Hold On to the Plan: the Promise, the Hope
Hebrews 10:15-25

† Jesus, Son and Savior †

May the grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be etched into your heart and soul-encouraging you to enter His presence!

Hold On!

I had dinner with a couple of high school friends on Thursday, but even as I was looing for to it, a memory of our infamous trips in Alain’s VW van to Magic Mountain. There were a lot of fun memories there, and one very painful one.

It happened on what was a brand new ride, I think it was the first week it was open. Very tame by today’s standards, 4 people sat next to each other, the car was hauled up the tower, it hung there for 5 seconds or so, and then dropped 131 feet- without notice. Back then, it was a lot, though today similar rides drop 300 plus feet.

The only problem was that it took until after sundown to convince Jeff’s date to join us on the ride! It was quite dark by the time we got on it, and as the roll bars dropped into place, she was terrified.

And instead of gripping the roll bars, she grabbed our arms. Not a problem for Jeff, who played football, but the skinny geek I once was… well she bruised the entire arm as she held on…tightly!

That is what the epistle of Hebrews tells us to do this morning, to hold tightly. Not to each other! It says,

“²³ Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.”  Heb. 10:23 NLT

Hold on to that hope, that promise, what we’ve been looking at for all of October and November – the plan God has for our future and our hope!

I Don’t see what to hold on to!

The problem Jeff’s lady friend had was she couldn’t see what was going on. She had no idea how things we going to happen, as the car when plummeting straight down into the darkness. There was absolutely no control, and so she held on to whatever she could find.

In the Old Testament, it was much the same – they knew God was doing something, but they had no idea of what, and they had no control, so they would do what was right in their own eyes.

That was why the reading starts out talking about the sacrifices outside the tabernacle and temple daily. And once a year, the high priest would enter the holy of holies with the blood of the sacrifice to anoint the mercy seat, securing the people from God’s wrath for another year.

Here is how the Tabernacle was laid out. Outside the tent, at a distance, the twelve tribes would camp. That would be for most people, all but the Levites and priests. They were allowed in closer to the tent, in the courtyard where washings and basic daily sacrifices would occur. That is why in many old designed churches, the baptismal font is out there in the entry way.

In the holy place – where you are all sitting – only priests could come to serve, to offer prayers and other ministries. But here – right here was a floor to ceiling curtain—so think you could not see anything through it…and behind it was the ark of the covenant, with two golden angels glowing over it and between them, what is called the mercy seat – where the blood would be poured out, the once a year offering for all the sins of God’s people—to put aside condemnation.

But the people never saw what went on – even all the other priests could not see in, they could only hear the bells tied to his robe as he moved, and though they knew what should happen, there was no way to know it was happening. The curtain clearly block the view into where God was at work…on His throne, accepting the offering for sin.

So, like us, they took matters into their own hands, releasing their hold on the hope, and the plan… the sacrifices meant nothing, because they didn’t trust in what was promised! They didn’t believe God and therefore they didn’t trust in the plan!

People do that today, if they don’t now God, how can they trust in Him? How can they understand this glorious plan?

So they do what they can—they trust in whatever they can make with their hands, and create in their mind. They try to find peace in the habits they acquire, or the relationships they have with their family, their work, or who they want in charge of their city, state, or country.

And they give up on the promise, “I will never again remember their sins or lawless deeds!”

Now you can see (the curtain is torn apart)

Continuing with the analogy, Jeff’s lady found the comfort and peace from knowing Jeff and I were there…

That is what the gospel does! It reminds us of what happened because of the cross, it shows us the blood that was spilled to cover out sins, spread out on the most Holy place.

Hebrews says it this way,

¹⁹ And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. ²⁰ By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.

Now hear the account of Jesus’s death,

⁵⁰  Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. ⁵¹  At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, ⁵²  and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. Matthew 27:50-52 (NLT2)

Now, the blood that was not poured out in the Temple could be seen, on the mountain called Golgotha. The sacrifice of His blood covers all of our sin, cleansing us. That is why Hebrews goes on to say,

²¹ And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, ²² let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:21-22

Just as the High Priest has to be cleansed, so have we been cleansed by the blood of Jesus, This is the hope we cling to in the midst of this life, so often broken by sin…

This is the what we confess and affirm, this is the testimony of the Old and New Testament, now clearly seen, and celebrated!

One pastor put it this way, “The Christian faith has only one object, the mystery of Christ dead and risen. But this unique mystery subsists under different modes: it is prefigured in the Old Testament, it is accomplished historically in the earthly life of Christ, it is contained in mystery in the sacraments, it is lived mystically in souls, it is accomplished socially in the Church, it is consummated eschatologically in the heavenly kingdom.

This death and resurrection of Jesus—we were joined to it in our baptism according to Paul, gives us access, not just into the Holy Place, but past the curtain into the heavenly Holy of Holies, where we fellowship, where we commune with God.

Everything in scripture points to that death and resurrection. Our service, like that of the tabernacle, pointed to it. Why?

So we can grab on to the cross’s plan, the promise of our future and our hope. That is what matters in life, and gets us through death.

This is everything for us…

So hold tightly to it, this plan, this promise, this hope…

And help others do the same.

For the peace of God, which is beyond all understanding it yours, as He holds on to you! AMEN!