Spurring On

I want to turn to Hebrews chapter 10.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

Hebrews chapter 10.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

We're talking about first things first.

And I wanted to come and during the month of May

and be as transparent as I know how to be with you,

full disclosure about if you wonder

what makes the new guy tick,

I want to share with you this month what makes me tick.

I first started talking about the need of

knowing that you are saved.

If someone is haunted by those questions,

it always defeats them in their spiritual walk

as well as limits them in their testimony.

I don't want you to doubt your salvation.

I want you to be sure of that at the same time.

I don't want you to be sure of something that you don't have.

And so if you don't have Jesus,

I want to tell you how you can have Jesus.

And so I began with that

and we took some time to honor our ladies on Mother's Day.

I continued by encouraging you to be in the Word of God daily.

And how many of you read the Word?

No, I'm kidding.

I'm not going to do that.

Because that's not why we read it.

And if you're one of those who are taking that bookmark

and checking it off

and showing it to people when you check it off,

you know, real big,

you know, that's not what the point is, folks, you know.

It is to have a time with the Lord.

And so I encourage you to do that.

And today I want to encourage you to spur one another on.

I want to tell you why.

And I want to tell you how.

It's in Hebrews chapter 10, beginning in verse 23.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

And it says,

First, I want to tell you why

we ought to spur one another on.

Because we have a great opportunity.

That's why.

I have a friend that has made a great impact on football

for the cause of Christ.

He's on the board of Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

He's in their Hall of Fame.

And he is known by all Christian coaches in college

and in the NFL.

And God's used Ken Smith in a mighty way.

And I've enjoyed following him around on occasion.

When he spoke at Ole Miss,

he invited me to come along.

And we went before a ball game.

And I waited for that game to start

in the coach's locker room with the coaches.

I went to the head coach's office for a little while.

When the game started, I had two options.

One, I could either be on the sidelines

and watch a ball game.

Or I could be in the coach's box.

I chose both.

I spent the first half of the game on the sidelines.

I was moved out of the way for just a moment

for a presentation when Joe Gibbs of NASCAR fame

and before that of the Washington Redskins,

if you can say Redskins.

But anyway.

As well as Archie Manning.

And Archie Manning, you may know him

as a quarterback that suffered for the New Orleans Saints.

But in Mississippi, I'm telling you,

he hung the moon.

He was a hero.

The golden boy of Mississippi in so many ways.

And at any point I wanted to,

I chose halftime.

I went up an eight and sat

in the head coach's box with his family.

I was sitting there with Monty Kiffin.

Some of you who know a lot about NFL

may know who that is.

He's a legendary defensive coordinator

throughout the years.

As well, Jimmy Sexton.

And Jimmy Sexton is an agent to,

the last time I looked,

11 of the 14 coaches in the SEC

as well as a bunch of NFL greats.

And I looked and the governor

was in a box over from us.

Waved at him through the glass.

For a football fan, I'm just telling you,

it was amazing.

I'm not trying to drop names here.

I'm just telling you, I didn't belong.

I was invited.

I was on somebody else's invitation.

And I was having a heyday

until the fajitas did not agree with me.

And then everything changed.

But it was as good as college football can get

unless, of course, there's another team playing.

I won't bring them up.

I don't want to make folks mad this morning,

so I'll be quiet.

But I do love games locally as well.

However, there is nothing compared,

that is nothing compared,

nor any interaction that we've had upon this earth

compared to what Hebrews chapter 10

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

talks about in the verses before the ones I read.

The Hebrew writer is saying there,

because Christ has died in our place,

and because he has removed every barrier that we have

to keep us from God,

we can approach, get this,

we can approach the very throne of God with boldness.

We are welcomed into his presence.

Now, understand this.

He knows everything about us.

He knows what we've done.

He knows what we would have done.

He knows what we've said.

He knows what we thought about saying.

He knows what we wish we'd have done.

He knows what we wish we hadn't done.

He knows it all,

and loves us enough to die for us

and give us the opportunity for salvation,

giving us access to the throne of God for forgiveness

and for the presence of God in worship.

And if you are a born-again believer today,

you are blessed.

And it is not because you deserve it,

because we do not deserve it.

It is not because we've earned it,

because we have not earned it.

It's because he came to us,

not because we came to him.

We were dead, dead, dead in our trespasses and sins.

And he's made us alive through his death and resurrection.

And because of that, we have access to him.

So we take it.

And every day, we read his word,

we seek his face,

and we spur one another on.

It is necessary that we do that,

the Hebrew writer says,

because the day is approaching.

Jesus is coming again.

Like the old hymn says,

maybe morning, maybe noon,

maybe evening, and maybe soon.

I love that hymn.

It's what's irritating him, honestly.

But it's the truth.

He's coming back.

And nothing on this earth is keeping him from coming back.

I don't know what kind of chart you have,

but I'm telling you,

nothing is keeping him from coming back.

He can return at any moment.

And so we be ready.

We are to be ready and be spurring one another on.

The ESV, I think, does an injustice to this

when it says stir.

Now, if you know what stir means there,

it's okay to use that word.

But it really depends on what kind of stirring

you're talking about.

I eat that fruit bottom yogurt every morning,

or just about every morning.

And the first thing I do with my spoon is I stir that.

Just stir it a little bit.

And get that fruit from the bottom

to where I can taste it.

That's not the kind of stirring he's talking about.

If when you think of stirring,

he's talking about how you stir people

when there's a breakaway, go-ahead touchdown

that happens late in the game

to a fan base of a team

that has been down by less than a touchdown.

If you've been in that kind of atmosphere,

you know what that does to the crowd.

That's the kind of stirring that he's talking about.

He's talking about a stirring that makes a difference.

And that's why some translations,

and I agree with them,

translate this spur.

Because you can spur a horse along to get it going.

Now, I say, you can spur a horse because of Old Blue.

I think it was the Wanata Valley, if I'm not mistaken.

Years ago, when I had the opportunity to go on a horse ride,

we all lined up, one tail in front of the other,

you know, and we all got on there.

Nobody knew what they were doing.

Hard enough just to get on the horse.

We're all standing in line,

about from here to the back of the room.

And I'm looking at the tail in front of me,

talking to Old Blue, my buddy.

I got a legend right here before me.

And this legend sees something up an embankment

that he liked.

We wasn't moving along the way.

We were just standing still.

And instead of me looking like I had my act together,

Old Blue had to get the weed on top of that embankment.

And so up we climbed about 15 feet.

I kicked him in the gut.

I yanked on his ropes.

I did whatever I could.

And Old Blue wanted to go to the top of that hill.

And Old Blue went to the top of that hill.

So now I'm standing on top of the hill

like a victorious captain,

looking down at everyone else,

when all they want to do is go on the ride.

And somebody came and helped me get Old Blue down the hill.

So when I say, you can spur a horse,

I mean, you can spur a horse because I'm not going to.

But I'll tell you what, you can spur a horse

and we can also spur one another along.

And we're instructed to do that by Scripture.

So not only do I want to tell you why you ought to spur,

but I want to tell you how we ought to spur,

just some ways of how we ought to spur one another along.

One way we do that is to pray.

You say, oh, preacher,

I thought you were talking about something we could do.

Well, whatever you're going to do for the Lord,

you ought to pray about it before you do it.

You ought to pray about it while you're doing it.

You ought to pray about it after you're doing it.

Because the difference that you make

comes only from a complete dependence upon the Lord

that allows him to work in us and through us.

And so we must pray.

Now, let me be honest with you.

I'm not just preaching here.

I'm telling the truth.

The word there, stir, for encouragement,

excuse me, the word for encourage there,

that stir, is the same word in English as paracism.

Paracism is a medical term that speaks of a sudden shaking,

like a convulsion of sorts, an emotion.

It's normally used as a negative word in the Greek.

Now, you don't have to be negative to spur one another on,

but you might need to be.

But I'm telling you,

whether it's negative or whether it's positive,

when you try to spur others along,

you ought to pray before you do.

The second thing is invite and share.

Spur one another along by inviting and sharing.

Notice what he says.

He says, all the more as you see the day drawing near.

What day is he talking about?

He's talking about that day there is short

for the day of the Lord.

He's talking about a day of judgment that is coming.

The chickens will come home to roost.

You can count on it.

The signs of the times tell me

that it's closer than it's ever been.

We need to act on it.

And listen, if they needed to act on it

as the day was approaching 2,000 years ago,

how much more do we definitely need to act on it?

So tell somebody about Jesus.

Invite them to worship with you.

Share what Christ is doing in your life.

If you're rooting for a ball team

and they win a championship,

you're gonna go tell everybody that already knows it,

ain't you?

You want everybody to know it

because your team won

even though it's been well publicized

and people know.

Well, tell them something bigger than that.

Tell them something more lasting than that.

Tell them something better than that

and much more important

that they need to know and may not.

And that is Jesus saves.

Jesus changes lives.

That is that God wants to do a wonderful work

in a local church

and I want to encourage you

to come to church with me.

What a wonderful opportunity you have.

The power that is in you

because you pray in a dependence upon the Lord,

ask God to use you.

Simply walk through the doors that he opens

and has the opportunity to invite and to share.

There's some VBS cards out there.

That's easy.

If we run out of those,

there's postcards as well that we can use.

That's easy.

You see a kid in the neighborhood,

that kid that won't get off your lawn,

just tell him,

get off my lawn.

Here, come to Vacation Bible School.

Spur one another on.

Shake each other up.

We missing somebody this morning?

Spur each other on.

And then smile.

Smile.

You know, you can love God and live for him

and still be happy.

You can.

And you can be winsome

and you can be pleasing to others.

Don't mean they're always going to agree

with everything you say.

Probably shouldn't agree with everything you say.

You really can, though.

And so I want to tell you to make a point

to be for his honor and for his glory

one who's winsome.

Why are we spurring each other along?

The middle of verse 24 says

that we do it for love and good works.

Love is an eternal matter.

It's a heart matter.

It's taking care of things in the heart.

And if the heart is right,

that drives outward into those good works.

But if love is not right,

it will not promote good works.

If the love in the heart is right,

it'll promote good works.

You can't do that grumbling.

You can't do it like when you look like

you've been sucking on a lemon.

That's not holy.

It's ugly.

And so if Jesus has changed your heart,

inform your face.

And listen,

the guest here today

probably will not remember what I said.

But they'll remember what you said.

And they'll remember how you treated them.

And they'll remember the love

and the smiles of the people.

So smile.

I promise you folks,

it ain't that hard to smile.

Next thing is respond.

When God speaks,

respond.

If it's in this worship hour,

respond.

If it's in your prayer time,

respond.

If the spirit prods you,

respond.

If the spirit waves a red flag on your life,

respond.

If the spirit waves a green flag on your life,

respond.

I think about Philip.

God told Philip to go down to the crossroads.

He didn't really know what he was getting into.

But he went because God told him to go.

And when he got there,

what he didn't know was that God was working on that Ethiopian eunuch in that chariot

by leading him to a passage that spoke of a coming Messiah.

And when they met up at that divine appointment,

that man said,

how can I understand this unless somebody explains it?

And he sat down and explained it to him,

led him to Christ,

baptized him right there.

Listen,

in every church I've pastored,

I've had people meet me at the door and tell me,

I felt led to come down.

I felt led to make a decision,

but I didn't.

And when I hear that,

do you know what I want to do?

I want to spur them on.

And I mean in a horse kind of way.

I want to take a pointy thing on the end of my boot

and stick it in their side of sorts.

Why?

Because your disobedience,

my disobedience,

our disobedience,

quenches the spirit of God

from moving and working in the way he'd had moved.

What if your obedience

would have given someone else the courage

to come up as well?

By following your example.

I'm not asking you to orchestrate something.

I'm simply asking you to be obedient to God.

Just do what God tells you to do

because God has a way of using us

to help each other.

Spur one another along.

We can build an atmosphere

of being stiff as a board,

scared to death,

that God's going to move in a mighty way.

Or either we can be one

built on obedience

and an expectancy

that God wants to change lives,

that God's still in the saving business.

He's still doing miracles

and he wants to work

and to move in people's lives

and we ought to expect it.

We ought to pray for it.

We ought to look for it.

We ought to invite people to experience it.

I'll never ask you to do more

than what God tells you to do

and I'll never want you to be satisfied

with doing less.

You shouldn't do less.

When God speaks, respond.

It'll be like a kick in the pants

to the rest of us.

When you respond

to what God tells you to do, respond.

The next thing is to reach.

To reach.

To assure you

that I have not left the text.

If you're going to stir one another along

to love and good works,

you're going to have to rattle a cage or two

from time to time.

If they're missing,

check on them.

If they need Jesus,

reach out to them.

Pray before you do.

Ask God to open up the opportunity

and then step out boldly

and reach out to them.

If you need a church home,

if they need a church home,

touch base with them.

If they're missing here this morning,

check on them.

If they're sick,

reach out to them.

If they're hurting,

love on them.

Worship is not,

I'm here,

I dare you to bless me.

That is not worship, folks.

That's a standoff.

It's not worship at all.

Worship is Isaiah chapter 6.

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

In Isaiah chapter 6,

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

Isaiah said,

whoa,

I am a man of unclean lips.

Cleanse me, Lord.

And then he said,

send me, Lord.

That's what worship is, friend.

It's getting right with God

and then being ready to walk with God.

He'll use you this very hour

if you respond as he tells you to

and you reach out to somebody

on the way out of here.

I promise.

He'll do works in you

you don't expect.

Spur one another on

and then attend.

It says,

not neglecting to meet together.

Being faithful in worship

is the gift that just keeps on giving

because you need it

but not only do you need it

but Christ established the church

because we need each other

and we have a job to do.

We're to reach the world.

We're to spur one another on

and you can't do that from the couch.

You can't do it online.

It's a great option

for those that can't be here physically

but if you can be,

be here physically.

You can't do it from the lake.

You can't do it from the ball field.

Now I know

as the Hebrew writer knows,

so many preacher

are in the habit of doing it.

He warns us

of that very thing.

Let's don't act like some.

Notice in scripture,

it's the people

who were not like others

that God used mightily.

It was the exceptions.

It was not the normal.

They said Noah was blameless

and above reproach.

You know what that means?

That means when a man

builds a huge boat

in the middle of the desert

and people walk by and go,

I think he's losing it.

Somebody else is going to say,

you know what?

He must be on to something

because that old boy

has got it going on.

I don't understand

what he's telling us

but there's something

about what he's doing

that must be right.

He was blameless.

That means people

didn't accuse him.

He was above reproach.

That means if they did accuse him,

that somebody else would go,

nah, I'm sorry.

Not Noah.

Noah stood out

and because of that,

God used him.

It says David was a man

after God's own heart.

Man, David was as imperfect

as any of us.

But the reality is

he had a heart for God.

And when God told him

to do something,

he did it and God used him.

Abraham went to a land

that God would show him

and was willing to go

and do what God

would have him to do.

The disciples dropped their agenda

and followed Christ.

Do you know how significant it is

when your daddy has a fishing business

and you're cleaning out the net

on the side of the water

and Jesus says,

come and follow me

and he don't wait on them

and he don't beg them

and he don't plead with them.

I believe he just turned

and began to walk

and they dropped their net.

They dropped their inheritance.

They left their career behind

to follow Christ.

Oh, you know what?

Two millenniums later,

we're still talking about them

because they stepped out

for the Lord

because Christ uses those

who are willing

to be used mightily of God.

So let's not be in the habit

of so many.

Let's be faithful

to not neglect meeting together

because not only do you miss,

but you are missed,

I promise you.

And another way to spur,

and listen,

what I always say is

miss for the extraordinary.

But don't miss for the ordinary.

There's great opportunities

to come around

and they come around on weekends.

It happens.

Miss for the extraordinary,

but don't miss for the ordinary.

Attend.

And then give.

You knew I was going there.

I want you to notice

the impact of giving.

2 Corinthians chapter 9,

2 Corinthians 9:6–8

verse 6 through 8 says this,

the point is this,

whoever sows sparingly

will also reap sparingly.

And whoever sows bountifully

will also reap bountifully.

Each one must give

as he has decided in his heart,

not reluctantly

or under compulsion,

for God loves a cheerful,

that's that smile

I was talking about.

God loves a cheerful giver.

And God is able.

Have you seen the economy?

Have you seen what houses cost?

Are y'all praying?

You been in the gas pump lately?

Been in the grocery store?

Preacher, how in the world

can we be faithful to the Lord

when things are like they are?

And God is able

to make all grace abound to you

so that having all sufficiency

in all things

at all times

you may abound

in every good work.

As long as it's all in your pocket,

you're responsible for it.

But when you obey God

and give as he instructs you to give,

I'm not responsible anymore.

He's going to provide my needs.

He'll be more than sufficient.

And listen, this is the good part.

Abound, amen?

Abound in every good work.

When you trust God

by giving the tithe and the offering,

God's grace is more than sufficient

to provide your needs

and to strengthen

and empower the work

that you are doing in his name.

It will spur us all on.

The lack of faith of those

that do not give

hinders the work of God

among his people.

Now, I don't want you to misunderstand.

My father owns the cattle

on a thousand hills.

He don't need our money.

But he chooses

to use the obedient.

That's who he chooses

to be a part of.

That's who he chooses

to work in.

Make a point

to be obedient

with what is precious.

Because when we fail

to give faithfully,

we are hindered ourselves.

But we are also

not trusting God

in that matter.

And that stunts

personal growth.

And if you've learned

anything from this

passage of scripture today,

I hope you've learned.

And when we fail

to grow in the Lord,

and when we fail

to do what God

tells us to do,

that fails to spur

or to stimulate

the work of the Lord

in other people as well.

So give.

Just give faithfully.

God's got it taken care of.

I promise you.

Just be faithful.

And then serve.

The Apostle Paul

said in Galatians 5,

Galatians 5:13

verse 13,

through love,

serve one another.

Remember,

we're talking about

spurring on.

We're talking about

stirring up.

We're talking about

motivating,

promoting,

stimulating.

That's what teachers do.

That's what was going on

in Sunday school classes

just a few moments ago.

From the little bitty ones

to the real old ones.

That's what was happening.

Spurring one another on.

That's what happens

when those greeters

stand out there

on that porch.

Invite you in.

Stirring one another on.

That's what happens

when people serve.

That's what happens

when people cook.

That's what happens

when people host.

When they sing.

When they play instruments.

Every one of us

needs a small group.

A Sunday school class

to share our life with

and a place of service

to serve God in.

Nobody needs to do everything.

Everybody needs to do something.

And we encourage

one another along

when we serve the Lord.

God honors such as that.

You've got to find your niche.

Get busy for God.

And then follow up.

There's possibly

no better way

to be an encourager

than to touch base

with someone

as you have the opportunity.

When you greet somebody

touch back base with them.

Don't leave them behind.

When you pray for somebody

follow up on them.

When you share your faith

with somebody

follow up on them.

When you invite somebody

to come

follow up on them.

If the first contact

means that you care

the second one

means that you love

and when folks

are loving one another

and when folks

are spurring

one another along

God gets involved

and God does

wonderful things

in our midst.

so I encourage you

spur one another on.

If that was an acrostic

it'd be a horrible one.

I don't like acrostics.

I just want you

to get the point

that we ought to

spur one another on.

I've been a part

of a high school

football program

as a chaplain

or as a stat guy

or as an announcer

for over 25 years.

I've been in a lot

of field houses

at halftime.

Heard a lot of things

I didn't really want to hear.

The coach's job

may be to chew them out.

The coach's job

may be to fire them up.

He may be to console them.

Hopefully not to cry with them

at least not at halftime.

But he knows his team

and he knows the time

and he knows what they need.

And it's his job

to bring that team

to the next level

for the rest of that game.

Church, I'm new.

I don't know you

as well as I want to.

I'm trying.

Studying your pictures

and names last night.

You didn't get your picture

made at Easter.

Shame on you.

I'm trying.

But church,

let's spur one another on.

Let's not be satisfied

with where we are.

Let's spur one another on

to do great works of God.

Preacher,

how do we do that?

Well, you see it.

Find your place.

Do your thing.

God has orchestrated

the body of Christ

and the body of this

body of Christ

together.

Together,

we have everything

we need.

We just got to be obedient

and follow God.

And he'll do

wonderful things

among us.

Listen,

if we're going to do it

in the name of the Lord,

let's do it right.

He deserves

our best.

So spur one another

along.

Find a place

to click into.

Find a place

to serve.

Don't try

to do it all,

but do something

for the Lord Jesus.

With every head bowed

and every eye closed,

I want you to know

the time is precious.

It's precious.

I don't know exactly

what that means.

It could mean

for an individual here

in some capacity.

I don't know.

But I know

that what I see

in Scripture

over and over again

that was all written

over 2,000 years ago,

all of it

is to telling us

to spur

one another along,

to encourage

one another

along the way

because the day

is approaching.

We're on barred time.

We only have

so long

in this life.

God tells us

to make the most

of it for His cause

and His kingdom.

If we're Christians

and we're set apart

for Him,

let's make a difference

in His life.

Now what is it

in your life today

that's hindering you

from being everything

that God would have you to be?

Maybe it's that

you've never taken

that first step.

You've never asked

the Lord Jesus

to come into your life.

You've never asked

Him to save you

and to change you.

And if you're here

this morning

and you've never

surrendered your life

to the Lord Jesus Christ,

I am thankful

that today is the day

of salvation

and that if you'll

surrender your life

to Him

and ask Him

to forgive you

and to cleanse you

of your sin

and you'll turn from it

and follow Him

in His way,

He'll save you today.

I'm thankful for that.

When we stand

and sing in just a moment,

you come down this aisle,

I'll be happy

to guide you in that.

Maybe you're here

and you know

you're a Christian

but you know

there's some stuff

missing.

Ain't enough

spurn going on

for you.

Well, I hope

the sharp point

has hit you

in the side today.

Not just to make you

feel bad

but to respond to it

in a way

that will honor God

and please Him.

Will you be faithful

to Him

today?

Maybe you're here

and God's drawing you

to this body

of believers.

You come.

Let's talk about that.

What a wonderful

it would be

for you to join us

along the journey

of serving the Lord.

Lord Jesus,

I love you

and I thank you

for your Holy Spirit

and how He works

and moves

and I ask right now,

dear God,

that you'll just lead us

to be obedient

whatever you tell us

to do.

In Jesus' precious name,

amen.

Let's pray to Him

and Alpha

and��ides.

Thank you,

at Brook Lead,

and other projects

folk movement

that I've ever

left with While

Twine is a responsible

and should be

helping the earth

and their son

and has a medicine

in the circle of

disciples.

I don't see you

like the building

and the fragile

and the world

and the unknown

and the 91.

And that we have

them before

that where

when the people

went past

their dual

and the automobile

and the Prep

and história

to become

master father

after that

all

and the

child

and life

and became

very