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Let Us
Hebrews 10:22-25
Today I
want to ask you a very serious question and I suspect that it’s a
question that every single college student and every single high school
student has asked at least once in their lives. It was asked it an
English class or maybe a science class. I feel certain that it was asked
in math class. The question is: How am I ever going to put any of this
into practice in real life? And sometimes it’s been hard for me to
answer that question.
“When am I ever going to need to use my knowledge of logarithms to get
by in life?” and I have to admit there aren’t too many times I’ve needed
to calculate a logarithm or differentiate an equation, or even determine
what time two trains will crash if one of them leaves Chicago headed
east going 60 mph and another leaves New York headed west going 80 mph.
I just always assume there’s two tracks and there won’t be any problem!
I heard about one student who received a great answer to this question a
few years ago. He was a pre-med student at Washington University in St.
Louis and had to take a difficult class in physics. One day his
professor was discussing a particularly complicated concept. A student
rudely interrupted him to ask, "Why do we have to learn this stuff?"
The professor said, “To save lives” and he went on with his lecture.
A few minutes later, the same student spoke up again. "So how does
physics save lives?" he persisted.
The professor said, "It keeps the ignoramuses out of medical school."
And that’s not a bad answer. But it’s only natural that we want to know,
“What’s this got to do with real life?” We ask it in school and we have
even caught ourselves asking it at church.
The Hebrew letter is written in 2 parts. For several chapters we read a
lengthy discussion of doctrinal matters. Here’s how Jesus is better.
He’s a better high priest, he’s a better lawgiver, he’s a better
sacrifice. When we get through with all of the “Jesus is Better Than’s”
to often I have said that’s great how does that help me.
Well Then, as we come to the close of the Hebrew letter, we get our
answer to the “How’s this going to help me?” question. That’s where we
get to the second part. Because Jesus is our High Priest, died in our
place, and we can enter into the very presence of God, here’s the help
in our lives. Three things, one of them is based on faith, one is based
on hope, and one is based on love.
I. Let Us Draw Near to God in Faith
"Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having
our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with
pure water." (Hebrews 10:22).
I think it’s safe to say that, to a lot of people, God seems far away.
He's distant and remote and unreal. There are a lot of people who
believe that God made the universe, set things in order, and then he
just walked away from it. They would say that, yes, God is responsible
for our existence, but now we're on our own.
And if we're not careful, we too may come to see God as distant and
remote from the day-to-day grind of working, taking care of the kids,
going to school, and so forth.
It's important that we draw near to God in faith. In many ways, even the
Jews of the Old Testament didn't feel close to God. For them to respond
to God, they had to go through the priest who performed the ritual of
sacrifice for them.
The presence of God was understood to be in that small room in the
temple where no one could go except the high priest, and he could only
go in there one day a year, and even then he had to fill the room with
the smoke of incense so that he wouldn’t be too close to God.
But one of the characteristics of Christianity is that it is a religion
where we are encouraged to be close to God. But, as the Hebrew writer
says in verse 22, we must draw near with a “true heart”, or “a sincere
heart”. The idea is that we must come to God with a commitment that's
genuine.
God once said of the Jews in Isaiah 29:13, "Inasmuch as these people
draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips but have
removed their hearts far from me…."
The Jews claimed to believe in God, but it was very evident by the way
they were living that they didn't truly believe. They talked about being
close to God, but they didn’t act like they wanted to be close to God.
If we want to draw near to God in faith, it has to be expressed in the
way we live, in our daily commitment to Christ. Professing we believe in
Christ, without commitment to him, is not true faith.
When we truly draw near to God, when we have real faith in Jesus, we
understand that we're close to God. Prayer becomes really talking to
God. Scripture becomes God really talking to us. We make day-to-day
decisions with God firmly in mind.
II. Let Us Hold Fast the Confession of Our Hope
"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he
who promised is faithful." Hebrews 10:23
Christians have a responsibility, not only to draw near to God, but also
to hold fast. It's sad when we think of those who come to Christ and say
they believe and in a short period of time, they've turned their backs
and walked away. But if you remember the Parable of the Sower Jesus said
it would be that way.
The one thing that allows us to hold fast is our hope. As long as you
have hope, you can withstand a lot of difficulties. But this world is
not a safe place for the Christian hope; it tries to squeeze that hope
from us in different ways.
Sometimes the world tries to replace our hope with its own. The hope of
this world centers on material things. Money and the things money can
buy are the yardsticks the world uses to measure success.
And it's all too easy for Christians to get caught up in this trap. When
that happens, our hope in God and heaven is replaced by a hope in this
world. But we need to remember the words of the apostle Paul who said in
1 Corinthians 4:18 "the things which are seen are temporary, but the
things which are not seen are eternal."
Sometimes the world tries to dim our hope by raising doubts about God.
So many things that happen in this world don't seem to be fair. The
wicked prosper, the righteous have all sorts of problems. It was enough
to disturb some great men of God, men like Job and Habakkuk, who
questioned why God allowed such things to happen. Satan knows that if he
can get us to doubt that God is in control, then our hope fades away.
But a person who is filled with hope will hold fast. If you've got hope
that something better lies ahead, then you can maintain the strength and
the courage to go on. But once you lose that hope, you have no reason to
hold on.
It’s like a young boy whose dad left him on a downtown corner one
morning and told him to wait there until he returned in half an hour.
But the father's car broke down and he couldn't get to a phone. Five
hours went by before the father managed to get back, and he was worried
that his son would be in a state of panic. But when the father got
there, the boy was standing in front of the dime store, looking in the
window. When the father saw him, he ran up to him and threw his arms
around him and hugged and kissed him. The father apologized and said,
"Weren't you worried? Did you think I was never coming back?" The boy
looked up and said, "No, Dad, I knew you were coming. You said you
would."
God's answers may seem to be a long time in coming, and our waiting may
at times be uncomfortable or even painful. But God will always do just
as he has said that he would. The reason we can hold fast to our hope
without wavering is that he who promised is faithful.
The basis for Christianity is hope, a firm hope that "this world is not
my home", a firm hope that " we have a building from God, a house not
made with hands, eternal in the heavens."
Our hope is based on the confidence we have in Christ, and that he is
faithful to fulfill His promises. Christ himself said, "Let not your
heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in me. In my
Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told
you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am,
there you may be also." (John 14:1-3)
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope.
III. Let Us Consider One Another in Love
"And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good
works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the
manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you
see the day approaching." (Hebrews 10:24-25).
The Hebrew writer makes it clear that we have a responsibility not just
to hold fast ourselves but to encourage others to hold fast. We're to
"consider one another in order to stir up love and good works".
I was always taught that this verse was the “you have got to go to
church” verse. But that’s not what it says at all. It’s not talking
about Sunday Morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday evening. I am sure that
if the Hebrew writer saw what we have turned this beautiful verse into
he would roll over in his grave.
Assembling together is a daily practice, just as it was in the Book of
Acts. It is so important for those of us who have confidence in Christ
to share that confidence and to allow it to grow stronger. That has got
to happen more that 4 hours a week.
Christianity was never designed to be practiced alone; it has always
been a "one-another" religion. We're to edify and encourage one another.
We're told to love one another, fellowship one another, have patience,
care about, serve, admonish, be kind to one another. And here it says
that we are to "provoke one another" or "consider one another" as we
seek to stir each other up to do more in way of love and good works.
And much of that "stirring up" takes place when we come together whether
it is for worship, or for fellowship, or shopping, or eating, fishing,
or scrapbooking. Our assembling together affects one another. It’s one
of the ways that we show our concern for one another.
You see meeting together accomplishes something not just on the vertical
level, but also on the horizontal. When we meet together we can build up
others as we build up ourselves. And the only way we can spur one
another on is to meet with one another.
Last week was rough for my family. As you know Tuesday I went with my
mom to the Doctor and we got some good news that her blood count was up,
but Wednesday morning her hair began to fall out. So I came home with
that on my mind and felt a bit rushed because I wanted to get back for
Martha’s tests and we got behind a train and sat and waited for 35
minutes for it to stop and go and stop and go. Then I got in my car and
ran to Tupelo, top check on Sister Harris, and then back on Thursday
morning and then Back on Thursday night and then Trafton wouldn’t go to
bed until 2:00 and then we got a call at 5:00 and it was back to Tupelo
and I sat with the family as Sister Helen went home, and then there was
the discussion of the funeral arraignments and I was tired and felt like
I was ridden hard and put up wet and I was thinking about J.B and my
class and sermons, and not spending enough time with the boys or with
Trista.
Just when I was ready to throw my hands up and give out Friday night
rolled around and I got to spend time with 45 other members of this
family relaxing, joking, playing games, and fellowshipping.
It was Friday night that made the rest of the week bearable. We simply
can't continue to maintain our enthusiasm, our zeal for God, without the
encouragement we receive from being around one another on a regular
basis. We need each other, and we need to be in fellowship with each
other.
Let us consider one another in love.
Conclusion:
I heard about a member of the church once who had become unfaithful in
his attendance to worship services. The preacher came by to visit him
and found him sitting in front of a fire, so he sat down and joined him.
Not a word was spoken between the two. Then the preacher took the poker,
put it into the fire and pulled out one small ember that was glowing
red. He pulled it away from the fire and let it sit by itself. Before
long, that ember had cooled off and was no longer glowing. The minister
then took the ember and placed it back in the fire and it soon was
ablaze again. And the minister got up to leave the unfaithful Christian
said, "Preacher, I understand your message. I'll be at church Sunday."
It all boils down to how much we really want to put this “Christianity
thing” into practice. You see, we could sit around all day and talk
about how wonderful Christ is, how much his sacrifice means to us, how
great God’s love is. And leave here feeling all warm and fuzzy thinking
about where we were going to eat.
But the Hebrew writer says we’ve got to do more than just talk about it.
It’s time to make some application, to actually put it into practice.
Therefore, let us draw near to God in faith, let us hold fast the
confession of our hope, and let us stir up one another in love as we
meet together for worship.
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