It's Time: Biblical Community

Introduction

In 2020, a survey by Cigna found that 52% of Americans report feeling lonely, while 47% report that their relationship with others is not meaningful. That same survey found that 58% of Americans said they sometimes or always feel like no one knows them well. If you google stats of loneliness in America, you will find article after article reporting on the rise in loneliness in America. It’s interesting because we have “access” to so many people through cell phones. We have access to several social media sites where we can instantly connect with friends and family with the tap of a screen. Yet, there is still a sense of underlying loneliness in our culture. Even from many professed Christians, I hear an overwhelming sense of loneliness. How many of you can relate to a sense of deep loneliness?

We have been walking through a series of messages these past few weeks entitled it time. These messages we have heard these past weeks have reminded us of the means of grace that He has gifted us to grow in His image. Designed God sanctifies us through His grace and Uses every means to do so.

He uses the gospel.

He uses prayer.

He uses worship.

He uses serving.

He uses giving.

He uses giving and discipleship.

God uses all these Christian practices to grow our faith and affection toward Him. Today, we look at another means of grace God has given us—the grace of biblical community. When God saved us, He saved us to be a part of His body, The Church. He kept us to live in a community to know and to be known by His people. When we consider the epidemic of loneliness in our culture, the only way to truly address it is to go back to our maker.

God made us to be in a community. We are communal creatures. We desire and long for connection; that is how God made us. The first thing God said was not good was for man to be alone. God is His Godhead is a communal God. The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit enjoy eternal community with one another. When this Triune God created us, He created us in His image. We are to be in a community. But not just any community.

One pastor, David Platt, said, “Christ and His Church are the only cure for the crisis of loneliness that characterizes our culture.” The only cure for loneliness is the Christian community because it is the only community that points back to the all-satisfying God of community.

Turn in your Bibles to Hebrews 10: 24-25. This morning, I want us to discuss this gift of Christian Community that God has given us. I pray that by the end of this message, God, through His Spirit, will cause you to fully receive and embrace the gift of community that He has given you through His church.

Let us look at our text for this morning Hebrews 10:24–25 “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.”

Context

Before we jump into an exposition of these verses, I want to give a brief background into the context of this passage. I believe understanding the context of this passage will provide a richer understanding. According to scholars, the epistle or letter of Hebrews was written around 60 AD. This is the only New Testament book in which the author is not conclusively identified in the text. The entire premise of this letter is to point to the readers who, at the time, were primarily Jewish Christians. That Jesus was better.

All of the Old Testament Laws, Prophets, and Priests. Were merely shadows pointing to the real things, Jesus. We read in Hebrews 8:5–6 “These serve as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was warned when he was about to complete the tabernacle. For God said, Be careful that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain. But Jesus has now obtained a superior ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been established on better promises.”

Jesus is better! All of the Old Testament points to Him; it is a picture and a shadow pointing to Jesus. And when we look at Hebrews 10, what we see is that Jesus is the Perfect Sacrifice. All of the sacrifices God commanded the Israelites to observe were imperfect shadows pointing to the Perfect Sacrifice of Christ. The sacrifice of bulls and goats was never enough to take away sins.

We read in Hebrews 10:1–5 “Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come, and not the reality itself of those things, it can never perfect the worshipers by the same sacrifices they continually offer year after year. Otherwise, wouldn’t they have stopped being offered, since the worshipers, purified once and for all, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in the sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year after year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, as he was coming into the world, he said: You did not desire sacrifice and offering, but you prepared a body for me.”

But we see in Hebrews 10:9–10 “he then says, See, I have come to do your will. He takes away the first to establish the second. By this will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all time.” Jesus is the perfect sacrifice, offering His Body once and for all for the forgiveness of sins.

In light of this truth, the writer of Hebrews gives three exhortations or commands to the readers of this letter. First, we in verse 22 that we are to draw near to God. Then, in verse 23, we see we are to hold fast to our confession. Then, the final and focal point of our message is here in verses 24 and 25.

Where we read once again Hebrews 10:24–25“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.”

There are four points I would like for us to draw about community from these verses today. First, that community is implied.

The Implied Community

Look back at these verses and notice all of the communal language. “Let us, “one another,” and “each other.” These words give us a sense that community is implied. It does not say that you consider yourself to stir yourself to love and good works…No, that is because the expectation for the Christian is to be in community. When God aved you, He did not save you to be alone. He saved you to be a part of His body. 1 Corinthians 12:27 “Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it.” We are the body of Christ, that is the church. We become His children, and we have brothers and sisters in Christ.

The idea of a Christian not being in community is foreign to the New Testament. Even whe you read the New Testament letters, they are written primarily to churches, not to individuals. And when ou read the New Testament, you often come across one another commands in scripture. Like we see in these two verses today. But the o e another commands are all over the New Testament.

To name a few.

Honor one another above yourselves (Romans 12:10)

Live in harmony with one another (Romans 12:16)

Build up one another (Romans 14:19; 1 Thessalonians 5:11)

Be likeminded towards one another (Romans 15:5)

Accept one another (Romans 15:7)

Admonish one another (Romans 15:14; Colossians 3:16)

Greet one another (Romans 16:16)

These “one another” commands appear over 100 times throughout the New Testament. And gues what? You can’ obey these commands outside of the community. The expec ation for a follower of Jesus is to be in community. It is implied. Not only s it implied. It is als intentional.

The Intentional Community

Look back at Hebrew 10:24: “And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works.” Some translations say, “Let us consider ways” to stir, stimulate, or motivate each other to love and good works. So we se that we are expected to be in community, and while we are in community with each other, we are intentional.

That if you are in a true biblical community, there is intentionality. There is an intentional effort to motivate toward love and good works.

Love

That love, in this verse, is the Greek word agape. It is a d stinct type of love, not a sappy or sexual type of love. It is a f ithful love to the object of the Love. It is only given to us through faith in Jesus Christ. This is t e same love that Christ has for us that we read about in Ephesians 2:4–5 “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are s ved by grace!” This is the love that we read about here in Hebrews.

Good Works

This love leads us to good works. The love that we have from God is what fuels the good works we do for God. Because w have received God’s love, we are now created good works. Paul writ s in Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.”

Are you in an intentional community that regularly motivates you towards love and good works?

Or are you in a community where you motivate each other to sin and disobedience?

When I got to this sermon section, I thought of the king we read about in the Old Testament. His name was Rehoboam. Have you read about him? He was the fourth king of Isreal, the son of King Solomon. On one occasion, in 1 Kings 12, When he became king after the death of his father. The people came to him to petition him to lighten the heavy load placed on them by his father. Rehoboam told the people to leave for three days while he went to seek counsel for the petition. The Bible says that he first visited the elders who served with his father. They counseled him to listen to the people, be a servant to them, and speak good words to them.

The story goes on to say that Rehoboam later goes to seek counsel from his friends the people he grew up with. They tell him to increase the peoples burden. His friends motivate him to selfishness not to service. Who’s advice does he take? We read in 1 kings 12:13 That he rejected the advice the elders gave him, and spoke harshly to the people. This lead to the Kingdom of Isreal dividing.

Rehoboam returned to his friends, the people he grew up with. And they idn’t motivate him to love to service. Rather, t ey said, “you are the king now. Who do th y think you are? They moti ated him towards pride and selfishness.

Think of that person or group you know in your life. Think of he closest people in your life that you do life with.

Are they leading you to Christ? When you onnect with them, do they motivate you to love and good works?

Do they point you to Jesus?

Or do they motivate you to greed, lust, pride, envy, and gossip?

Some of you come to church on Sunday, but Monday through Saturday, your closest community is not pointing you to love for Christ. And you w nder why you are not experiencing growth and fulfillment in your faith. Paul remi ds us in 1 Corinthians 15:33 “Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”

True biblical community is intentional. God desir s you to lean into the gift of a community that motivates toward love and good works. Not only s it intentional, it is also Cherished.

The Cherished Community

Look back at Hebrews 10:25a“not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing...” According to an article in NPR, the stats show that church attendance is declining in the US yearly. This has appeal een exacerbated during the 2020 Covid pandemic. People have begun to make a habit of neglecting the gathering. And there are a lot of people who profess Christ who simply do not attend church.

You see them at least twice a year, easter and Christmas. And you know, I love how God has allowed the church to utilize technology and how many churches can now stream the entire service online. Church service streaming became very popular during the pandemic because we were all ordered to lock down. But many Christians never seem to recover from the lockdowns of 2020. They are content with experiencing services virtually, bedside baptist.

God did not save us so that we can neglect the gathering; he saved us to cherish community. The opposite of neglect is to cherish. God desires that we Cherish the community that He has given us. The local body is a gift to us. The word gathering in this verse is the Greek word episunagoge. Its meaning is more than just meeting for church service on a Sunday. That is good, and every believer should meet regularly to worship the Lord in a local church body. But it also implies just meeting believers doing life together.

You can apply this in our context to small groups or gathering groups. Even believers meet regularly over coffee or in each other's homes. It is a regular public and private meeting of believers. Do you cherish the gathering of believers?

It is amazing we here in the West enjoy the freedom to worship in relative safety. That is not the case for many of our brothers and sisters in other countries. I remember watching a documentary about the Christian church in Iran. Iran is an Islamic country. When you are born in Iran, you are born into Islam. To defect from Islam is to face is to risk your life literally. Yet, I was watching this documentary, and it showed how Christians in Iran would be in what is called a secret church.

They would strategize and plan ways for them to gather to worship, pray, and study the bible. They would do this knowing that at any moment if they are discovered, they can risk their lives. What would cause people to go out of their way, risking their lives to gather and worship in community? It is because they understand and cherish true biblical community. It is not just a commodity for them it is who they are. They must gather.

We here in the West can learn a thing or two from our brothers and sisters in Iran. We don’t cherish the gathering of the church like that. We call ourselves Christians, lovers, and followers of Jesus Christ.

Yet the moment someone “hurts us,” we neglect the gathering.

If the weather isn’t right, we neglect the gathering.

If we were out too late last night, we neglect the gathering.

If our favorite sports team is playing, we neglect the gathering.

We will find every excuse to neglect the gathering, and eventually, many of us began to make a habit of neglecting the gathering, neglecting community.

Because we simply do not cherish community, no one has to threaten your life. Biblical community is just not a necessity for you. It shows a lack of love for the church. We read in 1 John 4:21 “And we have this command from him: The one who loves God must also love his brother and sister.”

We can’t love our brothers and sisters if we are not in community with our brothers and sisters. And if you don’t love your brothers and sisters if you don't cherish biblical community. Can you really say that you love God?

Biblical community is implied. Biblical community is intentional. Biblical community is cherished. Finally, biblical community is encouraging.

The Encouraging Community

We read back in Hebrews 10:25 “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 biblical community is encouraging. Encourage, that is, to come alongside someone, to build up, admonish, and counsel.

When you come alongside someone, that is the idea of doing life with someone. God saves us and does not leave us to walk this Christian life by ourselves. He knows that even though you are saved, you still live in a fallen world. He knows that you will still struggle with your flesh. He knows that you will still face heart pain and discouragement in this life.

Anyone who tells you that when you put your faith in the finished work of Christ, all your problems will go away lied to you. If you heard a message that implied that coming to Jesus means that you will not face suffering, know that you heard a false message. Jesus said Matthew 16:24 “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” To follow Jesus is to take up your cross. It is to suffer. It is to deny yourself to put to death the sin that you once loved. To obey Christ even and especially in the midst of pain.

I think of times in my life when I have been tempted to sin against God. It is usually the times when I am facing discouragement when I am facing a loss of some sort. Maybey of an opportunity, a loved one, or just a sense of hope. I think back to those moments. Like when my father died. What kept me from falling away from Christ? What kept me from walking away in my darkest moment?

Jesus knows that reality. That is why he places us in the church. So that we may encourage each other. There is no way that you can obey God rightly if you are not in a community where you are encouraged to do so. God gives us the gift of biblical community so that we may encourage each other. To keep our eyes on Him.

It was community. It was brothers and sisters coming alongside me, encouraging me to stay the course. It was brothers and sisters coming alongside me to help meet a physical need. It was brothers and sisters combining alongside me, encouraging me to obey God in the midst of pain.

It was Jesus using the body to encourage his body because we know that when one member suffers, we all suffer. 1 Corinthians 12:26 “So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.”

Are you in a community where you are encouraging someone? Where do you have an opportunity to encourage and be encouraged to obey Christ regularly? Is that a normal rhythm in your life?

He says to encourage each other all the more as you see the day approaching.

Conclusion

That last part of this verse says, “All the more as you see the day approaching.” Now, we don’t have time to break down all of the eschatological approaches that you can pull out from that phrase “the day approaching”. (Esachatolgiacal, the study of the end times.) I not going into is post-millennial or pre-millennial, etc. Here is what I want to submit to you. Christ is coming back; there is a day approaching when He will come back to bring final justice to our world.

He came for the first time as God in the flesh to live a perfect, sinless life so that He could be the perfect sacrifice for sinners. He took upon our sins, absorbing the full wrath of God on Himself. And He rose from the dead, defeating sin and death so that anyone who believes in His finished word will be saved.

When He ascended into heaven, He promised to return again. He promised a day when he would make all things right. When He will subject all of creation to the reality of His full authority, he will bring final judgment to all His enemies and bring restoration to all of creation.

What does he want us to do until that day? To be found in the biblical community. To be found encouraging each other. To stir each other to love and good works. We have to answer to the epidemic of loneliness in our society. It is found in Christ. And his church. It’s time to embrace biblical community.

Let’ pray.