The Responsibility of Church Membership

Hebrews 10:19-25

Say, Christian, What Are You Doing?

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great 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 with pure water.  Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 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.[1]

ach individual who names the Name of Christ is responsible to invest life and gifts in a congregation of Christ the Lord.  Each redeemed individual is called by Christ to seek out The Fellowship wherein God would have him serve.  We saw these truths in a previous message.  The teaching is not an occasional teaching of the Word, but it is rather woven throughout the warp and woof of the fabric of the Bible.  It is based upon the fact that salvation changes the attitude of the redeemed.  When the attitudes are addressed by the Spirit of God, the actions will also change.

  You will no doubt recall the emphasis I placed upon changed lives demonstrated by those who have believed.  Those who are redeemed are transformed.  This must not be construed as a hit-or-miss proposition, but it must rather be understood to be a certainty.  Underscore in your mind this great truth.  Those who have believed in the Risen Son of God, those who have been born into the Family of God, those who are forgiven their sin, are changed.  Their actions reflect the transformation which occurred in their lives.

Ray Stedman understood this change.  He wrote:

The result of the operation of the new covenant in the believers’ lives is a highly visible transformation of their behaviour.  It flows from an inward change of attitude which is not dependent on outward circumstances.  Believers become highly motivated to live at a new level of behaviour and need only a bit of guidance about the form that new behaviour should take.[2]

Those professing the Faith who remain unchanged give silent witness that they are still in their sin.  In part, this was the basis for the Apostle’s challenge issued to the Corinthians.  Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith.  Test yourselves.  Or do you not realise this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test [2 Corinthians 13:5]!

When we have examined ourselves, what will we discover?  What practical tests can we apply which will cause us to take notice of our condition despite our feelings?  In order to answer that question, I invite you to focus attention on the words of the author of the Hebrew letter and especially notice the text chosen for this day.

The Redeemed are Privileged.  The author focuses on two privileges believers enjoy.  These two privileges are introduced to us by the English word since.  Note the language.  Since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, suggests the first privilege.  Since we have a great priest over the house of God, reveals the second privilege we enjoy.  The first privilege that we who are the redeemed enjoy is a confident spirit.  The second privilege which we enjoy is that we have a competent advocate.  Let’s focus on these privileges, one at a time, discovering something of the richness of the blessings we enjoy.

The first privilege accorded to us who are believers in the Risen Son of God is a confident spirit.  We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus.  Read that statement slowly.  We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus.  Whenever you hear this statement, what do you hear?  What are these holy places?  What is this confidence which we possess?  These are questions deserving answers, and the answers will prove vital to our understanding of who we are.

The term holy places, occurs in the New Testament six times, each time in this Book of Hebrews.  Three of those times, the term refers corporately to the holy place and to the most holy place.  The holy place, which is spoken of throughout the Old Testament and referred to briefly in Matthew and Acts, speaks of the sanctuary where the High Priest served God.  The holy place pointed to the outer sanctuary and the most holy place (or Holy of Holies) referred to the inner sanctuary.  Holy places is usually a general and universal reference to the sanctuary.

The holy places to which we are provided entrance is the New Covenant with Christ the Lord.  It is that new relationship we enjoy with the Risen Son of God and with the Father.  Perhaps you will recall the words of Isaiah as he speaks on God’s behalf.

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,

who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:

“I dwell in the high and holy place,

and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,

to revive the spirit of the lowly,

and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

[Isaiah 57:15]

The holy places are those places where God and humanity meet.  In a practical sense, this means that we have confidence to come to God in prayer.  There is a vast difference between “saying prayers” and “praying.”  Many people are able to recite a prayer which is designed to manipulate the True and Living God, but few enjoy the freedom of coming in His holy presence.

Listen in a fresh way to the invitation which the author of this letter to the Hebrew Christians issues.  Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need [Hebrews 4:14-16].

Trace the concept of the holy places we are privileged to enter, according to this author.  When Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.  For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God [Hebrews 9:11-14].

Christ did not go into the Temple which was situated in Jerusalem and offer Himself as a sacrifice.  The veil was torn and the way into the Most Holy Place was exposed at His death.  Perhaps you recall the account of Jesus’ death Matthew provides?  And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.  And the earth shook, and the rocks were split [Matthew 27:51].  This is the meaning of the reference found in our text.  Since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh [Hebrews 10:19, 20].

Again, the holy places into which Christ entered as a sacrifice had nothing to do with the Temple which was once situated in Jerusalem.  Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.  For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.  Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world.  But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself [Hebrews 9:23-26].

Now we read that we have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat.  For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp.  So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.  Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.  For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.  Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name [Hebrews 13:10-15].

The sum of all this is that we can enter into the presence of God at any time, and this by the merits of Christ the Lord.  He gave His life so that we might walk with Him in the heavenly places.  Now, we can enjoy sweet fellowship with the Father and with the Son.  Surely, that must be the meaning of the opening words of the Ephesian encyclical.  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him [Ephesians 1:3, 4].

Christ has been seated at [God’s] right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come [Ephesians 1:20, 21].  From this exalted position, He reigns over all things in the church and as His people we serve Him.  It is to this exalted position, in the heavenly places, that we are invited to come and worship Him as King and Saviour.  When I pray, I am walking in heavenly places with the Master.

This privilege was utterly undeserved.  Remember that we were sinners and rebels to grace.  We were condemned to death.  But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus [Ephesians 2:4-6].

Here, before the throne of God, I meet my great High Priest, the glorious Son of God.  The author of this Hebrews letter speaks of Jesus as our Great High Priest.  Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need [Hebrews 4:14-16].

One of the beautiful passages revealing God’s compassion is found in Psalm 78:39.  After reviewing the rebellion of His chosen people, the Psalmist speaks of God’s compassion—compassion founded upon knowledge of who they were.  Focus with me on that verse for one moment.

He remembered that they were but flesh,

a wind that passes and comes not again.

That is powerful.  Another powerful passage is the one which follows.

As a father shows compassion to his children,

so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

For he knows our frame;

he remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass;

he flourishes like a flower of the field;

for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,

and its place knows it no more.

But the steadfast love of the Lord

is from everlasting to everlasting

on those who fear him,

and his righteousness to children’s children,

to those who keep his covenant

and remember to do his commandments.

The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,

and his kingdom rules over all.

[Psalm 103:13-19]

Jesus is our Great High Priest not only because He is able to sympathise with us, knowing out condition, but also because His is an enduring priesthood.  One of my favourite passages concerning this truth is that which occurs in this same Hebrew letter which is the focus of our study this day.

[Jesus] is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.  He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.  For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever [Hebrews 7:25-28].

I should expect that the redeemed consider these great privileges indeed.  We are able to enter the holy places with confidence and we have a Great High Priest.  I am permitted by the press of time to address these great privileges in a tangential fashion only.  The brevity of time does not mean that we are not a rich people, however.  Christian, we possess a confident spirit and we have a competent advocate.

The Redeemed are Responsible for Specific Actions.  We should be encouraged by these two powerful resources: a confident spirit and a competent advocate.  Thus encouraged, we are now called to three specific activities.  These activities are introduced by the words let us.  Let us draw near, let us hold fast, and let us consider how to stir up.

Each call to action is based upon the privilege we as Christians enjoy.  In confidence, let us draw near.  Believers enjoy the full assurance of faith, knowing that our hearts have been sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed clean with pure water.  First, let’s draw near to Christ the Lord.  Let’s come before Him to worship.  Let’s invest time in His presence.  Let’s join in with His people in service.  Perhaps it is appropriate that we review the call issued through the One-Hundredth Psalm.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

Serve the Lord with gladness!

Come into his presence with singing!

Know that the Lord, he is God!

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!

Give thanks to him; bless his name!

For the Lord is good;

his steadfast love endures forever,

and his faithfulness to all generations.

There are two thoughts which I deem worthy of serious contemplation in this divine imperative.  First, I note that the verb is in present tense.  The practical import of this is that we are to make it our practise to draw near to God.  We are not to be spasmodic in our worship, but we are to make it our regular practise to seek God.  Second, the seeking is not merely seeking Him in prayer, though we should seek to know Him through prayer and seek to discover Him in our midst.  The idea is that we are to endeavour to live in the presence of God, especially in union with other Christians.

In drawing near to worship and to serve, we are to do so in faith.  Practically speaking, this means that we are to prepare for worship.  It means we are responsible to renounce known sin so that we are not plagued with an evil conscience.  It means that we are responsible not only to profess salvation, but we are responsible to live as God’s redeemed people.  This is the reason I have preached during the past several months calling the people of God to holy living.

We are not to live lives which dishonour the Name by which we are called nor are we to permit the world to ridicule the Faith by reason of our foolish and wicked actions.  We must renounce exalting our own desires and become concerned about what others think of the Faith because of our actions.  Though the world dismisses what others think, we must not permit ourselves to dismiss how others view the Faith because of us.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.  This world is a hostile place for a Christian.  It is not so much that we are hated as it is that our Master is hated.  Because the world hated Him, we, if we honour Him, serve as a constant rebuke to the wilful walk of the inhabitants of this fallen world.  This is the message we have received.

If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.  Remember the word that I said to you: “A servant is not greater than his master.”  If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.  If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.  But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.  If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.  Whoever hates me hates my Father also.  If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.  But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: “They hated me without a cause” [John 15:18-25].

Live boldly, as those who are freed from condemnation—be godly and rejoice.  Worship boldly, as those who are received by God—rejoice and exult in the love of God.  Serve boldly, as those who are appointed to stand in opposition to the world—bringing the lost to faith in the Son of God.  Too many of the professed saints of the Most High God waver in their faith and equivocate in their service precisely because they long for the approval of this fallen world.  Let me speak pointedly to that problem.

Within the community of Faith are individuals who are even now choosing to live and to act in dishonourable fashion.  They do so because they say they are fearful of how some individual or group will see them.  Let me tell you what I see.  I see these individuals becoming less dynamic in their witness.  They begin to absent themselves from worship, saying they are too busy or saying that they are not being fed or saying that they just don’t get anything out of the service.  I have never witnessed a Christian bring another to faith through lowering his or her own standard.  I have never seen an outsider turned toward the light through the compromised witness of a fearful Christian.

When you act contrary to the Word of God in fear that your boyfriend or spouse will condemn you, you have erected an idol which can only weaken your faith and must at last result in disaster.  When you choose to absent yourself from worship in fear that your children will reject you, they have become your idol and you are wavering in your faith.  Whenever you stifle your worship of God, suppress your zeal for Christ or smother your witness out of fear of the reaction of another, you have made that reaction your idol.  Fear God!  Don’t fear your idols.  Fear God and serve Him only.  I warn you in a spirit of compassion and with a gentle heart that God will not tolerate our idols.  He will hold us accountable for our idolatry, however well meaning we were in erecting those idols.  If we do not reject the idolatry of our lives, He will remove it from us.

The third great imperative is found in the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth verses.  Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.  The language imposes upon each Christian responsibility for the conduct of the entire congregation.  Clearly, the author has in view the corporate life of the congregation, for he continues by cautioning against neglecting meeting together.

I have been in service to Christ for over thirty years, serving in a variety of capacities among His churches.  I have heard an astonishing number of reasons why professed Christians cease attending the services of the church.  When I was a student in graduate school, prior to every exam some wag would scrawl on the board these words: we have a thousand reasons for failure, and not one excuse.  That is a commentary on the reasons people give for absenting themselves from the services of the church.

If the worship is insipid and uninspiring, you are responsible to make it exciting.  Pray for renewal and seek the face of God so that you yourself are refreshed.  If you don’t like the music, volunteer to present a special and take part in the planning of the services.  If the message fails to “feed” you, accept the responsibility to feed yourself.  Study the Word and equip yourself to respond to the message presented.  Pray for the pastor.  It is amazing what a great preacher I will become if you pray for me.  If another saint ignores you, you are responsible to show courtesy to them and to be hospitable.  Make the effort to speak to them and then pray for them.  If the challenge to godliness offends you, be godly and you’ll cease being offended.  In the vast majority of instances, the reasons given for absenting oneself from worship are evidence of a wicked heart of unbelief.

What is fascinating about this particular command is that it anticipates the spiritual tempo of this present day.  Worship has become a spectator sport.  We no longer worship—we observe worship!  We have a worship team and we watch them worship!  We have preachers who put on a performance.  If we don’t like the performance in one church, we drift to another until we find what suits our need.  We shop around and fail to enjoy the roots which should establish us in grace.

These Hebrew saints needed to encourage one another.  Shortly after this letter was written, the Temple was destroyed and the Jews were dispersed throughout the Empire.  It must have seemed as if the world were coming to an end for them.  How much they needed to encourage one another.  Just so, we have no idea what is coming in the immediate future, but we may be assured that we need to encourage one another.  We need to look upward, believing that Christ is coming again and encourage one another to stand firm in the Faith even as our momentous times move toward the final cataclysmic end.  Will North Korea start World War III?  Will Sadam Hussein engage the world in war?  We don’t know; but we do need to look up!

It is now apparent as we look back over the centuries that it has been the will of God to have each generation feel that it is living in the very last days of civilisation.  Each century has found the church fearing the cataclysms of its own time as the last to come.  Yet, inexorably, each passing century has moved the world nearer the final end.  The sense of imminence is God’s device to keep believers expectant and full of hope in the midst of the world’s darkness.[3]

The world we live in looks to us to see how we will respond to the challenges presented in these days of uncertainty.  If we choose to live as our neighbours, ignoring God and ignoring righteousness, they will continue moving steadily toward judgement—and their blood will be on our hands.  Paraphrasing Carl F. H. Henry, we now live among neighbours who fear HIV more than Hades, and many are convinced that God is a lofty synonym for gobbledegook.[4]  They need to see a living church, and in order to be that living church we need to accept the responsibility to encourage one another.

The Impact of Obedience on the Redeemed is Glorious.  Did you notice that the three imperatives result in and arise from the familiar triad of faith, hope and love?  Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.  Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.  Let us consider how to stir up one another to love.  I draw from this that as we unite in worship, we grow in faith.  As we stand firm in the Faith, hope grows stronger.  As we reach out to the weakest among us, our love grows stronger.  This observation recalls the introductory words of Paul’s first letter to the Church of Thessalonica.

We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labour of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.  For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.  You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.  And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.  For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.  For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come [1 Thessalonians 1:2-10].

Would you be a man or woman known for your great faith?  Become a man or woman known for worship of the true and living God.  Would you live a life marked by hope?  Hold fast to the good confession you made and keep on serving with determination.  Would you live a life of love?  Encourage others and your love life will improve dramatically.

Invest your life in the Body; invest your time encouraging others; stand firm in the Faith; seek to worship; and your life will be changed.  More than that, as a church we will be transformed even in the midst of world-wide fear.  Let’s do it.  Amen.

The result of the operation of the new covenant in the believers’ lives is a highly visible transformation of their behaviour.  It flows from an inward change of attitude which is not dependent on outward circumstances.  Believers become highly motivated to live at a new level of behaviour and need only a bit of guidance about the form that new behaviour should take.

It is now apparent as we look back over the centuries that it has been the will of God to have each generation feel that it is living in the very last days of civilisation.  Each century has found the church fearing the cataclysms of its own time as the last to come.  Yet, inexorably, each passing century has moved the world nearer the final end.  The sense of imminence is God’s device to keep believers expectant and full of hope in the midst of the world’s darkness.

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[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Ó 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

[2] Ray C. Stedman, Hebrews: the IVP New Testament Commentary Series, Wheaton, IL, InterVarsity Press, 1992, 106

[3] Stedman, op. cit. 110

[4] cited in Stedman, op. cit. 110