Faithful Alliance

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Standing Firm in a "No Obligation" Culture

The title of today's message is "Faithful Alliance" and our text comes from Hebrews chapter 10:19-25.

As we begin, I want to highlight a few things about church, serving Jesus, and how we walk in sanctification. What's sanctification? Sanctification is another way to say "pursuit of holiness" in our life. Now, this can be a hard discussion for some.

You see, we live in a culture that over the last 20 to 30 years has put a premium on doing less. We value no obligation and flexibility. Anything—any gadget, any process, any task, any shortcut—is automatically viewed as beneficial. That is our default. Can it save time or effort? Well, then I'm in. It's an automatic reflex.

For some things, it's a good reason, right? I mean, think post-hole digger: power or by hand? How about one-touch dishwasher? Or would you rather stand at the sink for 45 minutes? See, some things are no-brainers. But should everything be like that? No, of course not. And that is part of the issue we are dealing with as a society.

Example: we have immediate instant foods and processed foods proven to be detrimental to our health. So, we gain weight at an incredible pace. Then we want instant weight loss—pills or surgery or any way we can get our younger bodies back as soon as possible with as little effort as possible.

How about a repair job on a machine or structure? Rush that and problems can ensue, right? Or how about communication with a loved one? "Come on, cut to the chase. I got things to do."

What about your walk with Jesus in your sanctification process? How do we seriously walk out our faith with Jesus when we live in a mental state of always wanting no obligation, cancel whenever you want, little or no effort, corner-cutting life hacks that will save us time and energy? How do you have a growing, advance-the-kingdom, good-ground church when that worldview is constantly swirling around it?

That's the reality of modern culture. Now add in the great falling away that we are seeing right before our eyes, and we have a challenge on our hands, don't we?

A Church That Meets You Where You Are

So I want you to think about something today. How great is it that you are in a place that wants to meet you where you're at and allow you to put the expectations of service to this body of Christ, the expectations of your journey with the Lord, your walk with Christ squarely on yourself? You are going to decide. No arm twisting, no guilt trips, simply settled truth amongst a collection of people who actually want to strive to see their own walk with Christ enhance. And they actually want to strive to see the kingdom of Jesus go forth, see the kingdom advance.

Here at Fresh Encounter Church, we have wiped away many of the pretenses that can burden. We've eliminated many of the rules you must follow in order to allow you the freedom to experience growth in Christ in a very flexible way.

Now in doing that, we've created two obvious byproducts of that environment. Whether intentional or unintentional, it doesn't matter. Two byproducts are created because of how we have set this church up, how we've turned from a Bible study to a fellowship to a church.

There are two sets of people. Now listen, this is not exhaustive, nor is it exclusive. It's not like you fall into one camp or the other, but it's pretty good in general terms:

If you have an unbiblical belief system, you can attend here and feel welcome and consider what serving Christ looks like alongside folks who trust Jesus, trust the Bible as their final authority. And these folks will love you as a fellow human being. I've seen it.
You will have people who put the Bible mandates into practice and do so not under compulsion or obligation, but out of their own free will, living out their freedom in Christ. They serve, they pray, they consume God's word. They show up. Huge value of being alongside folks who are doing what they can when they can.

It's awesome. It creates an incredible rare situation where you're hanging with people who want to be a part of something that is bigger than themselves. And that can't be faked, nor can it be manufactured. It's watching a God thing happen. And that is the best place in the world to be. Nothing matches it.

See, Jesus is bigger than each of us. And collectively, we choose to gather. We choose to serve with our time, talents, and treasure. And the place to do that is always in a local church.

Ah, but there's the rub, isn't it? Especially for the "no obligation, you're not the boss of me" modern culture. Finding that church where one can plug in and dig in can quite possibly be a mystery to many. And it's quite the emotional roller coaster for many people out there.

You know the story that goes: there was a man on a deserted island, and when he was rescued, they noticed he had three huts. They asked him, "Well, what are these three huts?" "Oh, the first one, that's where I live." "And what about the second one?" "Oh, the second one, that's my church." "Well, what's the third one?" "Oh, that's where I used to go to church."

So, what is a solid church? And how do we handle the fact that many places called a church are really nothing but religious fan clubs with a focus on their own significance?

I'm here to testify that although we have our flaws, this place, Fresh Encounter Church, is in fact a "good ground" church and a place that will hold to biblical authority in our teaching, in our singing, and in our sharing.

What is a "good ground" church? Well, that phrase comes from the Bible verses where Jesus talks about the farmer scattering seeds. Where does the seed land? On hard ground, in thorny ground, in different places—but it also lands in good ground. And the good ground produces fruit.

Here we will stay true to the narrow path of scripture. The narrow path that at times is difficult but brings the most incredible joy and peace that passes all understanding.

We, Us, Our: The Community of Faith

As we look at our text today from Hebrews 10:19-25, there are three different words that should pop out for you: we, us, and our. It's "we have confidence," "us through the curtain," "we have a great priest," "us draw near," "our hearts sprinkled," "our bodies washed," "us hold fast our hope," "us consider how to stir up one another."

And as we come together as an "us," we do so to fight off isolation.

Before we talk about isolation, I want to sprinkle a little truth, especially to the older crowd. When we get into our 50s and 60s and even into our 70s, there's a growing sense of what is called "social narrowing." Social narrowing is not isolation. In fact, social narrowing is many times a blessing directly from God.

What is social narrowing? As we age, there are fewer contacts, fewer phone calls, fewer invitations, and even when invitations come, fewer acceptances, and sometimes even fewer friends. God is sovereign over the believer's life, the entire life of the believer, not just the young active years, but God will look out for us for our entire journey.

Many times we misunderstand the difference from our productive years to our reflective years. In our older years, God prepares us in a reflective way, in a waiting way. What God does in the later years with the soundly saved believers is He loosens the grip of worldly things from the heart and mind of the redeemed. Why? In order to tighten our hold on Him in the life to come.

Psalm 73:25 tells us as much: "Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth I desire beside you." That is not normally a young person's statement. MacArthur calls that verse "a conclusion of a soul that has been weaned off the world." That kind of deep clarity often doesn't come till we've lived long enough to see the limitations and the fleeting nature of human relationships.

Many times when God begins to separate you from people, it's not always a negative thing. It's not always a subtraction. It can be a divine blessing for the sake of an eternal addition. Many times that kind of moving of God in our world to narrow our social sphere serves to lift various distractions and allow us all the more time in our latter years particularly to hear the still small voice of the Spirit.

The Danger of Isolation

That being said, it doesn't take away from the reality that we should never try to live the Christian life in isolation. That is a big challenge for us, especially with the independent American spirit that dominates our times.

Are you isolated? Are you always trying to do things on your own? Do you get caught up in the vortex of this cycle of crying out to the Lord, repenting of this thing that snares you, asking God to forgive you one more time? You say to yourself, "I'm not going back to whatever the sin is that trips us up." Different for each person, but you're probably thinking of something right now.

Then it happens again and again and over and over and over again. And you want to break this cycle. You want to know the facts? The fact is, if you're alone, if you are in self-afflicted isolation, chances are you will not find the long-term victory you so desperately crave. When you're alone, it is much harder to find your way out.

But see, in these verses, "let us hold fast," "let us consider how to stimulate one another." Do you see it?

Sometimes we need technical help—what I mean by that is we need techniques to help us. Sometimes we need spiritual help—going to the foot of the cross, seeking the throne of God. In both cases, the best thing you can do is go for it with others, not being alone.

That is why if you are married, your marriage is of the utmost importance. If you look around when Christians get taken down, it's almost always through some sort of marital conflict. And when I say marital conflict, I'm talking about faithfulness. I'm talking about togetherness. I'm talking about unity. In a marriage, the two become one.

If God has you single in this season, your church friends and family are even more important. Yes. Another reason to attend and be deep into a good ground church.

The Time Is Now

And the other thing about these verses I read to you today is the when? When do you do this? When do you get more intentional in the "us" and "we"? It says, "When you see the day drawing near." Are we in fact seeing the day drawing near?

The Context of Hebrews

Let's get the context of what I read to you. The book of Hebrews was written to Jewish converts. These people had been saved from an ancient system of bondage to a law they could not keep. But keep in mind, the rituals and demands of the law were all that they knew. They didn't know anything else.

The book of Hebrews suggests that some of these converts were considering a return to Judaism. They were having a difficult time leaving the rituals and ceremonies of their old life behind. They were clinging to their old religion and their old methods of worship. Some of them had already walked away from their commitment to Jesus, from the church. They had gone back to their old life. They had returned to Judaism.

After proving that Jesus Christ and his gospel are vastly superior to Judaism, the writer of Hebrews closes by challenging Jewish believers to remain faithful to Jesus and to their faith in him.

As part of the message, he mentions two ways for people to hear the gospel and how they can respond:

First, in verses 19-25, which I read to you today, it teaches us that some receive the gospel and are in fact saved. These people are given challenges they must follow to endure and continue the blessings of the church.It's kind of like talking to two people, like on two hands. Like on one hand, come to Jesus and be forgiven. On the other hand, now that you've been redeemed, let us hold fast together. Stimulate one another onward.
If you then read past that in verses 26-31, it speaks about those people who reject the gospel of grace, who reject the gospel, face certain condemnation. The context concerns those who have abandoned their faith and gone back to their old way of life.The abandonment of the truth demonstrates they were never truly saved to begin with. It says they "trampled underfoot the son of God" and they "regard the blood of Christ as an unclean thing."

The Faithful Alliance Is Challenged

The whole book of Hebrews gives us some challenges. That's point number one today of our message: The faithful alliance is challenged. These challenges are identified by three "let us" commands. Each of these "let us" statements tell us something we should do or avoid doing.

Consider the "let us" commands as they teach us about what faithful people do, what the faithful alliance is about. These verses give us a glimpse into what genuinely born-again people do as they are part of a good ground local church.

1. Enter In and Draw Near

The first challenge for us is to enter in and draw near. These verses tell us how it is possible to enter into the presence of God and for us to draw near to him. This is a call to repentance and surrender. If you already know Jesus, you've already experienced this part of that passage.

The statement in verses 19 and 20 would have sounded strange to the Jewish reader. He tells them to enter into a holy place—with boldness, with confidence. And he tells them that there is a new and living way into the presence of God.

How familiar are you with the old Jewish system? Let me remind you, it was a closed system, as were most religious systems of the ancient world. Under the Jewish system, no one could approach God but the high priest, and he could only do so on the day of atonement, and only then with the blood of an innocent sacrifice to atone for his own sins before he went in. Humans were barred from the presence of a holy God.

When Jesus came and died on the cross, he made a way for all those who receive him to enter the presence of God. When the veil of Christ's flesh was broken on the cross, the way was open to God for all who were willing to enter.

Do you remember at the crucifixion, the veil in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom? Physically impossible for men to do. It had to be from God. Tore it right in two. Why? It opened up the Holy of Holies. So that we could enter in.

When Jesus, our high priest, entered the Holy of Holies with his blood, he left open the way for us to follow. He shed his blood as an invitation for us to actually enter the actual presence of God.

The word "have" used in our text today is used three times in these verses. It speaks of a present possession. We have some precious possessions because of what Jesus did for us on the cross:

Verse 19: We have a boldness to enter into salvation. The way has been open and we are invited to come. If you haven't come to Jesus, you should and you should do it today.
Verse 21: We have a high priest. Our translation calls it "great priest." We have a man on the inside praying for us and guaranteeing us that we will be accepted when we enter into that presence of God.
Verse 22: We have clean hearts and new lives. The Jewish worshipper was never truly clean. Even the high priest had to cleanse himself every time he entered the tabernacle or the temple.

Things are different for us. When a sinner comes to Jesus by faith, he is cleansed by the blood of Jesus once and for all. When the heart is cleansed by the blood of Jesus, the outward human is also affected. Because we are clean in his sight, we have an open invitation to enter the presence of God at any time. In fact, we are commanded to do so. That's really cool. That's really awesome for the saved believer.

2. Grip and Hold Tight

And then what do we do? We've got to grip and hold tight. Point number two is: The faithful alliance holds fast. We are told to hold fast the profession of our faith. This means that since we claim to have hope in Jesus, since we say we are saved and headed to heaven someday, we are to live out that hope by remaining faithful to him.

Some of these Jewish converts were having a hard time. They couldn't make a complete break from their old religious system. They were trying to hold on to both their Jewish roots and Jesus, too. And the writer tells them to beware unless they turn away from Christ and go back to their old lives.

Now, there's a danger for all of us in that as well. Most of us were not saved out of religion, but we were saved out of the darkness of our own sin. There is always the danger we might turn back to the world. And here in this text, we are challenged to be faithful to the Lord who saved our souls by grace. And we are challenged to do it together.

The Rebel Alliance

A friend of mine wrote a piece comparing Star Wars and the Christian journey in modern times. It inspired me to name this sermon "The Faithful Alliance" from the Rebel Alliance, and to share some of this insight with you during this message today.

To the human mind and emotion, isn't there something strangely beautiful about a rebellion? We all cheer for the Rebel Alliance in Star Wars. Now, let's get context. I'm not talking about the loud, arrogant, sinful type of rebellion. I'm talking about the quiet, roughed up kind. The kind that knows it is outgunned and outnumbered.

Think Revolutionary War. Think about our quest for freedom from tyranny. Outgunned, outnumbered, but still refuses to bow. We love it. The small, underfunded, poorly equipped rebellion staring down a massive, wealthy, well-organized empire.

The empire has everything. Money, media, momentum. But what about the Rebel Alliance? What about the faithful alliance? Well, it has heart. It believes in something deeply unshakable. The cause lives down in their bones, down in their gut. It always is there.

I'm talking about the kind of determination that can't be bought and most certainly can't be faked. It is so strong. It doesn't come from success or size. It comes from a conviction put there by God himself. It's an unrelenting knowledge of the truth and it is worth fighting for, even if the whole world calls you an idiot.

But let's be honest, not many have that heart, especially in the culture I explained at the beginning of the message. Instead, they look at the faithful alliance and recoil. It's too small, too old school, too costly, too uncomfortable, too restrictive.

So they drift. They cozy up to the empire many times while still claiming to be part of the faithful alliance. They want ease. They want the luxury. They want the significance. They want the relevance. Being liked and known as rational and inclusive by the people of the empire.

And we see folks drifting to the place where they trade truth for a smile from the empire people who really don't even care about them. Many times it happens slowly, quietly, to their own eternal shame.

Don't look at this as just another illustration. The empire, whatever form it takes, is always the world in rebellion to God. And the rebel alliance or the faithful alliance, that is the church, the modern remnant church.

And that church simply isn't on every corner in every town. It's not. We authentic historical Christians are not the majority. Even in places that call themselves Christian, we are a small group getting smaller. We are not influential. We are not theologically trendy.

We have the scriptures. We have redemption. And we have each other. We have a bond. A bond we are eager and willing to share with others who seek to have the same benefit in their journey. That is the rebellion. That is where the fight is.

We're not chasing numbers. We're not aiming for the spotlight. We're not chasing clout. We want to put the word out there for as many people as God chooses. But we just do it faithfully and leave the results to him. Why? Because we are confessing Christ crucified for the forgiveness of our sins. So, come what may.

Are You Embarrassed or Embracing?

And yet, how many are ashamed of this? How many people see the awesome truth of our Bible-based theology, our attempts to make Jesus's name great, and treat it as an embarrassment in front of the empire? How many are quick to trade all of it in for a generic, self-centered consumer Christianity just to be more accepted by the world?

But here's the takeaway truth today. Here at Fresh Encounter Church, we don't apologize for the gospel. We don't dilute the wrath of God that's coming. And we don't downplay Jesus as our substitute. And we don't kneel to the empire. No, we preach Christ crucified, not the latest fad from fallen culture. We stand. We don't sell out.

So here's the question. Are you embarrassed of the faithful alliance? Or are you secretly longing for the comfort of the empire? Because you cannot love the alliance and long for the empire at the same time.

Our faithful alliance may not look like much to some, but it has what the empire never will have: The risen Christ, his word, a clear confession of the truth and the free gift of salvation from the wrath of God. He's saving us from his own wrath. And that brings a bonus. What's the bonus? The bonus is eternal life.

Standing Firm Until the End

We all have known people who were in a church for a while and then departed for the world. We must be on guard that the same thing does not happen to us. There's nothing back there but pain, suffering, heartache, and death. Think of Lot's wife in Genesis 19. Read the rest of the book of Hebrews, especially chapter 10.

Here's what the Apostle John said about those who turned back in 1 John 2:19: "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 are not of us."

We can endure faithfully with the sure knowledge that Jesus will keep us to the end. That's his bargain with us. When he saved us and called us out of our sins, he promised us a new life. He promised us a home in heaven. When this life is over, he will not fail to deliver everything he has promised to the children of God.

We're going to come short. We're going to fall short in our commitment to him. But he will never fail us. Every promise he made to us is an ironclad promise and it will be fulfilled.

So then the bottom line is this: The knowledge that God will always be faithful to us should serve to make us desire to be faithful to him in return. That should be our desire.

And when are you the strongest? When you're with a group of people that is unified under the blood of the cross and the joy of his resurrection. I can say one thing with certainty because I've been here three years now: This is that place. And the men I showed you on the screen will stand alongside me, and I've gotten their word as we've met together over the last couple years. They're going to stand tight under this faithful alliance.

And I want you to join us.

If you're like me and you see God moving, you want to come alongside and join in the work of the Lord. I'm seeing Jesus change lives through the preaching of Salvaged by God and the joy of the Lord in the talk show, No Apology with Emily and Chris. All of this being generated from the nonprofit Fresh Road Media. We'd love it if you'd consider joining us and supporting this amazing outreach. You can even join our tribe for free if you subscribe at any level. We have some wonderful resources as a way of saying thank you. Go to freshroadmedia.com and be part of something new and quite frankly something that we so need in today's world. And welcome to our tribe.

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