Living on Purpose pt4

It is easier to do hard things together. That’s just the truth. Going it alone is a recipe for disaster. We are not meant to be alone. God even says it is not good for humans to be alone. God Himself exists in a 3 in 1- to the point that in Creation God is referred to as We.

Being alone is not the best way to accomplish a purpose, especially one as grand as the one we were given by Jesus.

When we were talking last week about needing to be together in church, I know some of you may have winced. Look, I get it. Gathering together takes work and commitment. It means a sacrifice of time.

But the costs of NOT being together are HIGH. And the success rate of lone ranger Christians is not good.

Look at what we are enduring right now. We have seen a lot of people leaving the faith for literally unorthodox expressions of Christianity because they had no one to answer their questions who they trusted when they had them. As a result, they sought out shysters and liars and influencers who offered not answers but affirmations.

Church we did that to ourselves.

So as we end this series, I want to spend this last Sunday with you focusing on how we do this together. And go to a passage in Hebrews 10, that we often snag one verse out of and miss the greater meaning of.

Read Hebrews 10:19-25.

So the first thing we need to notice is this goes back to abiding. Verses 19-20 are all about our connection to Jesus.

And what does that abiding produce? CONFIDENCE

Hebrews (1) Spiritual Resources, Privileges, and Requirements (10:19–25)

The participle translated “since we have” is emphatic by being placed first in the clause and denotes the reason Christians have bold access to God. The present tense underscores that this bold access is currently present and ongoing. The “confidence” which we have is “to enter,” (lit.) “unto the entrance,” but accurately expressed by the infinitive “to enter.” The focus is more on the means of access rather than the act of entering

When was the last time you had confidence that God would give you what you need to fulfill the purpose He has called you to?

I know that our confidence can waver in other areas. I mean mine has so many times, because walking by faith is a struggle- especially when you feel overwhelmed.

Hebrews (1) Spiritual Resources, Privileges, and Requirements (10:19–25)

A key word in this verse is “confidence,” which denotes the objective idea of “authorization” granted by God by means of Christ’s blood but also entails the subjective notion of “confidence” or “boldness.” Previously in Heb 4:16 the author exhorted the readers to “draw near to the throne of grace.” Now they are presented with another ground for assurance: Jesus has opened the way for entrance.

But while we hopefully learn to have confidence in God to meet our needs, when it comes to our PURPOSE and our ASSIGNMENT in that purpose, so many of us never build that muscle and it shows.

It shows because we don’t see growth in the area of discipling and seeing people come to know Jesus. That’s for the pros.

Folks, you ARE the pros! The PROFESSORS of the Gospel.

There are no professional Christians, there are just professors of the Gospel. And that is us.

Look, if the unschooled, ordinary disciples can turn the world upside down, so can we.

And we do so under the authority of the highest of high priests- Jesus (v21) Which means He intercedes for us as well as cleanses us from our sin.

Hebrews (1) Spiritual Resources, Privileges, and Requirements (10:19–25)

He is a great priest “over the house of God,” where the preposition translated “over” connotes administration and responsibility for something. The phrase “house of God” refers to all of God’s people, whether on earth or in heaven

But there is more than confidence, there is proximity. Look at verse 22.

We “draw near.” When we have been made new in Christ “sprinkled” and “washed” we can do something no one else can do. We can approach the Throne of Grace with confidence. We can come up to the God of the universe with our requests, our fears, our brokenness, our failures, all of it. We are not kept far away, we are in the court of the King.

Hebrews (1) Spiritual Resources, Privileges, and Requirements (10:19–25)

The idea is that of “approach” and the present tense of the verb implies continuous or repeated approaching

Look church, you can do that. Any time. And that includes when you are trying to fulfill the Purpose for which He has given you an assignment.

We are not expected to do the job alone. In fact, Jesus went away so the Holy Spirit could be right with us to empower us to make known the mystery of the Gospel to a lost and dying world.

So why would draw near only for our own sakes, and not for the sake of the people who need Jesus?

See that is where I am trying to learn. My time with the Lord can become very inwardly focused. I can really struggle to pray for those who I want to share Jesus with sometimes. The cares of the day to day override the urgency of the Purpose.

We have to be more mindful that the day to day does not override the eternal. And that the mundane does not cover over the Master.

And when we do that, we can more easily experience verse 23- holding fast to the truth that we are secure in Jesus because He makes us secure- He is faithful.

Hebrews (1) Spiritual Resources, Privileges, and Requirements (10:19–25)

Believers can count on God standing behind his promise, hence the reason we can “hold unswervingly” to the confession of our hope

And how do we do this, especially when we are failing or afraid or in crisis or feeling incapable or unworthy or just flat out defeated- we do it together- so that the gifts we all have can buttress each other up!

Look at verses 24-25

What do we see here comes from being together?

we stir one another up- we push one another, challenge one another, we make each other better and more than we could have been alone

we produce GOOD works- works of the Spirit not the flesh- because we are together and we are winning the war against sin together and advancing the Kingdom together

and we draw encouragement from one another- we build each other up, pick each other up when we are down, and we do not leave one another behind

Hebrews (1) Spiritual Resources, Privileges, and Requirements (10:19–25)

Other words that can be used to render the idea are “stimulation,” “incitement,” “rouse,” “stir up” and “provoke.” The goal of this provocation is expressed in the compound “love and good deeds.” The author connected love with good works in Heb 6:10. The connection is replete in the New Testament. The order is important: love is the internal attitude and spiritual disposition that expresses itself in outward tangible good works

Hebrews (1) Spiritual Resources, Privileges, and Requirements (10:19–25)

What they are not to abandon is episunagōgēn heautōn, (lit.) “the assembling of ourselves” (NIV “meeting together”) referring more to the activity of assembling than the assembled group itself

This is the Church…local and universal. United as one.

Where are you today?