Confession of Hope

Heb. 10:19-25

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.

• How does your anchor of hope give you confidence to approach God?
• What is the new and living way to the holy places?
• Why should we hold fast to our confession of hope?
• What is the difference between having hope and confessing hope?
• What is the reason for meeting together?
• Considering Hebrews 3:12-14, how should faith, clean conscience, and hope impact how we interact when we meet together?
  

Harold's Musings: When I was growing up, it seemed that Heb 10:25 was the really important part of this passage, with the emphasis on "not neglecting to meet together" as the key point. Over the years, this passage has become much more rich and enlightening to me. Here I see Jesus carrying the anchor of hope as he opened the way to the holy places. There are several challenges here as well. For the moment consider the challenge of holding to your confession of hope. Someone heard you say what you hope in. You have heard others confess their hope. Too often we see this confession as a one time event, but this confession is to a large degree a mission statement, a statement that guides what you do and say. When you meet with another Christian, is your conversation about your joint mission or something else?

Hope as an Anchor

Heb. 6:17-20
17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

• How does knowing that God's purpose has an unchangeable character make you feel?
• What causes you to believe what God says?
• How often do you feel that we are fleeing for refuge in God?
• Why are you strongly encouraged to hold on to the hope in front of you?
• How does your hope in what God has promised anchor you during the storms of this life?
• Where is your hope anchored?

Harold's Musings:
Two images come to mind when I read this passage. First image comes from when we lived in Charleston, SC, which is a major seaport. Large ships arriving daily and these ships have huge anchors connected to the ships with huge chains. The anchor is the only hope these ships have of drifting into harm's way if they are not at the dock. The other image is of a resurrected Jesus carrying a cross-shaped anchor through the torn curtain into the heavenly version of the Holy of Holies and setting it in deeply. Extending from that "anchor" all the way back to me is my hope in the resurrection. Just as a ship captain has to set his anchor and ride out the waves, I need to hang on to my hope in the resurrection. How deeply set is your anchor?

Full Assurance of Hope

Heb. 6:10-12
10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

• When have you felt that no one notices your good works and love?
• What does showing love for God's name look like?
  
• Why does it take earnestness to hope to the end?
• What is full assurance of hope? How would you describe it?
  
• How might a Christian be sluggish in God's view?
• What is needed to inherit the promises waiting for you?

Harold's Musings:
I read a quote yesterday by Evan Esar: "Hope is tomorrow's veneer over today's disappointment." While I was at first indignant, I started to see that for many that is all hope is. Veneer is actually deception. There is a lower quality piece of wood being covered by a very thin layer of expensive wood. While it has the appearance of the real thing, it is not. If we do not have full assurance that what we hope for is in fact real, we too are just covering our disappointments. It does not take very long to get tired of enduring patiently if we do not really believe with full assurance that what is coming is sooooooooooo much better that what we have now. Fill up with assurance today.

Hold on to hope

Heb. 3:5-6, 12-14
5 Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, 6 but Christ is faithful over God's house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

• How are the Christian's hope and confidence related?
• Why can we be confident in our hope?
  
• How often do you boast in your hope?
• What are the causes of falling away from God?
• What are you doing daily to encourage a fellow Christian to hang on and not sin?
• How are sinning and hopelessness connected?
• How long do we have to hold on?

Harold's Comments:
Wow! Such a tough passage! You and I are responsible for each other daily. It might seem that encouraging each other to not sin would involve watching to judge. Some seem to do that. This passage is more about confidence and hope which is entwined with our belief. I do not see a lot of Christians boasting to each other about the hope they share. Some yes, most no. I know that I am growing in this, but not where I would like to be. I would be interested in your thoughts as to how sinning and forgetting our hope are related. By the way, you and I have a great hope in Christ. Let's live it today.