CCC Livestream - A Worshipping Community - Hebrews 10:19-39

Live Worship Gathering: 9.20.2026

Preaching: Jason Purdy

I invite you to turn with me to the book of Hebrews.

We will look at Hebrews 10:19-39 today.

We are in week three of a four week sermon series called A Worshipping Community, where we are thinking together about what it means to be in biblical community.

And see why we covenant together not only to be together on Sunday mornings, but also to be in a Community Group that meets in homes.

Our membership covenant reads this way:

Disciple and Care for One Another in Community Groups - The Gospel creates community – we are committed to living life together and challenging one another to grow as disciples of Christ. We are committed to living out the Gospel and its implications for everyday life. Together, we will spur one another on to love and good deeds. We will meet with one another consistently in community groups, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. We will also pray for one another regularly and serve one another selflessly.

I chose this passage of Scripture for our series given the fact that it contains the famous command to not neglect meeting together.

So, I want to proclaim this text showing you how confidence in Christ is tied to confidence one receives from being a faithful covenant member of God’s church.

Now, these twenty verses could be broken down into four sermons easily, but I chose to keep them all together to show you the connection between our confidence in Christ and the confidence we receive in covenant community.

That does mean that there will be some aspects of this passage that I will not give the sufficient attention you may feel it deserves, but that is always the case with God’s word, because there are always more depths to mine, so maybe you will mine some of those depths with your community group that I don’t during this sermon.

The book of Hebrews is a unique New Testament book that encourages believers in Jesus to persevere in the faith, to stay connected to the faith community, and to hold fast to their confession of Jesus as Lord even when things are difficult because Jesus is better and Jesus is worth it.

Have you ever felt like giving up on your faith?

I know I have.

Maybe you have experienced a season with a lot of struggle and disappointments that cause you to question God.

Or maybe you have lacked assurance of your salvation and you just don’t know if you will ever feel confident that you are saved.

Or maybe you are tired of feeling like the outsider with non-Christian family or friends who count you out or treat you badly because of your faith.

Or maybe you have close family or friends who have recently chosen to abandon faith and Jesus, and it has caused you to question your own faith.

Whatever the reason may be, you are not alone.

The receivers of the letter to the Hebrews were under a lot of persecution and pressure that would stop if they would just give up on their confession that Jesus is Lord, and if they would just come on back to the old way of Judaism.

And some people in the church had already caved to the pressure and done just that.

For the author is writing to those who are left to remind them just how much better Jesus is and how remaining in Christian community as a church is vital to persevere in the faith.

Hebrews 10:19–39 ESV

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. 35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. 37 For,

“Yet a little while,

and the coming one will come and will not delay;

38 but my righteous one shall live by faith,

and if he shrinks back,

my soul has no pleasure in him.”

39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

1. Draw Near To Jesus With Confidence

We Christians who still drag around our old sin nature are naturally prone to lack confidence in our relationship with God at times.

But, notice that verses 19-22 list for us five different gospel reasons why we can always and at any time draw near to God with a true heart and the full assurance of faith.

Verse 19: We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus.

In the old covenant, no one could enter the most holy place except for the High Priest, and he could only do it once per year.

If anyone else entered it or even if the High Priest entered it in the wrong way, they immediately died due to the presence of God’s holiness.

But, now that Jesus has come and shed his blood on the cross as the perfect sacrifice for all our sins,

We can now enter the most holy place with confidence.

The most holy place is not longer a place, but God’s presence is always among us, and we have full access to him in relationship and prayer.

Verse 20: by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh.

When Jesus died on the cross, the curtain that blocked the way of the most holy place in the temple was miraculously torn from top to bottom,

Indicating that the way of God is not open to all who trust in Jesus’ perfect sacrifice.

As Jesus body was broken, so was broken the dividing wall between our sinfulness and God’s holiness.

Verse 21: and since we have a Great High Priest over the house of God.

In the Old Covenant, the high priest could only go into the most holy place once a year to atone for the sins of the people.

And, the high priest had to be continually replaced as one would die, another would have to come in.

But now, we have a Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, who sits at the right hand of God the Father always, and is always praying for us with complete and unhindered access, and he is established as our one High Priest forever because he rose to life in the resurrection to live forever a witness as our very righteousness before the Father.

In light of all this gospel truth, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.

Notice, all the reasons why you can have an intimate love relationship with God are because of God.

God gave His son to shed his blood.

God tore open the curtain through Jesus’ flesh.

God has made Christ our great High Priest.

All you must do is believe it in faith.

And with a genuine heart of faith draw near to him.

Your sin cannot stop you.

Jesus defeated your sin.

Your weaknesses cannot stop you.

Jesus is strong in your place.

Your heart is sprinkled clean from an evil conscience.

The blood of Christ purifies us from the inside out.

And our bodies washed with pure water completely clean of all our sin.

That’s why when we are baptized, we get completely immersed in water to give a picture of the all consuming cleansing of sin that Christ has done for us.

God desires and expects for you to know that He loves you and that nothing can ever separate you from His love.

Some people think God wants us to wonder if we are saved or not, because that keeps us coming back,

But that is not true! God never wants his children to wonder if we are safe in his loving arms.

Consider:

1 John 5:13 ESV

13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

God wants you to know that you are His and that you have eternal life in him.

He, like any good father, wants you to believe with your whole heart that He loves you and has done everything in Christ to save you for eternity.

Verse 23: Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

Don’t give up! Jesus is so much better than anything else the world has to offer.

Draw near to him with confidence.

Not confidence in your ability or your sinlessness, but confidence in His great faithfulness.

2. Stir Up One Another To Love And Good Works

Given the great confidence we have in Christ, look at:

verse 24 - And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

The Bible teaches us again and again that the gospel not only reconciles us to God through Christ, but it also reconciles us to brothers and sisters in Christ, making us a faith family who have all been adopted unto salvation by our Father God.

So, the most tangible tool that God uses to encourage our confidence in Christ, and to walk out our confidence in Christ, and to not give up when it is hard is the body of Christ - the church.

This command to have us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works means that Christ calls us to bring out the best in one another.

Is our engagement in relationship with one another in the church bringing out the best in one another?

I certainly see God doing this in me.

Being in a committed covenant relationship with you broadens my sense of God’s love and care for each of us and all of us collectively.

Hearing your stories and seeing how you respond in faith to situations in your life encourages and challenges me.

Knowing your doubts and sin struggles humbles me to confess my own and keeps me from pride or feeling judgmental toward others.

Being in church community always encourages me to look outside of myself, my desires, and my preferences and consider others over myself.

Some days I feel strong in faith, hope, and love and I want to sing out, and lift up your shaking hands.

Other days I feel weak and lifeless, and your faith strengthens and lifts me up.

I run into a situation in my marriage or parenting that I’ve never experienced before and here you are with experience and encouragement!

I forget the promises of God and feel the pressure to perform to be accepted by Him and here you are to remind me of God’s promises and love toward me.

One of the most heart breaking things to me as a pastor is when someone removes themselves from coming to church at the exact moment that life has gotten the hardest or the exact moment where they have sinned the worst.

Because they wrongly believe that if the church only knew the truth, no one would ever see them the same and their loss of whatever reputation they think they had would be too devastating.

And if that were to be the case, what are we doing and what are we here for?

If the church is not about finding God’s grace, love, care, and forgiveness offered in Christ in the midst of our darkest moments, then none of us would be here.

Do not cut yourself off from the love, grace, care, and encouragement that God has provided for you through his church.

In the time of the writing of Hebrews, some stopped gathering with the church family because of persecution.

But notice at the end of verse 25: we gather to encourage and remind one another that the hardships of today will come to an end.

To encourage and remind one another that Jesus will return and make all things new.

That all your difficulties, struggling, and suffering has an end date.

Stay committed to gathering with your faith family to encourage one another until the day we all see Jesus face to face.

3. Do Not Reject The Gracious Covenant Of Christ

Verse 26: For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.

It’s always important to read verses in context, and verse 26 begins with the word “for” which ties it back to what we just read.

So, if you do not draw near to Christ through faith, which then does not lead you to persevere in meeting together to encourage one another in the faith, then you are sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth.

Remember the context: this persecuted church is watching fellow church attenders separate themselves from the fellowship and separate themselves from the confession that Jesus is Lord because the pressure to follow Jesus has become too much for them.

Consider Jesus’ words from:

Matthew 13:20–21 ESV

20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.

One more:

1 John 2:19 ESV

19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

In other words, some people will be for one reason or another drawn to Christ and drawn into Christ’s church, they were sit under gospel preaching, they will engage with the fellowship, but when things get hard, they prove that their faith in Christ was never genuine as they abandon the confession of Christ as Lord and abandon commitment to Christ’s body - the church.

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.

That does not mean that Jesus’ sacrifice is insufficient toward anyone who would repent and believe on him.

And it does not mean that Jesus’ sacrifice is insufficient if you continue to struggle and sometimes fall into sin after conversion. We all do that!

What it means is that if after coming to a knowledge of Jesus’ sacrifice, you choose to reject it, and reject the confession that Jesus is Lord, and reject being part of God’s people, there is no other hope apart from Christ’s sacrifice that can save you!

So, if you reject Christ, His sacrifice, and His people, all you can expect is God’s judgment and the fury of the fires of hell.

For there is only one name under heaven by which men can be saved, and it is the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Verse 28: Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.

See in the Old Covenant, if you did not by faith receive the law of Moses as God’s word and God’s blessing and rejected it and went and worshipped and served pagan gods, you were to die without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.

Verse 29: How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who had trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?

In other words, if the blessings of the New Covenant are far superior to the old covenant, then the curse from rejecting the new covenant is more severe as well.

Once again, I am convinced this is not talking about a person who was genuinely converted then loses their salvation.

I believe the Bible teaches in the strongest terms that those who are genuinely saved with persevere in faith until the end.

Instead, the author is talking about someone who for a time took interest in Christ, learned the gospel, seemed to be set apart with the rest of the church, but proved that they never had genuine faith by completely abandoning their confession of Jesus as Lord and abandoning God’s people - the church.

They, as all unbelievers, will finally fall into the hands of the living God, and He will mete out his righteous judgment upon them.

4. Partner With One Another In The Faith To Cultivate Endurance

Okay, notice with me, our passage began with confidence in Christ leading to the confidence we receive in relationship to one another.

Then it moved into the section about those who do not place their confidence in Christ, so they finally reject Him and the fellowship,

But now, the writer is going to encourage all the genuine followers of Jesus in the church by once again pointing them toward their commitment to one another in church community.

It is like he is saying, “You are not like the people who have fallen away and rejected the covenant because you have remained faithful to Christ and His community of believers.

Verse 32-33: But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.

Okay, so after the people who ended up rejecting Jesus and the church came to a knowledge of the truth, they rejected and abandoned the faith and the church,

But after you genuine believers were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, but you are still here confessing Christ and committed to the gathering so that should give you great confidence that your faith is genuine.

What was the hard struggle with sufferings? Some in the church were being publicly reproached and afflicted for confessing Jesus, and the rest stood in solidarity with them.

Verse 34: For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.

It seems the situation the church had experienced was that the Jews and others around them were mocking the Christians and even throwing some in jail for confessing Jesus as Lord, and this caused the fake followers of Jesus to abandon the confession and the church.

But, the real followers of Jesus stood in solidarity with their brothers and sisters in Christ and even went to feed and comfort them in prison, although the persecutors would go to the houses of the ones who visited them in prison and would plunder their property.

But notice, the true church joyfully accepted the plundering of their property because they knew by faith that they have a better and abiding possession waiting for them.

There is great freedom in being committed to Christ and His church no matter what.

No fear of loss, no fear of death, I’m going to love Christ, and I’m going to love His church no matter what.

Verse 35: Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.

I take great joy in the fact that God is sovereign over my life, and He is going to keep me here to do all that He will’s and then He is going to take me to receive what is promised exactly when He wills.

And that is just as true of you.

So, for now, we have need of endurance.

We need to stir up one another to love and good deeds and encourage one another to press on to the end.

You’ve come this far. Don’t throw away your confidence now!

Stand in your confession of Christ as Lord and stand in solidarity with your fellow church members.

Don’t neglect them.

The writer closes the passage by quoting the book of Habakkuk.

Verse 37: Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.

You see, Jesus’ coming to judge the wicked, and to make all things new along with His redeemed people is sure and certain.

He is sovereignly leading all things to this good end and will stop at nothing to bring it about,

But, at the present time, we must live by faith.

We must not shrink back now, but continue to entrust our souls to our redeemer Jesus Christ, and continue to be about the work of loving one another, and sharing his gospel with the world around us.

Notice the confidence the author displays in those who continue in their confession and continue with the church community in verse 39.

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

I want you to note, one more time with me, that not one time in this passage do we read that we take confidence in our salvation because we never fall into sin, and because we never struggle, and because we are not tempted to give up on our faith.

Instead, we take confidence in our salvation because Jesus has offered us a much better love, and much better promises, and a much greater sacrifice, and an eternal life that compares to nothing else this world has to offer.

And we take confidence in our salvation through committing ourselves to Jesus’ people in the church, and continuing to come together to worship, and spur one another on in the faith, and encourage one another to press on until we see Jesus face to face.

Let me ask you:

When we gather together for worship and community groups, are you asking yourself how you can be an encouragement to others in their faith?

Are you showing up even when you don’t feel like it because you know your presence is going to be an encouragement to others faith?

Are you ready to respond with love, grace, care, and concern when a fellow church member shares with you a sin struggle you had no idea they were struggling with?

Are you ready to show the love, care, and compassion of Christ even when it costs you something?

Have you centered your life around Christ’s gospel and Christ’s church in order to be confident in Him and in order to endure until the end?

Let’s pray.

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