Spur One Another On (Hebrews 10:19-25)

Hello, I'm Pastor Creighton, and thank you for tuning into Newsun Churches Podcast.

We're a gospel centered church in Port Perry, Ontario, proclaiming the true and life-giving word of Jesus as we love and serve our neighbors.

May God bless you today through his life-giving word.

Our second lesson is taken from the book of Hebrews, chapter 10, beginning at verse 19.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus, he has inaugurated for us a new and living way through the curtain, that is, through his flesh.

And since we have a great high priest over the house of God, 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 in pure water.

Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, since he who promised is faithful.

And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching the word of the Lord.

Sisters, brothers, let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other.

And all the more as you see the day approaching.

Let's pray.

Lord God, grant that in these moments we would be still and know that you are God.

That we would know your good and gracious character and disposition towards us.

That we would know the assurance of our crucified and risen Lord Jesus and the hope of everlasting life.

That we would be still and know that your word is good, that your word had power in its day when it was first delivered through the scriptures, and it has power in our day as well to transform our hearts.

So, Lord, would you do your work in our hearts that you designed to do?

And we pray for your assurance and for your grace.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Please be seated.

I'll tell you that gospel reading deserves a sermon all its own.

If you're feeling a little bit unsettled by that, you're probably not alone.

And even though it deserves a sermon all its own, it's worth noting that even though many presume to enter into the kingdom who are turned away, the table itself, the feast in the kingdom of God, is very wide indeed.

It invites people from north and south and east and west.

And the point is not that you really better try really, really, really hard, probably harder than you're trying right now to enter in.

The point is we need to know where the right entrance is.

And that's Jesus.

So it's to him we go.

And it's to him we go in Hebrews chapter 10 this morning.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

We've been through the one another commands that we find in the New Testament.

Trying to discover through them what it means to be a church that puts the gospel into action, puts it into practice, one towards one another.

I've wondered, and you know, as we've gone through this series more and more, I think, every single one-another command, be it serve at one another or forgive one another, or last Sunday our brother Rob opened up Bear with One Another.

I wonder if all of these commands are variations on a single theme, which we could say, simply put, is love one another.

And love takes all sorts of expressions, doesn't it?

It forgives when forgiveness is needed, it bears with one another when bearing is needed, right?

And so all of this culminates in, granted, what is sort of an arbitrary text to choose is the final text, but I sort of thought this is an appropriate place for us to land our study in the one another commands in the New Testament, which is put in our translation this morning in verse 24 as consider one another.

Now that's a fair translation, consider one another.

It's a bit of a tricky word to render.

If you've got different translations open in front of you, you might see it rendered differently.

You might see uh incite one another or stir one another up.

I personally really like the way the ESV puts it, uh, which is uh spur one another on.

Spur one another on uh towards good works, provoking love and good works.

Spur one another on.

To me, that just sounds very active.

That sounds very invested, and I think that's the idea here.

It's not just a sort of passive intellectual uh activity considering one another.

It takes effort, right?

Takes some investment.

Now, what are we talking about here in Hebrews chapter 10?

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

Let's just get a quick sketch of what's going on here, because we're kind of dropped in the middle of this uh this letter.

This is a letter uh we don't I don't I don't know who the author of this letter is exactly.

Some scholars would say Paul, others debate on who it is.

Ultimately, God knows who it is.

The point that the author is trying to make in this really magisterial letter is simply this that the whole Old Testament scriptures, the whole story of God's work and history, up to Jesus is leading up to Jesus himself, is fulfilled in Jesus, finds its greatest ultimate expression and fulfillment in who Jesus is, which means for us, as we read the Old Testament for ourselves, the right way to read the Old Testament is to ask, how is this, what I'm reading in front of me, anticipating Jesus?

How is this fulfilled in Jesus?

Because that's the basic point that the author of the book of Hebrews is making, that all the things we read about, the sacrificial system in the Old Testament, Moses and the Exodus, all of these things we read about ultimately point us towards God's final, once for all conclusive work in the cross and resurrection of Jesus.

It's once for all completed, finished in him, and now we live into that reality.

So here we are, chapter 10, kind of dropped towards the end of the letter here.

And if you're like me, when you read a book, it doesn't matter how good the book is, eventually your brain just starts to wander.

Do you know that feeling?

And then you kind of just start thinking of lunch, and you kind of just start thinking and you go, hold on, what did I just read?

And good books anticipate that.

Good books know that we need summary statements to sort of, here's what I just said.

Oh, yeah, good, thanks.

This is a bit of a statement like that.

Maybe the author of Hebrews anticipates we're thinking about lunch at this point.

Hopefully we're not.

But he's going to summarize the basic points that he's making up to this point.

He's giving us two essential gospel truths, summing up two essential gospel truths, and then giving us three ways to apply those truths.

We see those gospel truths in the text in front of us, uh prefaced by the word sense, right?

Two senses, right?

Since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus.

That's gospel truth number one.

We have boldness to enter the heavenly sanctuary through prayer, through God's Holy Spirit, through the access we have through the cross of Christ, where he shed his blood, where he paid the penalty for our sin completely.

Since we have this access to God completely through Christ, who substituted himself, who sacrificed himself for us, we have boldness, we have confidence, we have assurance before God.

On the basis of what Christ has done for us, by the way, not what we have done for God.

Do you see the difference there?

That's gospel truth number one.

Jesus has made atonement for us.

Gospel truth number two, we see since we have a great high priest over the house of God, we have a great high priest.

We have an intercessor who stands in the heavenly sanctuary, who lives, Hebrews chapter 7 says, to make intercession for us.

Hebrews 7 · chapter mention

Our names are on Jesus' lips as he stands before the Father, lifting us up to him.

Jesus didn't just throw us back on ourselves to try our best in this earthly trial of ours.

Jesus is actively lifting us up before the Father.

Jesus atones for us, Jesus intercedes for us.

These are two enormous gospel truths that the author of Hebrews has been establishing up to this point, and it leads to three applications.

I'm just going to touch on them very, very quickly.

Number one, that means let us draw near.

Let us go with confidence to God and not shrink away from God on the basis of what God has done for us.

Application number two, verse 23, let us hold on to the confession of our hope.

Don't give up when times give tough.

Remember, Jesus is with you.

He's atoned for you, he's interceding for you.

Hold on.

And then application number three is what we're going to expand on today.

We're going to blow up application number three, or maybe we're going to enter into door number three this morning and see what's going on.

Let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works.

Let us spur one another on.

If all this is true, if these gospel truths are really true, then a church that practices the gospel spurs one another on.

Do you see how that works?

Okay, that's a bit detailed, but I think it's important that we get a sense of what's going on here.

I think the author of Hebrews has at least three things in mind when he says spur one another on.

What are we spurring one another on toward?

Three things, at least.

Number one, we spur one another on toward our good.

Number two, we spur one another on toward our gathering.

And number three, we spur one another on toward our goal.

Our good, our gathering, our goal.

And I hope as we enter into this passage this morning, we catch that same assurance that we've been finding through this whole series, that even as we endeavor to practice the gospel one towards one another, we recognize that all of this is premised on what God has already done for us in Christ, what he's already fulfilled for us, and that gives us assurance, and that gives us good reason to put these things into practice.

So open up your scriptures, if you open up your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 10, open up your order of service, and let's have a look at this passage together.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

A church that practices the gospel, a church like New Song that endeavors to put the gospel into action spurs one another on.

So let's spur one another on this morning.

Let's spur one another on toward the good.

Verse 24.

Let us consider one another, let's spur one another on in order to provoke what?

Love and good works.

Love and good works are the outcome of spurring one another on.

It's the good of the Christian life summed up as good love and good works.

Now we've seen this word love show up any number of times.

We just said that perhaps love is the foundation of all these one another commandments.

And we saw in John chapter 13 that the kind of love that the New Testament is describing is not necessarily the same thing that comes to mind when we think of love in our modern culture.

John 13 · chapter mention

It's not necessarily that feeling of fuzzy feelings or just overflowing with gushing warmth or affection.

Sometimes that love can be a difficult thing because it's a sacrificing love, it's a committed love, it's an unshakable, unconditional kind of love, and it's a serving kind of love.

It's a let me do for you as I would have you do unto me kind of love.

That's what spurring one another on is supposed to provoke, is a serving, self-sacrificing kind of love toward one another.

And spurring one another on provokes love, it spur provokes good works as well, which I take to mean as the outcome of Christian practice or conduct.

It's applying ourselves towards God's will and God's world.

Now, this word provoke, I think, is really important.

Because I think, if nothing else, it suggests that these things, as important as they are, don't necessarily happen automatically.

Right?

Get a group of Christians together, and automatically they're just gonna love one another and do good works together, and it's all just gonna be great, and let's just have a big old hug, you know?

And that's wonderful, but that doesn't necessarily happen automatically, does it?

Maybe we've experienced that ourselves.

We've experienced some of the difficulties in that.

Provoke means perhaps that we need to incite or we need to encourage or exhort or extol one another towards that.

We need to strive together towards that and inspire one another towards love and good works, leading with our own commitment.

When I was uh in high school, I was very much a band kid, you know, not altogether by choice, because if you know my dad was the band conductor, but I loved my time in band.

And I remember sitting beside my friend Charlie in the trombone section, and the thing Charlie would say to me most frequently, you know, after we'd finish playing whatever bars we were playing, is he'd say, You're out of tune.

Thanks, Charlie, you know, and you're sharp, you're flat, whatever that is.

Now, whenever I practiced at home, if I practiced at home, I never sounded out of tune.

Right?

I mean, I'm just playing tootin' my trombone all on my own.

But the second I start playing with others, we start noticing those differences, don't we?

And my friend Charlie was a great guy.

He was not uh he was not a harsh critic, so to speak.

He wanted what was best.

He wanted to pull what's best out of me and pull what's best out of my playing, right?

He's a couple years older than I was, and so yeah, he would say, you need to tune up, you're a little sharp, you're a little flat, we need to play this together.

But there's something about playing together in a band like that, too, whether it's a trombone section or the whole band together, it just ignites a passion together.

In a way that it's hard to sustain that passion on your own.

If you're a musician, an athlete, whatever it is, you you know that feeling.

We spur one another on towards the common good, right?

We spur one another on in a way that both sometimes offers correction to one another, hopefully in loving ways, but ultimately we spur one another on in that shared passion we have towards love and putting the gospel into practice.

A church that puts the gospel into practice spurs one another on towards these good works, towards works in love.

And so at New Song, I wonder how that could look.

There's any number of ways we already put that into practice, don't we?

I'm just so encouraged every time the volunteer schedules kind of come together right now, and y'all are responding to your surveys for the most part.

We'll chase some of you down.

But I'm always encouraged by those who say, Let me be a part of this.

Let me contribute to loving and serving together.

Let's see this thing come together, because it takes a whole family coming together to make this thing happen, right?

And then we have those opportunities even beyond that to love and serve those in our community.

Coming up in September, on September 20, we're going to have a booth in the farmers market and we're going to set up a new song table.

Not so much to say you should come to our church, although we'd love for folks to come to our church, but to say, here's what we're up to in our community to try and meet needs, right?

The partnerships we have with community care, the ministry partnerships that we've put together.

Here's the ways that we as a church want to do good works in our community because that's what the Lord calls us to.

That's part of fulfilling our mission to love and serve our neighbors.

So I hope that you would consider joining us at the table even for the morning, for the afternoon, and being a part of uh provoking love and good works together.

Love and good works that bless us, but love and good works that bless others as well.

This is all part of putting the gospel into practice, and when we do this together, we can do so with a greater passion than we otherwise might not have.

A church that puts the gospel into practice spurs one another on toward the good, towards our good.

But not just that, you'll notice if we're going to spur one another on towards love and good works, there's going to need to be a one another, isn't there?

So let's look at verse 25.

Let us consider one another, spur one another on, not neglecting to gather together as some are in the habit of doing, writes the author of Hebrews here.

Not neglecting to meet together.

Now, this word for meeting could refer to any time Christians get together, formally or informally, getting together for brunch, getting together to go to a movie or something like that.

Probably not go to a movie in the first century, but you get you catch my meeting.

That could extend to that.

Let's make a priority of practicing friendship and fellowship together, that's true.

What the word definitely means, though, is it definitely means worship.

Don't neglect meeting together when the whole body comes together to hear the word, right?

To gather around the world, word, to be edified by the word, and then to go out into the world to be agents of that world.

That's how the word is, this word for meeting is used again and again throughout the scriptures.

And we read in Acts chapter 2 that the earliest church devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of the bread, and the prayers.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

We get something of the DNA of what it looks like to meet together right there.

And if you look at your bulletin this morning, if you're familiar with the way we worship here at New Song, we try and basically do those four things over and over and over again, Sunday for Sunday.

Don't neglect to meet together.

Don't neglect to worship together as is the habit of some.

So if the question is, well, what does it look like to neglect worship if meeting together means make worship a priority, make it a priority for your spiritual life, gathering with other Christians in worship, what does it mean to neglect that?

And I think this is where we get a really important clue.

I guess I wouldn't want to overburden us and suggest that if ever you miss a Sunday, God is really, really ticked off or something like that.

Life happens, and we get sick, and kids get sick, and we travel.

All these things happen, right?

But I think this word habit gives us a really, really important clue.

Are we in the habit of meeting together?

Do we make it a priority to be there?

Or are we perhaps more inclined to miss a given Sunday, but show up perhaps if we're, I don't know, scheduled for that Sunday?

Or we show up when it's convenient for us.

Are we willing to show up even when it's inconvenient for the sake of the body?

I was reading some statistics.

Statistics Canada in 2019 says that 68% of Canadians aged 15 and older reported having a religious affiliation.

Just over half of Canadians, 54%, said they considered their religious or spiritual beliefs to be somewhat or very important to how they live their lives.

Participation in group or religious activities, though, was less common.

Pardon me.

Twenty-three percent of Canadians said they participated in a religious activity at least once a month.

Okay, so s nearly 70% of Canadians say, you know, I'm religiously affiliated.

Over half would say it's very important to me or it's somewhat important to me.

But maybe less than a quarter have participated in their religious body.

That's Christians and you know, beyond Christians, have participated in their religious body once in the last month.

Now lots can happen and life can happen, and I don't mean to be overly litigious here.

I'll let you draw whatever conclusion you will from those statistics.

But I guess I just wonder what does it mean to be in the habit of something?

Are we in the habit of something if we are not there more frequently than we are there, except for some exceptional reason?

How does how do these statistics dialogue with what we read here in Hebrews chapter 10 when we are exhorted to not neglect gathering together?

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

Is that a priority for us?

By the way, that's not just gathering together at Newsong Church in Port Perry.

That's not what we read, right?

When we travel, chances are we're traveling to place with churches, right?

When we are away, there's chances are there are places with churches.

It doesn't have to be Newsong.

We've got Christian brothers and sisters all around the world that we can fellowship with.

If Newsong is our home church, then yes, perhaps we should prioritize this gathering, but do we prioritize the gathering of Christians around God's word?

Because we can't spur one another on towards good works and love.

We can't love one another unless there is a one another.

And so therefore, we spur one another on towards our gathering.

I love the way that John Wesley puts it.

He says, The Bible knows nothing of a solitary religion.

I wonder if another way of putting that is there's no such thing as a lone wolf Christian.

We need one another.

We need to be with one another.

I need you and you need me.

And so at New Song, I wonder if that means a couple of things.

I wonder if it just means noticing a couple of things.

It means noticing.

Who's here and making a point of connecting one with another.

Not suggesting we all just act like we're best friends or something like that, but really connecting.

Really making a priority of being together.

I mean, we do tea and coffee hour, not just because that's the thing that Anglicans do.

We do tea and coffee hour because that's an awesome opportunity for us to ask one another, how are you doing?

How are things going?

If we ourselves need to be asked that question, that's an opportunity for us to show up and be asked that question.

Notice who's here and make a point of connecting with them.

And maybe we notice who's not here as well.

Who are we missing?

Who haven't we seen in the last couple of weeks?

We've got a parish directory for a reason.

We can pick up the phone and we can have a phone call to say, we miss ya.

The church isn't the same without you there.

Are you doing okay?

That's part of being a church family one with another, is being there for one another.

And then, of course, there's the obvious application, which is all of this requires that I'm here too.

Is it a priority for me?

Is it a commitment for me?

Not just when it's convenient for me, not just when I expect to be edified by something, but perhaps because God's got something in me to do towards my brother or sister in Christ.

He's going to minister through me on a given Sunday, and I need to be prepared for that.

Putting the gospel into practice spurs one another on towards the good, towards love and good works, but also toward our gathering.

But ultimately, it spurs one another on towards our goal.

Let's look at the last half of verse 25, and here's where we're going to land.

Let us spur one another on.

Pardon me.

But encouraging one another, pardon me.

And all the more as you see the day approaching.

Encourage one another, encouraging one another.

We've seen this already in our one another series, haven't we?

In 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 11, where Paul says, encourage one another and build each other up just as you're doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:11

Encourage one another is a way we put the gospel into practice together as a church family.

And when we looked at that passage together, we decided this is not just mean a sort of, you know, we walk up behind each other and hit each other on the shoulder and say, Adam boy, you know, you're really, you're doing great.

It's the sort of encouragement that builds one another up over time.

It's encouragement that requires relationship.

It's encouragement that walks one alongside the other.

But it's encouragement especially oriented toward the goal of the Christian life.

We are cheering one another on with a finish line in mind.

And the finish line is this: as you see the day approaching.

We saw that a very similar phrase appear in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, didn't we?

1 Thessalonians 5 · chapter mention

1 Thessalonians chapter 5, Paul talks about the day, the day of the Lord, which is the Lord Jesus Christ's return, when we will be with him, when we will see him face to face.

1 Thessalonians 5 · chapter mention

Isn't that what we just sang in the ancient of days?

That is the goal of the Christian life.

Just think about that for a second.

The Christian life, your Christian life, my Christian life, has a goal.

It has a destination.

It has an end in mind.

It isn't just an endless pursuit of trying to do the right thing.

I mean, yes, all morality and practice and all these things are involved.

The goal is to be with Jesus.

That's the goal.

Full stop.

The goal is seeing him on that day when he appears, and so spurring one another on is reminding one another that we're in this together, that we are running this race together, that we share the same destination.

We are not just spectators cheering on the team in the field.

We are pilgrims together, walking the road, encouraging one another to hold on to the confession.

Don't give up.

Keep going.

That day will be worth it.

And while we walk together, we ask, what can I do?

How can I pray?

What do you need?

That's part of being a Christian, one towards one another is spurring one another on towards the goal.

I know of no better illustration than from Pilgrim's Progress, the endless well of sermon illustrations, Pilgrim's Progress.

One of the great works of English literature and one of the great allegories of the Christian life.

And towards the end of Pilgrim's Progress Part 2, where Christiana is making her pilgrimage with her journey, pardon me, with her companions, towards the celestial city, they encounter a roadblock, they encounter an obstacle.

So the narrator says this: he says, I saw Christiana, Mr.

Greatheart, all their companions in my dream, and they went on till they came to a place at which a man is apt to lose his way.

But he had in his pocket a map of all things, pardon me, always leading to or from the celestial city.

And had he not been careful here to look in his map, they had all in probability been smothered in the mud with their trudging through, and for just a little before them, and that at the end of the cleanest way to was a pit.

None knows how deep, full of nothing but mud, they're made on purpose to destroy the pilgrims in.

Then the narrator says, I thought I must with myself, who that goeth on pilgrimage, but would have one of these maps about him, that he may look when he is at a stand which is in the way he must take.

What's he saying?

I'm so glad that I he had his map.

Aren't we glad that when we stand at a fork in the road, when we stand at difficult impasses in life, we can keep the goal in mind.

And we are given, as it were, a map toward that goal, being with Jesus, and we need our companions together to walk towards that goal.

Friends, we need always remember that our Christian life has a goal to be with Jesus.

And we are fellow pilgrims on the way to the celestial city.

And one day we will be with Jesus, and our greatest happiness will be realized, and eternal life will be ours.

And in the meantime, we hold fast and we hold each other fast.

We spur one another on here at New Song by spurring one another on in our pilgrimage, in our pilgrimage, praying for one another, calling on one another, relying on one another.

This is what we're called to do.

A church that practices the gospel spurs one another on.

But not on the basis of all the things that we have to do to get to the celestial city.

We spur one another on and on the basis of everything God has done for us in Christ to secure that outcome for us.

Let's remember that this passage begins with two important gospel truths.

Jesus atones, Jesus intercedes.

Before we think about what we have to do in the Christian life, we ought to bear in mind what Christ has done for us to secure our salvation.

So this is good news.

Before we endeavor toward to spur one another on toward the good, we remember that Christ has already won our greatest good for us.

Greater love has no one than this, that a man would lay down his life for his friends.

I wonder what man that is.

Jesus gives himself for us completely on the cross.

Jesus' love provokes our love for him and for one another.

And before we endeavor to gather together, we remember that Jesus is eager to gather with us.

Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them.

Not there I will be among them under certain terms and conditions.

There I am among them.

Jesus is eager to gather with us, isn't he?

And then we remember the goal.

That if I go away, I go to prepare a place for you, that where I go you may be also.

See, Jesus' goal is to secure a place for us.

And that's what he endeavors to do.

So whatever good or gathering or goal that we have in front of us, we remember that Jesus has already won it for us.

And when we go to where he is, that's where we secure these things one with another.

We spur one another on in living the Christian life, not as an earning our salvation, but as a living it out, as an entering deeper into it.

And isn't that great assurance?

We spur one another on toward our good, toward our gathering, toward our goal, because this is what Jesus has done for us.

So, friends, as we enter into this new ministry year, we've spent this summer considering what does it mean to be a church that practices the gospel.

My greatest heart for us is that we prayerfully, considerately, committedly spur one another on in the good works that God is calling us to do in love for one another, for our neighbors who don't yet know Jesus, and for the love of Christ Himself who first loved us.

Amen.

We hope that you've been blessed by God's word today.

If you live in the Port Perry area, we hope that you'll come and worship with us in person on Sunday at 10 a.m.

If you'd like to learn more about Newsong Church, we'd love to connect with you.

Please find our contact information at newsongportperry.ca and reach out to us.

Newsong's ministry is entirely funded by the generous giving of those who worship and journey with us.

If you feel called to support our ministry with a financial gift, please go to newsongportperry.ca slash giving to make your contribution.

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.