I've already brought six messages
out of this 10th chapter of Hebrews. It's one of my favorite chapters
in the Bible. And something that kept coming to me is I want to
bring one message simply from verse 23. And I hope it's the
spirit of God that has inspired me to bring this message. And I hope that this will be
an intensely personal message for each one of us as we consider
our confession, our profession. The same word
in the original. I've entitled this message, Holding
Fast Our Profession. Let's read verse 23 again. Let
us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, without
bending, without giving an inch Four, he is faithful that promised. Let us hold fast our profession. The word hold fast means to detain,
like you detain someone. You keep that person from leaving. It means to retain. It means
to keep from going away. That is what we're called upon
to do with our confession, our profession, to hold it fast. Now, this word preceded the warning
of verse 26 that we considered last week. For if we sin willfully. after that we've received the
knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for
sins. Now look in chapter two, verse
one. This book is filled with warnings. Therefore, we, not just you,
we, ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we've
heard, lest at any time we let them slip. Chapter three, verse
six, but Christ is a son over his own house, whose house are
we if, don't miss that if, that's an evidential if, if we hold
fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. Look in verse 14, for we are
made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence
steadfast unto the end. Chapter 4 verse 1, let us therefore
fear lest a promise being left us
of entering into his rest Any of you should seem to come short
of it. Verse 11, let us labor therefore
to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example
of unbelief. Now, I do not want to fall away. I want to persevere all the way
to the end. I do not want to be an apostate. I want to hold fast the confession
of my faith without wavering. Let us hold fast the profession
of our faith. Who is the us? Let us hold fast,
retain, don't let it leave the profession of our faith. Well, the us. are the ones that are not of
them. Look in Hebrews chapter 10, verse
39. But we are not of them. Verse
39, Hebrews 10. But we are not of them who draw
back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of
the soul. Now there is us, and there is
them. I wanna be in the us, don't you?
I do not want to be in this group designated as them. I think of what John said in
1 John 2, verse 19, they went out from us, but they were not
all of us. For if they had been, of us,
they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that
they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. So in the context, the us is
those who are not of verse 26, if we sin willfully. after that we've received the
knowledge of the truth. There remaineth no more sacrifice for
sins." Now, this phrase, let us, is found frequently in the
book of Hebrews. Look in, I'm just going to read
these that I called them in, chapter four, verse one. Let us therefore fear, verse
11. Let us labor, therefore, to enter
into that rest. Verse 14. Seeing that we have
a great high priest that's passed into the heavens, Jesus, the
Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. Verse 16. Let
us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace. Look at
chapter six, verse one. Therefore, leaving the principles
of the doctrines of Christ, let us go on unto perfection. Chapter 10, verse 19, having
therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the
blood of Jesus, look in verse 22, let us draw near with a true
heart in full assurance of faith. Verse 25, or verse 24, let us consider one
another to provoke, to love and to good works. Chapter 12, verse
1. Let us run with patience the
race that set before us. He said earlier in that verse,
let us lay aside every weight and that sin which death so easily
beset us. Look in verse 28. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom
without this is chapter 12, verse 28. Wherefore we receiving a
kingdom, which cannot be moved. Let us have grace whereby we
may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. Chapter 13, verse one, let brotherly
love continue. Verse five, let your conversation
be without covetousness. Verse 15, by him therefore, let
us offer the sacrifices of praise to God continually. So you see,
this is a very strong, strong theme in this book, this exhortation,
let us. And in verse 23 of Hebrews chapter
10, let us hold fast, hold on to, hold tightly to. Somebody may be thinking, are
you saying we can lose it? Well, if you don't have it, you
can. If you have it, you won't. And
the way that you'll keep it is by him causing you to hold it
fast. Let us hold fast the confession
of our faith. What is meant by the word profession
or confession? When he talks about our profession,
our confession, this is something deeply personal. This is something
deeply individual, my personal confession, my profession. What is meant by this word profession? It's very important. I'm not
saved by my confession or my profession. I'm saved because
God elected me. I'm saved because Christ died
for me. I'm saved because God the Holy Spirit gave me life.
I'm not saved by my profession or my confession, but I'm not
saved apart from my personal profession or confession. Listen to these scriptures. If
thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in
thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt
be saved. For with the mouth, confession
is made. With the heart, man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made
unto salvation. Now there is no salvation apart
from confession. The word confession is the noun
form of the verb to confess. To confess. It's something we
all know something about. It means literally to speak the
same thing. To speak the same thing. To assent. To agree. Now this lets us know, first
of all, that our confession is not subjective. It better be,
if I'm confessing the truth and you're confessing the truth,
we better be confessing the same thing. Somebody says, well, here's
what this means to me. Here's my take on this. And I
don't want to be disrespectful. I don't want to be harsh, but
I don't care what it means to you. I want to know what it means.
I don't care what your take on it is. I want to know the truth
of what it is believers confess. There's something public about
this and there's something objective about this. What we confess is what all believers
believe without exception. It's called the common faith,
the faith which is common to all without exception. Now, there's no controversy in
our confession. Listen to this scriptural. And
Paul said without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness,
literally confessedly. That's the word, confessedly. This is what all believers confess
from the very depths of their heart. Great is the mystery of
godliness. Do you confess that? Confessedly
is what every believer confesses. Great is the mystery. of godliness. Now this is objective.
This is the objective truth of the word of God and we agree
to it ourselves. It becomes subjective. When we
confess, the objective truth becomes subjective to us. I mean,
it becomes ours. It becomes that which comes from
the very depths of our heart. But first of all, it's the objective
truth of the gospel. Now there's something public
about true confession. What you believe in your heart,
you will publicly confess before men. Let me give you a couple
of scriptures. Whoso confesseth me before men, him will I confess before my
father. which is in heaven, but whoso
denieth me before men, him will I deny before my Father which
is in heaven." There's something public, there's a public identification
with what you're confessing. Now, you may not even be able
to articulate it with a sentence that makes sense, but you believe
it. And you're going to identify with that. I'm not talking about
somebody being able to use the right words. I'm talking about
somebody from their heart. They confesses the gospel, and
they might not even be able to articulate it as they want to,
but by the grace of God, they'll die for the gospel they believe.
And they want to identify with the gospel publicly. A confession is an admission
of guilt. If we confess our sins, If we agree with what God says
about our sins. If we take sides with God against
ourself, there's agreement, isn't there? There's agreement. We
confess our sins. He's faithful and just to forgive
us of our sins and to cleanse us from all iniquity. There's
a public confession. I think of what Paul said in
Acts chapter 24 verse 14. He said the things they've accused
me of, they can't prove them. But this I do confess unto thee.
I confess this, I plead guilty, I'll bear the consequences. This
I do confess unto thee, that after the way, which they call
heresy, so worship I. the God of my father's believing
all things which are written in the law and in the prophets. There is an openness in a confession. Open is not trying to hide it. Not trying to bring it in such
a way as maybe you'll be misunderstood. Using great plainness of speech,
but you know, in the scripture, when we talk about this thing
of public confession, you know what the believers actual public
confession of Jesus Christ is baptism. In Mark chapter one verse four,
let me go to the scriptures to show that that's what the scripture
teach. It says, they were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing
their sins. Now, does that mean before they
went through the act of baptism, they got before everybody and
started confessing their sins? No, that's unclean. The only
person you're to confess your sins to is the Lord. This is
not talking about confessing your sins to other men and then
you're ready for baptism. What this means is the act of
baptism is the actual act of the confessing of sin. Somebody
says, how so? When I understand what baptism
is, And I confess Christ in believer's baptism. I am saying by that
action, I am so sinful that the only way I can be saved
is if when Christ lived, I was in him. And when he died, I was
in him. And he put away my sins. And
when he was raised, I was raised in Him, saved by what He did. That is the believer's public
confession. It's not coming down front and
shaking the preacher's hand and making some kind of statement.
It is the act of believer's baptism. Baptism is so important. Does
it save anybody? Of course it doesn't. You can
dunk down in the water and come back up. It's not going to do
anything for you. It's only when you understand what it means.
Somebody says, well, I was baptized when I was seven years old. Did
you know the gospel then? Then you weren't baptized. You
just went underwater and came back up. Somebody says, well,
I've been baptized two or three times. No, only one time are
you baptized as a believer. It's believer's baptism. And
that is the believer's confession of the Lord Jesus Christ. The writer says with regard to
confession, and I've already read this passage of scripture
in Hebrews chapter 13, let us offer the sacrifice of praise
continually, that is the fruit of our lip, giving thanks. to
his name. You know that word giving thanks
is actually confessing his name. Now what that means is what you
confess is what you're thankful for. I mean this is the gospel
to you. You love what you're confessing. It's not just reading in a document
or somebody's confession of faith and knowing the right answer
to give. No, this is something you love. It's called a giving
of thanks. And that's how this confession
is so personal. It's what you love. You love
this more than anything. Who it is, you're confessing.
In Matthew chapter 14, verse seven, the same word is translated
promise. This is what we really believe. We promise. This is what I believe in my
heart. This is who I believe in my heart. We promise. Now this is when
the objective truth becomes subjective and we rejoice. We're thankful. We promise this is our hope. Now this word profession or confession
is used six different times in the New Testament. And each time,
it gives us another angle as to what it means. Listen to this,
2 Corinthians 8 and 9, or 9, 13, the subject of 2 Corinthians
8 and 9 is giving. That's what the subject is. And
when he closes this chapter, in chapter 9, verse 13, he speaks
of your professed subjection to the gospel and your liberal
distribution. You know what that means? When
you confess Christ, you give. You give your time. You give your time. It was very sad. I was talking
to somebody once I ran across that had pretty much quit attending
services and they said to me, I'm just very busy. How sad. If you profess Christ, you give
your time. You give your money, you give yourself. You give yourself. First Timothy 6.12, Paul said
to Timothy, you've professed a good profession before many
witnesses. Now that word good means beautiful
and excellent. You adorn what you confess. Christ is said to have a good
confession before Pontius Pilate, knowing what it would cost him. In Hebrews 3.1, we read of the
apostle and high priest of our confession. He's the object of
our confession. He's the subject of our confession.
And we read in Hebrews 4.14, seeing we have such a high priest
that's passed into heavens, let us hold fast our confession. Now, let us hold our confession,
but listen to this. Let us hold fast the confession
of our faith. Now, I think this is very interesting.
That word, the Greek word is elpis. It's found 54 times in the New
Testament. 53 of those times is translated hope. I'm not really
sure why the translators translated it faith and Hebrews 10, 23, but 50 at three other times,
every time you read the word hope, this is the word look in
Hebrews 11, one. Now faith is the substance of
things. Hope for that's the word. That's the word, the confession
of our hope. Romans 8, 24 says we're saved
by hope. Now that doesn't mean our subjective
feeling of hope saves us, but it means the hope we have is
who saves us. We're saved by hope. Romans 15, 13, God is called
the God of hope. 1 Corinthians 13, 13 says now
abideth faith, hope, and charity. 2 Corinthians 3, 12 says seeing
we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech. We don't
try to cover it up in any way. We want to make it as clear as
we can. In Ephesians 4, verse 4, we read
there is one hope. There's not two. There's one. Hope means a confident expectation. Paul said, we wait. Confident
expectation. We wait. If you believe it's
coming, you'll wait. We wait for the hope of righteousness
by faith. Colossians 127, Christ in you,
the hope of glory. We read in 2 Thessalonians 2,
16, of a good hope through grace. And this is what makes it a good
hope. It's all of grace. You know, any kind of unhappiness
or depression or misery that you might experience or that
I might experience is when we forget this. Salvation's all
of grace. And the good hope is the good
hope through grace. Now, I'd like you to turn to
this scripture. Turn with me to 1 Peter chapter
3. 1 Peter 3. Verse 15. Peter begins with this statement,
but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. Now just the way
that word is used pretty much destroys what most religious
people thinks it means. Does this mean I can sanctify
God? I can make Him holy? No, of course you can't. But you can regard Him as holy
in your heart. That's what you do. You regard
him holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. All the saints adore
thee, casting down their golden crowns before the glassy sea.
Only thou art holy. There is none beside thee perfect
in power and love and purity. Every believer does this. Sanctify, regard as holy. regard as other. We're getting some idea of what
holy means when we remember it's other. God is other. That means he's utterly unlike
me and you. He's unlike any created thing.
He's other. I would be making almost an understatement
when I say he's in class by himself. There's none like him. He said, there is none like me. Regard him as holy, but sanctify
the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an
answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that
is in you with meekness and with fear. Now, what that says is
that somebody that's around me on a daily basis and sees who
I am, they ought to be asking me, not me trying to shove it
down their throats, but they ought to be asking me a reason
for the hope that's in me. Now the reason they ought to
be asking me that is because they see the way I treat them. I don't judge them. They don't
feel threatened by me. I'm not trying to manipulate
them. I'm not trying to make them a part of my soul winning
efforts. I am respectful to them. I love
them. I'm gracious toward them. Now
I've got to confess to my shame, it didn't happen with me. I've
never had somebody come up and see the way I've treated them
in such a gracious, kind, nonjudgmental way and say, give me a reason
for the hope that's in you. That hasn't happened yet. I hope
it does one of these days. And well, maybe I should, I sure
hope it does. I sure hope it does. I treat
somebody that they're going to ask me that question. Maybe they
see the way I deal with the trials of life. They see circumstances
that come my way and they don't see me get angry at God and angry
at people, or they don't see me filled with anxiety. They
see a calm trust in my Redeemer. And they look at me and they
say, what is the reason for the hope that's in you? Wouldn't
you like somebody to come up tomorrow and ask you that? What's
the reason for the hope that is in you? Now remember, hope is something
that you do not see. Scripture says that. Well, it
says they see your conduct, I know, but a hope is something you cannot
see. Hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth, why doth
he get hope for it? That's what the scripture says. What is the reason for your hope? What is your hope and what is
the reason for your hope? Well, let me give you my answer.
First, I want to give you what my hope is. My hope right now
as I'm speaking to you, and I'm talking about a confident expectation,
my hope is that Christ is gonna say to me, come thou blessed
of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world. My hope is that Jesus Christ
is gonna say to Todd Nybert, me, well done, thou good and
faithful servant. And let me say this, I have to
say this, The only reason he's going to say that to me is because
Jesus Christ the Lord did well. He is the good and the faithful
servant. And if I'm in him, I'm a good
and faithful servant. And really this hope is all founded
on justification. You see, if I'm justified, and
that's what Christ did. Remember, he was delivered for
our offenses. He was raised again for our justification. If I'm
justified, that means I've never sinned. I've never done anything
for him to be angry with me or disappointed with me. If I'm
justified, I've only done that which is pleasing to him. That's my hope. On judgment day,
bold shall I stand in that great day, for who ought to my charge
shall lay, fully absolved from these I am, from sin's tremendous
curse and shame. I believe that I stand before
God without guilt. Now, I can't see it, but you
can't see what you're hoping in, can you? You believe it.
And I have a hope. I have that hope with regard
to judgment day, and I've got a hope that everything between
now and then And everything that happened before then is working
together for my eternal good and his glory. Everything, everything
that takes place, doesn't matter what it is. It's working together
for my good. Now, can I see that? No. Do I believe it with all my heart? Now somebody says, well, that's
quite a hope to think that you stand before God without sin
justified, that everything's working together for your glory.
That's quite a hope. Give me a reason for that hope.
I'll give you a reason for that hope. Jesus Christ. That's my
only answer. The Lord Jesus Christ. Let me show you that in scripture.
Turn to first Timothy chapter one. Paul, verse one, Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God, our savior and Lord Jesus
Christ. Notice that which is, is in italics. It would be better left off.
I love saying it this way. Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,
our hope, that hope that I have is found in this one person,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now every aspect of salvation
is Jesus Christ. I have a hope that I'm one of
the elect. And you know what? I know the reason for that. According
as he has chosen us in him. I have a hope of being redeemed
because he redeemed me. I have a hope of being justified
Because He justified me. He is our hope. I love the way,
you know, perhaps one of the best ways to describe regeneration,
maybe this is the best way, Christ in you, the hope, the hope of
glory. All of my hope is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Has nothing to do with my works.
Has nothing to do with my preaching. Has nothing to do with my praying.
It has nothing to do with my efforts. All of my hope is in
the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, when I'm finally glorified
in my experience, you know how it's gonna come to me? By seeing
Him as He is. When we see Him as He is, we'll
be like Him. Just one glance, when He comes
back and I see Him as He is, I'll be just like Him. He is our hope. Now, notice He
says to give them this with meekness and fear, with respect. Meekness
and fear. Now back to our text. Let me
close. Let us hold fast the profession
of our hope, Christ only, without wavering. Christ is the only
hope I have. And I don't have any other hope.
And I'm not going to bend by the grace of God. I'm not going
to retreat. I'm not going to give in an inch.
Christ Jesus is my only hope. No compromise, no retreat. Christ is all my hope. Now, he says, let us hold fast
the profession of our faith without wavering. And here's how we do
it. For he is faithful. That promise. That is how I'm going to hold
fast the profession of my faith without wavering for he is faithful
that promised. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name. And because you're faithful that
promised that you would enable us to hold fast the confession
of our faith without wavering. And Lord, we ask that you would
give us grace to have someone ask us the reason for the hope
that's in us, and that we might be enabled with joy to give our
answer. Bless this message for Christ's
sake, in his name we pray, amen.