there is no remission or no forgiveness. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy place made with hands, which are figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. Nor yet that he should offer himself often as the high priest entered into the holy place every year with the blood of others, for then he must have then he must have often have suffered since the foundation of the world but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

And so there we see that there was that constant reminder of sin. Every single day, the shedding of blood. Every single day, there was that constant reminder that sin still remained in the lives of these people, and that they had to continually come face to face with the slaughtering of animals, the blood of animals, what was their substitute. was that continued reminder of sin. But that continued shedding of blood could never take away their sin and so Christ had to come.

A body hast thou prepared for me. As we've seen recently at Christmas time, we look at the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we see that he was made like unto his brethren, a body hast thou prepared for him, a body like unto our body, but a body that was without sin, a body that would live perfectly under the law of God, but then be offered up as a sacrifice. that his blood would be shed upon Calvary, not just for men to see, but for God the Father to see, that his blood should put away the sins of his people forever.

For Christ entered not into the holy place made with hands. He didn't go into the earthly temple, into the earthly holy of holies to take his blood. He entered up into heaven itself. And there his blood speaks of better things than these earthly sacrifices, for he put away sin once and for all, forever. If his sacrifice was just like all of those other sacrifices, then, as the scripture says, he must have to continually offer up himself. but he was offered up once. So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many and unto them that look for him he shall appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

And so the book of Hebrews sets before us this old covenant that has passed away types and shadows of things that are not needed anymore because Jesus Christ has fulfilled everything. He is the high priest. He is the sacrifice. He is the prophet, the priest and the king. and he took his sacrifice into heaven itself and is seated at the right hand of the Father, having completed the work that was given for him to do.

The word figure, types and figures, means a parable. We know that Jesus spoke in parables. There are these earthly stories with a spiritual meaning. And so what we see in the Old Testament are parables. They have a spiritual meaning behind them. And Christ is the fulfillment. of all of those things.

When he died upon the cross, what happened to the Holy of Holies? The temple was ripped, the curtain was ripped from the top to the bottom, signifying that this is done away with, that man could now enter into the presence of God through the new and living way, through the way of the Lord Jesus Christ. You think of the restrictions that were there before, to enter into the holy place, who could go there? Nobody except the high priest. And when he went in, he must go in with blood. Nobody else was allowed to go into that holy of holies except him. But at the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, that curtain was ripped, signifying that we, through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, can gain access to God the Father through our great high priest, the eternal high priest, whoever lives to intercede for his people. Through him, we have this access.

And so Hebrews seeks to set before us the extent of Christ's sacrifice. the excellency of it, the perfection of it, what it accomplished in doing away with all that was so ceremonial and perfecting it. And so this is the confidence that the apostle, that the writer is speaking about. the confidence that the believer has in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Not just the faith that we have, but the confidence that we have that all that the scripture says that Christ has accomplished, he has accomplished. And this confidence flows out of the faith that we have, the saving faith that we have. his perfect work and his ongoing work as a mediator, as the great high priest.

Because of Christ's sacrifice, we have boldness to enter into the Holy of Holies. Do you put your mind back to the Old Testament? you think when that day of atonement comes round and as the people look on for the High Priest entering into the Holy of Holies, think of the fear that must have been there. Think of how how visual it was that this man as he takes off his high priest garments and he puts on his simple linen garments and then takes with him into this holy place that nobody is allowed to go into and he disappears into the darkness of that room.

Think of the fear that was there, the anxiety that must have been there. You see, when we do things not very often, we have that sense of fear, uncertainty. When we enter into the presence of somebody who is greater than ourselves, we have that fear, that nervousness. You think of this high priest, he's only allowed to go into this place once a year. And in entering in, he enters into the very presence of God. And this is where God dwelt and is to offer a sacrifice. And if he knows that if God rejects the sacrifice, then he won't be coming out of there alive.

But because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, this way has been opened. that you and I have freedom to approach the holy, holy, holy God whenever we like through a high priest who understands us, is touched with the feelings of our infirmities and was tried and tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin. And we have then this confidence to be able to approach God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

This word confidence is sometimes translated as boldness in chapter four and verse 16. We can go from 14, seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens. Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast our profession. for we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like us, we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace. It can be, let us therefore come with confidence unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

in chapter 10 and verse 19 it says, having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus by the new and living way which he has consecrated for us through the veil that is to say his flesh having therefore brethren the confidence boldness to enter into the presence of God through his beloved Son, Jesus Christ. What a privilege the Christian has, what an opportunity he has. He has the ear of his Creator 24 hours a day. Whenever he wants to speak to God, he can speak to God. God's ear is open unto the cry of the righteous. Where does their righteousness come from? It comes from the Lord Jesus. It's imputed to them. They have no goodness of their own, but they come to God through Christ and they have the ear of God. And they're able to come with boldness.

Now this doesn't mean that you can be blasé. We come with an understanding of who we are approaching. There is a way by which we are to approach the King of England. There is a way by which we would speak to our Prime Minister. We are able to alter the way that we speak and the way that we behave by the different people we are speaking to. Remember Elsa used to say to me, I always know when you're on the phone to your workmates, because the things, the way that you speak changes. And when you talk to a minister on the phone, the things that you, the way that you speak changes. And so we alter the way that we speak by who we are speaking to. And so if we would go to the king and we would speak in a different way, we would watch what we say, the words that we speak. and how much more then when speaking to the King of Kings.

It's not a blasé relationship, but it is a relationship of a father to a son. There is a freedom that we are allowed. There is a fearlessness, a filial fear, a respect as we come to God. but it speaks of peace. You see, Christ has done away with sin. He's taken away the enmity. He's taken away the hostility that was between us and God. And so we have a peace. We can approach God with boldness, with freedom, with fearlessness, with peace, but also it means at homeliness, like a child at home, have this confidence when we're at home, when we're in our own homes, we also behave differently to when we're in the homes of somebody else. And so it says that, come boldly to the throne of grace, come like you're at home, Come like the Lord is your Father who is in heaven. Come with that confidence that you have his ear. Come with that confidence that he understands your needs. Come with that confidence that he knows the things that you have need of before you even ask of him. Of course he does, for he created you. He knows you better than you know yourself. And so therefore he has placed the Lord Jesus Christ there as our mediator that we may have this boldness to come to him and that we are able to receive more than we can ask or think.

Is there anything too hard for the Lord? You see, our hardest problem is coming to the throne of grace. Often we are so hard-hearted that we want to deal with everything ourselves and we forget to pray. We think, oh, you know, I'm just going to deal with this myself. I don't need the Lord to help me with this thing. Or we forget. We forget to pray. And we realize after we've been struggling and struggling, oh, I haven't prayed about this. And then we suddenly decide to pray and we realise the Lord suddenly answers our prayers and we've gone through days maybe of distress. And then suddenly when we pray, the Lord appears and we think, well, if only I had prayed three days ago, then the Lord would have delivered me and helped me then. And we rebuke ourselves that we have a God who has an ear open unto the cry of his children and he's able to do more than we can ask or think. There is nothing that is too hard for the Lord. And so we come with this confidence, we come with this boldness that we have a living mediator. As Job says, I know that my Redeemer lives. I know. Do you know? Do you know that you have a high priest? Do you know that you have a father in heaven? And if you do, why don't you talk to him? If you would like to speak to your earthly family, then why not speak to your heavenly family?

There are a God who is the creator of the heaven and earth, who loves to answer prayer. You have Christ as your elder brother, as your high priest and mediator. And therefore come boldly, not casually, but respectfully, and come to them. with a homeliness, with a fearlessness, and with freedom.

And so these Hebrews, they were struggling. They were passing through a difficult time. And Paul, or the writer, was worried that they had abandoned the throne of grace. Although they had been so helpful to him, they had helped him. They had helped him and provided for him. They had given him of their substance. He says, Verse 34, for he had compassion of me in my bonds and took joyfully the sporting of your goods, knowing in yourselves that you have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. And so in verse 33, it says that they had suffered persecution, but even in their persecution, they had willingly helped Paul. But he is worried now.

Cast not away therefore your confidence, that which you had, that assurance of your salvation, that knowledge of your great high priest, don't cast it away, but draw near to God. So Hebrews sets before us this the greatness of Christ, the excellency of his sacrifice, the perfect work that he committed and his work that he is doing. And Paul tells him not to cast, cast not away therefore your confidence.

Now there is a confidence which needs to be cast away. There is a confidence that needs to be cast away. And that is self-confidence. That is self-righteousness. The old covenant was not able to take away sin. How much less will your works be able to take away your sin? You see, if this morning you are filled with self-confidence, If you are filled with self-righteousness and you look at the law of God and you think, well, yes, I'm all right here. I've sorted this all out. I've done all of this. Well, then continue reading the Leviticus. Continue seeing all of the sacrifices that were offered there and how externally good those people were as they tried to obey the law of God, every line and every dot. And if you see that none of those sacrifices could ever take away anybody's sin, that God never looked and said, well done, you know, that was a good sacrifice. You can come into heaven. Nowhere did he say that. How much then will your sacrifices, your works of righteousness, how are they going to please God? If the whole of the sacrifices from the beginning when they were established to the coming of Christ never took away one sin, how is any of your good works going to take away any sin? It's not. It can't do.

Do you think that you are holier than God? Do you think that you are holier and better than the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you think you are better than Moses, better than Abraham, better than Isaac, better than Jacob, better than David? If they couldn't get to heaven by their good works, how are you going to get to heaven by your good works? That is a confidence that needs to be cast away. You will never get to heaven by your own self. You can never build a ladder up from this earth and let it reach to heaven and say, I've done it by myself. It will never happen. In fact, it's blasphemous, because you're calling God a liar. Because the Bible says, he who says he has no sin calls God a liar.

Paul had to learn that lesson. He had to be brought to the point of having no confidence in the flesh. He realised that that confidence must be cast away. In Philippians 3 he tells us there from verse 3 For we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh.

Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more. This is where he rested. This is where his confidence lay in his self-ability, in his self-righteousness, in him being a Pharisee, being a Jew. Circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the He brews, as touching the law, a Pharisee. concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching righteousness, which is of the law blameless.

At what things were gained to me, I count loss for Christ, yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency and the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but done that I may win Christ. I count them but rubbish. That what I thought it was getting me to heaven, I realized I have to throw it away. I have to cast it aside. I have no confidence anymore in those things. It doesn't matter where my family line is, my family tree. He realizes it's not by blood. I'm not going to get to heaven by my family ties, by my family relationships. no confidence in the flesh whatsoever.

He looks at himself and he says, oh, you know, I was born a Jew. Circumcised the eighth day. Everything was right, externally right. Maybe that's where you're resting this morning. Everything is externally right. You've got a good family background. You've got a good family right now. You've been brought into a Christian home and you think, yes, well, if anyone's going to be saved, it's going to be me. I've got full confidence in myself and my family. But Paul says, I count all these things but rubbish, things to be cast away.

concerning zeal. Maybe you're a very zealous Christian. Maybe you like to speak about the Lord Jesus. Maybe you like to press people in the streets or in the workplace. Maybe you believe that that's where your confidence lies. God's definitely looking down and pleased with me. He's definitely going to save me because of how good I am and zealous I am. And I'm really good at finding fault in everybody else. I'm a real good persecutor. I'm really good at looking at other people's external situation and saying, well, look at them. If they're saved, then I'm definitely going to be saved because I'm loads better than that person.

There are those people who say, you know, oh, you get a newspaper. Oh, I don't get a newspaper. Or you listen to the radio. Oh, I don't listen to the radio. Or you watch the TV. Oh, I don't listen to the TV. Or you run on a Sunday. You know, you shouldn't run on a Sunday. I don't run on a Sunday. They're so filled with self. They're so filled with pride about themselves. Their confidence lies in themselves, not in the love for the Lord Jesus Christ. They haven't had a changed heart. They believe that they know how everybody else should be living, but they don't know about themselves. You see, it's very good always to look out to everybody, but the scripture tells us, turn your eyes within. Look at yourself. Paul says, concerning zeal, it was me. I was number one, killing all the Christians, putting them in prison, persecuting them. I knew what was right. I knew they were wrong. I was the one that was fulfilling the law of God perfectly. I was blameless. No sin in me.

But then he met with the Lord Jesus Christ and his heart was changed. He got rid of all that confidence that he had in himself and he put his confidence in Jesus Christ as the perfect sacrifice for sin. Christ became his mediator, his high priest, his sacrifice, his substitute, his saviour. And then he lived his life wanting to know more of Jesus. He says, I count, I have suffered the loss of all things and I do count them but done, rejected by the Jewish community, rejected and chased as he began to preach the gospel. He says, the only thing that I want to know about is Jesus Christ and him crucified. The only thing I want to preach about is Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I want to see people being saved and brought from their self-righteousness to the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

What is the reward of those who are resting in their own righteousness? There is no reward. is judgment. Those who have rejected the righteousness of God which is Christ Jesus and are seeking to work out a righteousness for themselves, the reward is judgment. They will fall under the wrath of Almighty God and pay the punishment for their sin.

Cast not away therefore your confidence. who is not speaking about self-righteousness, that is to be got rid of, but is speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, don't be an apostate. Don't cast away your hope. Don't cast away the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't cast away your great high priest. An apostate is someone who rejects the faith, who abandons the faith, who rejects the Lord Jesus Christ.

In verse 26 or in verse 25 it says, not forsaking the assembly of ourselves together as the manner of some is. There were in those times people who came to the meetings claiming to be Christians and then they went away, they apostated, they abandoned the faith. For if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sin. And so he's saying those who have come under the sacrifice of Christ, claiming to be Christians, claiming to be washed with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and they reject this sacrifice. They leave, as it were, leave from underneath the covering of the blood. They sin willfully. They reject the truth. There is no more sacrifice for sin. There's no other sacrifice for sin.

If you abandon Christ, if you abandon the faith, if you go to trust in your own works or in the works of another that isn't the Lord Jesus, then there is no other sacrifice for sin. If you think of Demas, Demas walked with the Apostle Paul in 2nd Timothy chapter 4 and verse 10, it says, for Demas hath forsaken me. He has rejected the faith, having loved this present world and is departed unto Thessalonica. Demas was a man who was with Paul, externally trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for his salvation, but he loved this world. He wasn't willing to lose all for Christ's sake. He was an apostate. He loved the world more than he loved the Lord Jesus Christ. And so he says here, cast not away therefore your confidence. Cast not away your hope. Cast not away the Lord Jesus Christ.

I was thinking this week of coming with the next miracle of Jesus, which is the feeding of the 4,000. But when I was at work, this word came into my mind and it stayed with me. And the way it came in was with this thought. Maybe there is one of you here and you have felt like casting away the faith. You have felt like abandoning the faith. You look to the world like Demas and you see the world and its pleasures. and it's attractive to you. You see the freedom that the people of the world seem to have. You see their friendships. You see their ability that they have to do what they want, their own self-will. to go where they want to go. You see Christianity and the Lord Jesus Christ as a restraining. You feel like you want to run off like the prodigal son and go and have your fill with the things of this world. You want to abandon the faith of your parents or your loved ones and you want to go it alone. There's no thoughts in your mind of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The world, as I read, the world is like Judas. What did Judas do to Jesus? He gave him a kiss. And then he betrayed him. The world is like that. The world appears attractive and loving, wanting to embrace you and to kiss you. But it will deny you. will spit you out. Look at the prodigal son when he came to have nothing he was abandoned and then he returned to his father's house.

Cast not away therefore your confidence Cast not away the Lord Jesus Christ, but draw near to the throne of grace and speak to your Heavenly Father through your Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus, whoever lives to intercede for you.

Perhaps it's a trial that you're passing through and you're thinking of throwing in the towel. These Hebrews, they're being persecuted. And Paul says, cast not away your confidence. Don't throw in the towel. Don't cast it away. Maybe the trial that you are in has been very, very difficult. And you're thinking, well, the Lord hasn't answered my prayer. He's not inclined his ear to me. I haven't seen any evidences of his love being bestowed upon me. And you're thinking, well, if this is Christianity, then I'm just going to ditch it. I'm going to cast it away and go my own way.

But the Bible tells us that we are called to fight Our faith is to be tried, our faith is to be tested, that God waits that he might be greatest. He doesn't have to answer our prayers immediately when we feel that he should answer them, but he answers them in his time and in his way. Just because we, his people, stamp our feet and get cross doesn't mean that he is going to immediately answer our beck and call. If you think of it with children, the closer the children get, the less likely it is that the parents are going to respond. And if you're coming to the throne of grace and you're angry with God and you're stamping your feet, asking and telling God what he should be doing, don't expect an answer very soon. He will deal with you and me as his children.

Cast not away, therefore, your confidence. We are called to fight. Ephesians tells us that we have this armor of God. And this confidence that the writer is speaking about is the product of faith. This confidence flows out of faith that we have in Christ, that he's our mediator. And so he tells us here in the armour of God that we are wrestling not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, because of this, take unto you the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

He tells us, taking the above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the devil. Cast not away therefore your confidence. Don't cast your faith away. You have been given a shield of faith.

And if you remember when we looked at the shield of faith, I said to you, about children sometimes they put on their beds stickers or sometimes you put on the fridge pieces of scripture that have been made precious to you like fear not I am with thee and you put it on your fridge or you put it on your bed or on your wall and so you can see it and it's of a comfort to you and so the believer on the back of his shield he has stickers of texts that have been applied to him in his life and he gains comfort from them.

So as he stands behind his shield of faith, he's looking at these portions of scripture that are of a great comfort. Do you have those? Do you have those scriptures that are of a great comfort to you? Then why would you want to abandon the faith when the Lord has been so good to you for so many years? Why would you want to throw it all away? Why would you want to throw in the towel? When we are called as Christians to continue to press forward. Always pressing forward.

I read of Mr Spurgeon and he had been mountain climbing in the Alps and he was with a friend and they were descending down a very steep slope and it came to a point when it was very, very slippery. And he said to his friend, look, we've got to go back. And the man said to him, you look where you've come from. It's far worse than where you're going. Keep pressing on.

Cast not therefore away your confidence. Don't abandon the faith. Keep looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. Keep using your shield of faith. and the scriptures that have been made a blessing to you, to remind you to keep going forward. And where are you going? You're going to heaven, which has a great recompense of reward. That's the reward where the believer is going to be with Christ, which is far greater.

So because of Jesus Christ, we have this confidence that heaven is sure. the greatness of Christ's sacrifice. If you remember, Peter said to the Lord Jesus Christ, lo we have left all and followed thee. And Jesus says to him that, I'll turn to it, Luke 18, Peter said, Luke 18 verse 28, and Peter said, Lo, we have left all and followed thee. And he said unto him, Verily I say unto you, there is no man that has left houses, nor parents, nor brethren, nor wife, nor children for the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time and in the world to come. life everlasting, that's the reward.

The Lord knows exactly what you have lost, what you have given up, he knows exactly what you are passing through and he will grant you everything and more, but more than that everlasting life. You see if you abandon the faith now, what have you lost? Eternal life, and you remain in eternal darkness, in eternal death, under the wrath of God and judgment of God forever and ever and ever.

Cast not away, therefore, your confidence, which has great recompense of reward. For you have need of patience, that after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise. May the Lord add his blessing. Amen.

We're singing conclusion this morning from Gatsby's 132 to the tune 172.

A friend there is, your voice's joy. Ye saints, to praise his name, whose truth and kindness are divine, whose love's a constant flame, 132.

♪ He sings to praise his name ♪
♪ His truth and kindness are divine ♪
♪ Whose love's a constant flame ♪
♪ When most we need his help today ♪

When he's always near, give him the love that is kind. the same it flows from one eternal source. When friends appear to veil his face and glance around his face the purpose of His grace to make it better known. And if our dearest God He never takes away our all Himself He keeps us still Our sorrow's in the scale He weighs And measures out our pain

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for the Lord Jesus Christ as our mediator and we pray that we may be kept from resting in our own self-righteousness and we pray, Lord, that the Holy Spirit may reveal to us the extent of our sin and draw us to our only hope the Lord Jesus Christ.

We pray, Lord, for any that may have been feeling like they want to walk away and to join with the world. Lord, we ask that they may be arrested by thy spirit and brought to true repentance and to see a beauty in Christ Jesus and the slavery that the world has to offer.

Lord do forgive us and we pray of our many sins and do make up where we fail and now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit to be with you each now and forevermore. Amen. Amen.