Do Not Neglect (full manuscript)

Hebrews 10:19-39

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**Introduction**

During the great Chinese famine of 1906-1907, a man visited a refugee camp outside the wall of Chinkiang. A lady, Mrs. Paxton was delivering simple medicine to some of the suffering individuals. As they made the rounds of the miserable straw mat shelters, within which the starving people hungered on the cold ground, she turned to the man and seeing his startled expression, she asked, "Do you know what most of them are saying? They complain of a lack of appetite." You see, these famine victims were not hungry-because they were starving. They had passed the stage of desire for food. This is a picture of the state of many people's souls today. It's lost interest in or lost longing for spiritual satisfaction because it has been starved. We have starved ourselves enough that we get to the point that we don't even desire it anymore.

For the last several weeks and few months we have been steadily working our way through the book of Hebrews. The author has been expounding on the superiority of Christ, His priestly role, and the New Covenant in His blood. The last couple of chapters have been hit after hit of delving deeply into what all of this means. It seemed like we were continually studying the same thing over and over because of the lengths that our author takes to explain and prove his point. In setting up the structure and substance of the gospel in the book of Hebrews, the author continually reviews the meaning of it all with his audience. This is why we see all of the repetition.

It is at this point in chapter 10, verses 19-25, that he turns to exhorting these Jewish believers to hold to their faith and not revert back into a religion that can not save. We see the word, therefore, which we know points back to the previous section. In other words, you should take this following actions because of the previous thought that he has laid out.

He gives the grounds for his passionate appeal to the believers first and then lays out the appeal. This is one of the reasons that many believe Paul may be the author of Hebrews. We see this in other places of Paul’s writing where he gives the theological reasoning and then exhorts his readers to action based on the theological truths he has just unpacked.

Open up your Bibles to Hebrews 10:19-25 and let’s see how the author switches to this practical plea. Let’s read beginning in verse 19:

**Read Passage**

Hebrews 10:19–25 ESV

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

This is the Word of the Lord. Let’s pray and ask God to help us understand and apply it to our lives.

I. Because Jesus has made a superior way... (v. 19-25)

He starts out by giving this recap of what he had just said, because it is the reason that his audience and those of us who follow Christ should respond… THEREFORE

Catalytic event... The gospel should be a catalytic thing in your life...

Definition of catalyst: an agent that provokes or speeds significant change or action

For these Jewish Christians, tempted and pressured to return to their old covenant ways of worship and religious ritual and celebration, it should prompt them to instead cling tighter to the hope of the gospel. For us...

II. Draw near

Number one, he wants them to draw near. Because we have this great high priest and because of this wonderful and superior new covenant in Jesus blood as a once and for all sacrifice, let us therefore, draw near.

He has proven that we have access to God. Do you understand that? WE have access. We don’t deserve that. Yet it’s true. So he wants us to seize the opportunity of access to God that we have that Christ’s priesthood and sacrifice has made possible. It’s here. It’s available. Reach out and draw near. Because He has made it so that you can! His work!

We are to draw near with:

A true heart in full assurance of faith

A heart that evidences complete trust and devotion

- fulfilling the promise of the new heart for God’s people

- with the heart He has given you

- It is a conviction or certainty of faith that is generated in believers as a result of Christ’s work on their behalf.

Hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience

What does that mean?

According to scholars, it’s likely that the imagery of the sprinkling of the heart from a burdened conscience would remind the audience of Moses’ sprinkling the people with blood at the inauguration of the first covenant in Sinai. This is recounted in Exodus 24:3-8.

Christians, those who have trusted in Christ alone for salvation by faith have become participants in the new covenant by the blood of Christ shed on the cross. The cleansing of the believer’s hearts from a burdened conscience is now associated with Jesus’ inauguration of the new covenant through his death. The perfect and total cleansing through Christ’s sacrifice removes the barrier of our sin that prevented open and unhindered access to God. The promises of the new covenant are realized in the community both, individually and corporately. They, and we, are urged to approach God with great confidence, because by Christ’s blood, we can.

Now, about the “bodies washed in pure water” part:

P.T. O’Brien writes,

“The sprinkling of the heart denotes an inward and spiritual cleansing, while the washing of our bodies with pure water is the outward visible sign. Christian baptism now replaces all previous cleansing rites.”

This matches what we know of baptism. We understand baptism by immersion to be an outward symbol of what has happened internally. We are lowered in the water symbolizing dying to our sin and raising up, symbolizing be raised to new life in Christ.

Let’s now turn our attention the second part of the author’s exhortation.

III. Hold fast

We are to hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering. So HOLD ON to it. Hold on. The idea of hope in Hebrews describes the objective content of hope rather than the act of hoping. It relates to both present and future salvation. He who promised is faithful and will carry the work He started through to completion.

This encouragement to hold fast is reinforced by the words ‘without wavering’. This expression describes the manner in which we hold fast rather than the firmness of the confession itself.

Hold on unswervingly. It’s the way in which we hold on. Cling to it for dear life. What is the object of our hope. It’s Jesus. The Gospel. And the basis for maintaining this confession of hope with such steadiness is God’s faithfulness. He does what He promised. The O.T. and N.T. display his faithfulness. He is designated as the one ‘who promised’ which reminds us that His promises are the basis of our hope. God’s promises are reliable because it’s impossible for God to lie. (Hebrews 6:17-18) God’s faithfulness in fulfilling other promises assures us that He will keep all of His promises.

This brings us to the final exhortation in this section. It is a summons to the members of the faith community there to focus their attention on conscious activities that encourage one another. These mutual activities are purposeful in spurring one another on toward love and good deeds. We should be building each other up and encouraging, prompting each other towards love and good deeds.

The verb let us consider, which verses 22 - 25 revolve, has been rendered by let us be concerned for or let us care for, depending on who you read.

We should be concerned about one another.

Our concern for one another should not simply be about physical well being but spiritual well being also. When was the last time someone from church, other than a pastor asked you,

“Hey, how is your soul?”

OR

“How is your spiritual life?”

OR

“How is your daily walk with Jesus going?”

OR

“Do you have any unconfessed sin in your life?”

We don’t ask these kind of questions often because we don’t want to be asked those kinds of questions. Most of us don’t want to be asked them because we would either have to lie about the answer or admit something that we are really uncomfortable admitting because it might damage the way someone sees us. And I believe that, that right there is a sign that we don’t understand what the church is supposed to be.

** Because God has promised and He is faithful.**

IV. Consider - Stir

Our author mentions love here and that completes the triad that he has had going here. Faith in verse 22, hope in verse 23, and now love in verses 24-25

Now, to fulfill this responsibility presupposes that we actually have a care and practical concern for one another. It should provoke us to action. So we should be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works. And then he throws in this part about not staying away from the worship gatherings and mentions that some habitually do this. Why would he say this here? Well, one of the times we encourage one another is when the local church gathers for worship. Let’s take a look back at verses 24 and 25.

Hebrews 10:24–25 ESV

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Maybe you just got really nervous hearing that. Some people will hear that verse and immediately formulate in their minds why those verses are not talking about their reasons for missing church. That is dangerous to do.

Back in the book of Acts we read about the early church and how they had this close sense of community and met together and worshipped together regularly. Apparently, some of these folks in Hebrews had drifted away from some of those practices. The reasons why some were neglecting their responsibility to meet together are not gone into here. Later chapters have hints of some factors that may have played a part such as persecution, indifference, or apathy. Whatever the reasoning behind their neglect, the following passage that we will cover next time contains a warning about apostasy implying that those who persistently and deliberately abandon the fellowship of Christian believers are in danger of abandoning the Lord Himself, just like Israel did. Come back next week for the rest of the story on that one.

Have you heard about this strange disease that has been going around for a few years called Morbus Sabbaticus?

>“Morbus Sabbaticus,” better known as “Sunday sickness,” is a disease peculiar to some church members. The symptoms vary, but these are generally observed:

>1. It never lasts more than twenty-four hours.

>2. It never interferes with the appetite.

>3. It never affects the eyes. The Sunday newspapers can be read with no pain. Television seems to help the eyes.

>4. No physician is ever called.

>5. After a few “attacks,” at weekly intervals, it may become chronic … even terminal.

>No symptoms are usually felt on Saturday. The patient sleeps well and wakes feeling well. He eats a hearty Sunday Breakfast, then the attack comes until services are over for the morning. The patient feels better and eats a solid dinner. After dinner, he takes a nap, then watches one or two pro-football games on TV. He may take a walk before supper, and stop and chat with neighbors. If there are church services scheduled for Sunday evening, he will have another short attack. Invariably, he wakes up Monday morning and rushes off to work feeling refreshed. The symptoms may not recur until the following Sunday, unless another service is scheduled at the church during the week.

The word that is translated NEGLECT here has a couple of meanings. The first is to cause something to remain or leave. The second meaning is to separate connection with someone or something. In the sense that it is used here in this verse is to say: forsake, abandon, desert. It’s as if the author is telling these believers not to abandon the gathering. Don’t abandon getting together with the church to worship the Lord. Don’t desert the church. Unfortunately, there were already some who were already in the habit of doing so.

This is concerning for a few reasons. Perhaps the most frightening is that I don’t think people understand the great danger they face in skipping church. In our world we think of our faith as private instead of personal. It is personal, but it’s really not private. We live in a very individualistic culture and we want to tell people they don’t have any say in what we do with our own lives. As your pastor when I see this, it grieves me.

Throughout church history, Christians have found that this is absolutely vital.

*Can we agree that we want to live out a biblical Christianity? What the Bible describes as truly following Jesus.* - Whatever is in here that the Lord says is biblical Christianity, that’s what I want to be about. One of those things is not forsaking the gathering of the church.

Let’s talk about what you miss when you skip church.

What you miss when you skip church:

Back in 2015, an article was posted on the For the Church website by a local church pastor.

He explained in the introduction that his denomination was experiencing a tragedy. They were missing about ten million people. They claimed 16 million church members but on a given Sunday there were only about 6 million in attendance. Because of the critical importance of corporate worship for the life of a Christian, this was a sobering and discouraging statistic for him and his article was born out of that concern. It’s dangerous for anyone who professes Christ to regularly miss worship with their church family. His article contained five dangers of skipping church. I want to address these because they are right on the money and often things that we don’t think about when we decided to neglect the gathering of the saints. So here are five dangers or five things you miss when you skip church.

1. You will miss out on God’s primary design for your spiritual growth and well-being.

The central aspect of corporate worship is the preaching of God’s Word. The proclamation of Scriptures is God’s primary means for a disciple of Jesus to grow in spiritual maturity. When a professing Christian misses church they are missing God’s prescribed process for spiritual growth.

2. You disobey God.

Corporate worship is not optional for the Christian, according to the Bible. Hebrews 10:24-25 makes this clear:

Author and pastor, Greg Gilbert comments on this passage,

“At the very least, therefore, we have to say that, for every Christian, attendance at church gatherings is not optional. The author of Hebrews—and therefore the Holy Spirit himself—commands Christians to be present when the believers to whom he or she belongs gather.” - Greg Gilbert

God’s people ought to strive to keep God’s commands. One of his commands is meeting together regularly for corporate worship.

3. You make a statement to the world that God is not worthy of worship.

What we spend our time on shows what we truly value. If you miss church in order to sleep in or to attend a sporting activity, what does this say about the worth you ascribe to God? Replacing your church’s regularly scheduled worship time with some other activity demonstrates that God is not actually worthy of our worship; something else is. Unfortunately, this is the attitude and conduct of unbelievers, not God’s people.

Someone who says they worship out on the lake with a fishing pole or hiking:

Can you show me something in scripture that would justify that that is an appropriate way to gather together with other people to worship. That’s not what we see in the NT. We see believers gather together to sing, pray, hear the preaching of God’s word together.

In your free time you may want to do this thing where you go out on the lake or hike but that’s not what the Bible talks about when it’s talking about us gathering for worship.

When you skip church, you’re worshipping something - that thing you are choosing over gathering with the church.

“Everyone loves community until it infringes on their decision making.” - Steve Timms in total church

4. You can’t minister to anyone.

Too often people think that corporate worship is only about getting their own spiritual needs met. And therefore if they don’t have any spiritual needs at that time then there is no reason for them to attend. The problem with this view of worship is that it’s too individualistic and self-centered. As Christians, our lives are to be spent serving, helping, and encouraging others.

Missing church robs you of an opportunity to serve someone other than yourself. If you are gone on Sunday morning you can’t offer a word of encouragement to someone who needs it; you can’t welcome an unbeliever who doesn’t usually come to church; you can’t pray with a fellow member who is suffering; you can’t encourage the other members with your voice during times of corporate singing; you can’t encourage your pastor with your presence while he preaches the sermon he has labored over all week. These are just a few ways you can’t serve if you are absent on Sunday morning.

5. You skip out on a foretaste of heaven.

God created us to worship him. That’s the primary reason you exist. This is why the church was redeemed and this is what God’s people will do when Jesus returns and restores our fallen world. Revelation 22:3 gives a picture of this:

Revelation 22:3 ESV

3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.

In 1988, three whales became trapped under a sheet of ice near the city of Point Barrow, Alaska. In an attempt to save the whales, rescuers dug a series of breathing holes in the ice leading back to the ocean. Two of the three whales were rescued because they were able to get the oxygen they needed and were guided in the correct direction. Similarly, Sunday morning worship is a like string of breathing holes the Lord provides for his people guiding and sustaining them until they make it to their true home in heaven.

Jesus died for a people - His church - His body - His bride.

You can’t love Jesus and hate His wife. - Ed Stetzer Quote

We should be living out this life together in community with one another as Christ’s representatives and His people here on earth.

IF you have struggled with this - I want you to know that the Gospel is true and you can repent. God can change your heart on this.

Encourage others all the more as you see the day drawing near.

The day is drawing near.

- Salvation realized

- Implied in that is that judgment also draws near

Draw Near to God

**Musicians come forward**

We are all prone to wander. (Come Thou Fount) Auto-pilot. Wake up. We need to continually draw near to God.

No one drifts toward God.

James 4:6–8 ESV

6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

We need to draw near to God. And we need to continually draw near to each other. Our mutual concern for one another should be expressed in exhortation which includes encouragement but also warning and reproof. The best form of exhortation is based on Scripture. We are reminded that the day of the Lord is drawing near. This is a sober reminder of the urgency of our encouragement and loving reproof of each other within the body of Christ.

I heard a pastor say that you will, not if, but when things in your life happen you will need God and the church and you better be close to both of them.

It is vital to the life of the Christian. There are no lone ranger Christians.

Have you lost your appetite because of neglect? Repent and believe the good news. Jesus died for your sin and He beckons you to run back toward Him and experience all He has for you in His kingdom as part of the local church. You can’t do this alone. Stop trying.

PRAY