Motivation to Action

Part II

Hebrews 10:19-25

August 5, 2001

 

Perhaps the biggest challenge we face in regard to the church is to leave off thinking in purely individualistic terms. Individualism characterizes the Western mind much more than the thinking of biblical writers. Historians describe our American forefathers as "rugged individualists," and we tend to identify with this spirit, priding ourselves in living independent of others. This mindset has spilled over into the church so that church members across denominational lines seek to achieve their personal goals in life without regard to the body of Christ. This way of thinking fails to fit into the biblical pattern for the church.

 

This is evidenced in our own denomination where more than half of the membership of the 16 million Southern Baptists live in an AWOL (Absent Without Leave) condition each week. According to our own denominational statistics, only 35% of Southern Baptist membership even bothers to attend on Sundays. If we had a way to gauge the involvement of members in encouraging one another, the percentage would be drastically lower. Where is their passion to follow after Jesus Christ? Where is their faithfulness in participating with others in the church? It is a strange version of Christianity—an unbiblical one at that—that will become a member of a church then not continuing on in faithfulness to Christ and the church. Yet it has become so much a part of the religious landscape of American that we are accustomed to it, perhaps not even noticing it! And it does affect us when we imbibe of this individualistic, lethargic spirit of modern Christianity and neglect the action that should characterize those who are born of God.

 

A bit of this individualistic thinking had made its way into the first century church addressed in Hebrews. Because of persecution and doctrinal confusion they lapsed in their consideration for one another in the church. Their passion for the faith dimmed; their participation with one another lagged. So our writer gives them a "wake-up call" by unfolding the sufficiency and supremacy of Jesus Christ. Now he exhorts them, inwardly to be confident through Christ, upwardly to draw near to God, and in our focal passage (vv. 23-25) to grow in an onward passion for their hope in Christ and outward participation with the church. The gospel of Christ always moves us to action in living as Christians in a sin-darkened world. How does this work out in the crucible of daily life?

 

I. Onward passion

 

I know that I use that word "passion" quite often. But I think it is an excellent term to describe the mind, emotion, and affection of Christians toward Jesus Christ and the truths of the gospel. Onward passion is another way of expressing perseverance. It is that delight and affection for Jesus Christ, that confidence in the sufficiency of the gospel, so that the believer keeps going on in his spiritual development. Just like "Christian" in Pilgrim's Progress, the believer faces the allurements of Vanity Fair and the discouragements of Doubting Castle, but he presses on because of the passion for Christ birthed in him by the Holy Spirit and the implanted Word.

 

This is exactly where our first century audience found themselves. "Doubting Castle" and "Giant Despair" loomed before them. The "Enchanted Ground" of persecution and fear awaited them. They seemed to be frozen. So our pastoral writer instructs them in the action they were to take based upon the sufficiency of Jesus Christ. They were to "draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith." Upwardly they were to seek the face of the Lord, to worship him, to contemplate him, and to live in his presence. But where were they to put their feet? How were they to make progress? "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful," he instructs. This is the second of three exhortations that arise from the solid foundation of the sacrifice and mediatorial work of Christ. This is something the believer is told to do. This onward passion of the believer is three-fold.

 

1. A hope to know

 

The action called for is progressive (expressed by the present tense). "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering." The Hebrew believers were wavering and tottering in their confidence in Christ. That is why our writer has spent so much time hammering home the reality of Christ's excellence and sufficiency. They needed to see this clearly so that their confidence in Christ might carry them through the trials ahead until they stood face to face with their Great High Priest. They were to "hold fast." But you cannot hold fast to something unless you know what it is.

 

Our writer uses the word "hope" in kinship with faith. It is not wishful thinking that he has in mind; but the confidence and anticipation of what lies ahead grounded in the revelation of Jesus Christ in his work. In this sense, "hope" looks backward and forward. It takes a backward look at the realities of the gospel. Hope focuses upon the revelation of God becoming a man and dwelling among us. Hope sees with confidence the work of Jesus on the cross as sufficient to bear God's judgment against him and satisfaction for divine righteousness. Hope believes the resurrection of Christ, affirming that he did indeed rise from the dead, and in union with him we arise to walk in newness of life in the likeness of his resurrection.

 

Hope in the Epistle to the Hebrews always has a direct connection with Jesus Christ and his redemptive work. In 3:6, we find "the boast of our hope," Jesus Christ as our Apostle and High Priest. Assurance and hope are tied together in 6:11, while 6:19-20 makes it obvious that hope is fixed upon the completed work of Jesus Christ: "This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." The "bringing in of a better hope" referred to in 7:19 is nothing more than the new covenant inaugurated for us through the sacrificial death of Christ. So we must look backward to understand the meaning of "hope." It points us to Christ and the sufficiency of his death and resurrection for us.

 

But "hope" also looks forward. It is a word of anticipation of the completion and culmination of faith in Christ. He explains this in 6:17-18 where our attention is focused upon the immutable character of God. He describes Christians as "we who have taken refuge," as though we are perishing in the storm of divine judgment and being swallowed by the darkness of sin when Christ became our refuge. Because of the immutable promises of God, we have "strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us." "Hope" carries us into the future, through the darkest of times, because of the certainty of what Jesus Christ has promised us. Hope rests in what Christ has done and anticipates what He has promised for all those He has redeemed.

 

2. A confession to guard

 

We are told to "hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering." To "hold fast" conveys the idea of guarding or keeping. It is literally "hold without bending," as though the anchor of hope secures the ship of Christian confession in the raging storms of life. The "confession" refers to the public agreement with the gospel of Christ that the believer has made. The word "confess," means, "to say the same thing as." Earlier this writer had affirmed that the evidence of being a Christian is one's hope in Christ: "For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end" (3:14). It is an enduring hope, a persevering hope that he refers to. So how is this hope confessed? It is the declaration of the believer's faith in Jesus Christ. It is that faith confessed with the mouth that Paul spoke of in Romans 10:10, that gives evidence of what is in the heart: "For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness; and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." In the case of ancient believers, it began when they declared publicly their relationship to Jesus Christ at their baptism. It might be the simple confession, "Jesus Christ is Lord," offered amidst witnesses and followed by the public display of new life in Christ through baptism. But it continued in the witness of one's life to the end. In the rage of the Nero cult, some of these believers may have lost their lives because of the confession, "Jesus Christ is Lord" rather than confessing Caesar as Lord. They are exhorted to "hold without bending," and so are we.

 

How do you hold faithfully the confession of your hope in Christ? Opportunities arise throughout our week to stand for Christ. It comes in the way we live, integrity in our business dealings, guarding our conversations from impurity, gossip, and frivolity. It is evidenced by the way our lives reflect spiritual discipline and our passions demonstrate love for Christ above a love for the things of the world. It is shown in the way we use our money and time, giving evidence that Christ is Lord of these assets and the way we utilize them. It includes our conversation, for a "confession" is something you not only agree with in the heart but you admit with the lips. So he is calling for us to be open and vocal about our hope in Christ. Is this not one of the world's great needs? All about us people are perishing in the destructive sea of sin and unbelief, and they need to see and hear the confession of our hope in Christ. They need to recognize that there is indeed "an anchor for the soul" that they too can lay hold of through the grace of God.

 

3. A faithfulness to anchor

 

Hope must have a foundation and basis or else it is nothing more than wishful thinking. There are multitudes today that are living with wishful thinking in regard to their eternity. They have no sure hope in Christ. Without a foundation for hope it is no different that wishing for a million dollars to fall out of the sky or wishing for oil to suddenly come bursting from the ground in your backyard. The anchor for hope is found in the clause, "for He who promised is faithful." Someone might look at a Christian and hear his hope for the future, and begin to mock him. This skeptic considers such boasts to be vanity. And without this last clause, we might agree! But the basis for the Christian's hope is found in the faithful promises of God.

 

The promises referred to appear to be specifically those related to the gospel, what we might call "new covenant promises or blessings." It is the promise of forgiveness and guilt removed (10:17); the promise of God's law being written upon the believer's heart and mind (10:16); and it is that grand promise, "And I will be their God, and they shall be My people" (8:10) that looks beyond the present into the future culmination.

 

How does this faithfulness to anchor one's hope in the promises of God work out in daily life? The apostle Paul is a good example. As he neared the end of his life, Paul sat in a Roman prison. The loneliness of having been abandoned by some and having discharged others to duties welled up within his thoughts. This giant of the faith was now chained like a common criminal and experiencing the indignity of prison life. With the fickleness of Nero, Paul knew that his days could be numbered. How did he press on without despairing or abandoning his faith in Christ? Listen to his confession: "For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day" (II Tim. 1:12). He knew the Lord would be faithful to His promises, so Paul kept going on, holding fast to the confession of hope without wavering.

 

What is your onward passion like? I might ask it another way, what drives you? What are you living for? What keeps you going on without caving in to the world, to fear, to doubt, and temptation? "Hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful."

 

II. Outward participation

 

One of my heroes as a small child was the Lone Ranger. He had this knack for riding into the midst of people in trouble and getting them out of jams, only to quickly depart. He seemed to weekly leave his admirers asking, "Who was that masked man?" Aside from the Lone Ranger's willingness to help others, which was admirable, I do not think he is an adequate role model for us as believers. His helpfulness was great; but he knew nothing about building long-term relationships with others. He kept to himself and only swooped in for assistance, only to rush away before anyone got to know him well.

 

American churches have lots of Lone Rangers. They will swoop in to help out in an emergency—and that is wonderful. But there is more to being part of the church than just quick, impersonal acts. We are called to participate in one another's lives. There are no excuse clauses given in our text. There's no hedging room. Every member of the body of Christ is exhorted by our text to the outward participation in the lives of the church membership. "And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near." He actually gives us two specific actions that we are to engage in as members of the church: observation and obligation.

 

1. Observation

 

The exhortation is given in verse 24: "And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds." The word "consider," means to place the mind down upon something. It conveys the idea of considering thoughtfully or contemplating. It means that you are taking notice of others in the church, giving thought to their spiritual needs, and then charting a course for stimulating them in Christian service. It is a command: you are to contemplate and thoughtfully consider others in the church toward a view to helping them in service. That shoots the Lone Ranger church mentality out of the saddle! How can you do this?

 

This demands that we give focused attention to building relationships with each other in the body of Christ. You may be shy or withdrawn. I think you can find help to getting out of your sometime painful zone by seeing this as a divine command. For the sake of Jesus Christ, because I love him more than life, I will invest my life and time in others. I am not suggesting that you can completely fulfill this during the time we have together on Sunday morning; I believe it will take more than that. Perhaps that is why he tells them not to forsake their assembling together, however often that might have been, so that they would have adequate opportunity to invest in others. It might mean that you make some phone calls or visits or utilize your e-mail for a personal conversation. It might mean introducing yourself to someone you do not really know or you do not know very well. It might mean that you will have some people over to your home for a meal or a dessert or a bible study or some other time of getting to know them. It might mean that you will sit with someone different at church or go out of your way to chat with someone you do not know very well. It will mean that you take the time to pray for others and to ask the Lord to help you see the ways you can be an encourager to them for the sake of Christ.

 

But why do all of these things? Some might point out that relationships are painful; and often that is the case. Others might complain that investing in other people has proven hurtful; and with that none of us argue. Some might even suggest that this will do no good or that they have nothing to offer anyone else. Listen to the Word of God: "And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds." The whole motivation of why we do this must go beyond what this relational investment will do for "me"; we must consider what Christ has done for us and be obedient to him. For the sake of Jesus Christ, we must invest in one another's lives. Yes, there might even be some discomfort along the way and occasionally the pain of being misunderstood or adjusting to someone else. But above it all there is this deep satisfaction of knowing that in your passionate love for Jesus Christ you are called upon by Him to help others in His church to follow him in Christian service.

 

He explains what we are doing in all of the thoughtful consideration: "stimulate one another to love and good deeds." He does not give us all the details. He tells us that as new covenant believers who have the law written upon the heart and mind, and the knowledge of sins forgiven and sonship secured, we are to be creative in the ways we stir up the body for action. "Stimulate one another to love and good deeds." There is plenty of stimulation or provoking or stirring up going on in churches. But so often it is not toward actions of love and good deeds! It is interesting that in ancient literature this word is more often used in a negative sense of provoking, irritating, or inciting. In Acts 15:39 it is used of the sharp or irritating disagreement that separated Paul and Barnabas after the first missionary journey. But our writer uses it positively. We are to so take action that we stir up others, but to what? The only other verse in Hebrews that pairs these words is in 6:10, "For God is not unjust so as to forget your work [deeds] and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints." Do you see what he is conveying? He is speaking of actions that the believers are rendering "toward His name," that is, as offerings expressing gratitude toward the Lord, and "ministering to the saints," practically helping or serving others.

 

"Love and good deeds" are not used generically but in reference to Christians serving one another in the body of Christ. It is Christian service that we are to stimulate in one another. And why do we need to do this? I think there are three reasons: (1) we can slip into a Lone Ranger mode and fail to help others, so we need stimulation to serve; (2) we can slip into a selfish mode and expect that all acts of service be turned toward our personal benefit, so we must be stimulated to serve others for the sake of Christ; and (3) we will look more like Jesus Christ if we are giving ourselves in service for others, thus encouraging the body and testifying to the world of the grace that is ours in Christ.

 

2. Obligation

 

The obligation is three-fold: stated negatively, stated positively, and stated contextually. First, stated negatively, our consideration of stimulating one another to Christian service cannot happen if we absent ourselves from the regular gatherings of the church: "not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some." Evidently, some who were so afraid of persecution by the Romans or ragging by the Jews just quit coming to church. Absenteeism had become their "habit" or custom. They were stuck in a rut of sitting in their homes or finding excuses for why they did not gather to worship, pray, study Scripture, partake of the Lord's Table, and fellowship with believers. I would remind you that it is quite likely that they met much more than we do in our day! The early Jerusalem church met from house to house on a daily basis as well as assembling on occasion in more public settings. This church in the environs of Rome might have assembled numerous times throughout the week, perhaps even having to meet clandestinely due to persecution. But even with this very likely scenario, our writer rebukes them for neglecting to assemble whenever the body gathered together.

 

What does he mean by "assembling together"? The writer uses a term that Philip Hughes says, "should be understood as simply the regular gathering together of Christian believers for worship and exhortation in a particular place" [The Epistle to the Hebrews, 418]. And what about "not forsaking"? The word he uses means "to leave in the lurch," "to abandon," "to desert." It is a very strong word and one that was chosen by this writer later to express the promise of God: "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you" (with "desert" being the same Greek term in Heb. 13:5 and 10:25). It is the same word that our Lord used in his cry of dereliction on the cross: "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matt. 27:46). Paul used it to express Demas' departure in going after the world, "Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me" (II Tim. 4:10).

 

Now what does it mean when you or I are neglectful of assembling with the church at the times agreed upon by this body for worship, prayer, study, fellowship, the Lord's Supper, and encouragement? It means that we leave the church in the lurch; we desert the church. And who is this church? It is the visible expression of the body of Christ in the world, corporately indwelled by the Holy Spirit, and the pillar and support of the truth (I Cor. 12:27; Eph. 2:21-22; I Tim. 3:15). And when we neglect attending we leave it in the lurch. Is this an area of ongoing sin in your life that you need to repent of and ask the Lord to forgive you for discouraging and neglecting the body of Christ?

 

Second, he states this exhortation positively, "but encouraging one another." This really ties in with the consideration for one another to stimulate to love and good deeds, for that is encouragement. The word carries a sense of urgency and importance, and also conveys the idea of verbal exhortation. It means that you are coming alongside others in the church to be a help to them in their onward passion in the Christian faith.

 

Third, he states this contextually, "and all the more as you see the day drawing near." What was the driving reason for such urgency among these believers, so that they are rebuked for their slothfulness and neglect? Students of Scripture debate the precise meaning. I think we can see it as two-fold. First, it might have had an immediate meaning of the destruction of Jerusalem and with it the temple worship and all the outward forms and ceremonies of Judaism. As that great day of destruction drew near, one prophesied of by our Lord in Matthew 24, they were to be urgent in their faithfulness in the body. But a second reason, and one that hits squarely before us, is the great day of the Lord's return, culminating in judgment. In light of the imminence of Christ's return, we are to make sure that we do not get sloppy in our assembling together and neglectful in encouraging others in the body of Christ.

 

Conclusion

 

An onward passion in perseverance, holding fast the confession of our hope in Christ, and an outward participation that gives consideration to others in the body, that is what our text speaks of. Where does this leave each of us? We have a hope to hold on to tenaciously and a church to encourage regularly. May the Lord find us on the day that draws near, doing both of these things to his glory.

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