Hebrews 10:25

Tonight, We are Continuing Our Sunday Night Series “Twisted Scripture”

We are Looking at Different Verses Throughout the Old and New Testaments That are Commonly Twisted/Misinterpreted

Sometimes We Will Run Across Individual Verses That Seem to Be Teaching Something Very Clear

And So We Will Use Such Verses to Form Beliefs on Certain Issues

Sometimes We May Get it Right, But Most of the Time, Stand-Alone Verses Don’t Give Us the Full Picture

Many Times, We Will End Up Walking Away With a Completely False Idea of What That Verse is Actually Meant to Teach Us

And if We Base Our Beliefs on a Misinterpreted/Twisted Verse, We are in Danger of Believing Something Destructive

Tonight We are Looking at Hebrews 10:25

This is a Verse that Many Here are Likely Very Familiar With

But Being Familiar With a Verse Doesn’t Mean We are Familiar With What it’s Actually Saying/Teaching

Hebrews 10:25 (NASB)

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.

ESV - “not neglecting to meet together”

NIV - “not giving up meeting together”

NET - “not abandoning our own meetings”

This is the Verse We Use to Tell People They Need to Be Going Attending Bible Classes and Worship Services

In the Past, I’ve Presented this Verse as God Commanding Christian’s to Attend

And if a Christian Doesn’t Attend, Then They are Disobeying this Command and Being Unfaithful to God

But is it Possible that We Have Been Missusing, Misinterpreting, and Twisting This Scripture?

In Order to Find Out, We are Going to Need to Return this Verse Back to its Context

The Theme of the Book Could Be Summed Up Like This:

“Jesus is Better”

The Whole Letter is About Encouraging Christians (Specifically of a Jewish Background) to Keep the Faith

The Writer Even Tells Us This Much at the End of the Letter

Hebrews 13:22 (NASB)

But I urge you, brethren, bear with this word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.

I Believe the Book of Hebrews Might Have Likely Been a Sermon of Encouragement That Had Been Transcribed By a Listener

The Message Was:

Jesus is Better Than the Angels, Moses, and the Priests

He is the Greater High Priest Who Established a Greater Covenant

So They Should Strive to Endure and Persevere Through the Hardships and Not Forsake Christianity

Remaining Faithful is Worth it

But Falling Away Comes at a Terrible Price

Looking at the More Immediate Context, We See in Chapter 10 that Jesus is the Perfect Once For All Sacrifice

Under the Old Law Animals Had to Be Sacrificed Regularly

But Jesus Only Had to Die Once for the Sins of All People

And Once a Person Has Jesus as Their Sacrifice, They are Perfected For All Time

God Would No Longer Remember Their Sins and Lawless Deeds

Why Would You Leave That to Go Back to the Old Law or to a Life of Sin?!

That Leads Us Up to Our Immediate Context Beginning in Hebrews 10:19

Hebrews 10:19 (NASB)

Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus,

Therefore = Keeping the Fact That Jesus is Better and That He Has Offered Us Complete Forgiveness and Cleansing From Our Sins in Mind

The Auther Says We Have Confidence/Boldness

Confidence in What?

Confidence to Enter the Most Holy Place

This was the Section of the Tabernacle/Temple Where No One Was Allowed to Go Except for the High Priest On Only 1 Day a Year

It was Where the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat Were

It was Where God’s Presence Could Be Found

It was the Most Sacred Place in the World

But the Author of Hebrews Says Christians Can Walk Right in With Confidence

How in the World Can We Do That?

Under the Old Law, Anyone Who Walked in Except for the High Priest on the Day of Atonement Would Immediately Die

We Are Able to Enter the Most Holy Place By the Blood of Jesus

Because We Have Jesus as Our Sacrifice and His Blood For Our Atonement, We Can Come Boldly into the Fullness of the Presence of God

Who Would Ever Want to Forsake Something So Wonderful?

Hebrews 10:20 (NASB)

by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh,

Jesus Provided to Us a New and Living Way into the Presence of God

“New” Because Their Never Had Existed a Way into God’s Presence Before

But Now He’s Provided One

And This New Way into God’s Presence is Also Described as “Living”

The New Way into God’s Presence Does Not Result in Death, But in Life that Never Ends

And it was Inaugurated/Opened By a High Priest Who Will Live Forever

To Enter the Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle, You Had to Go Through the Curtain

We Enter into God’s Presence Now Through the Curtain/Veil of Jesus’ Flesh/Body

In His Death and Resurrection Have Opened Up to Us a Brand New and Life-Giving Way to the Presence of God

Again…Why Would Anyone Want to Leave This Behind?

Hebrews 10:21 (NASB)

and since we have a great priest over the house of God,

Jesus is the Great High Priest Over God’s House, the Church (Heb. 3:6)

He Offered Himself as a Sacrifice and Then Sat Down at the Right Hand of God to Continue Making Intercession For Us

Hebrews 10:22 (NASB)

let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Since Jesus, Our High Priest, Has Opened Up a Way For Us to Boldly Enter God’s Presence Through His Death and Resurrection…

“Let Us” = The 1st of 3 Exhortations in the Passage

Let Us Draw Near to God

We Can Only Approach God When 4 Conditions are Met:

Our Hearts are Sincere

Without Genuine Devotion to God, We Cannot Draw Near to Him

We Have Full Assurance of Faith

Without Complete Trust in Jesus’ Saving Sacrifice, We Cannot Draw Near to God

Our Hearts Sprinkled Clean From an Evil Conscience

Without the Blood of Christ Sprinkled on Our Hearts, Removing the Guilt of Sin From Our Conscience, We Cannot Draw Near to God

Our Bodies Washed With Pure Water

Without the Ritualistic Cleansing From Our Sins in the Pure Waters of Baptism, We Cannot Draw Near to God

So the First Exhortation of Our Text is For Those Who are Sincere, Have a Completely Confident Faith, Have a Clean Conscience, and Have Been Bathed in Baptism to Draw Near to God

The Christian’s This Letter Was Directed to Were People Who Were Considering Walking Away From God Because of the Hardships They Were Facing For Being Christians

But Here, They are Encouraged to Move Even Closer to God

And They Were to Do So With Those 4 Considerations in Mind

Hebrews 10:23 (NASB)

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;

Here is the 2nd Exhortation

They are Encouraged to Hold On to the Confession of Their Hope Without Even Budging

What is the Confession of Their Hope?

That Jesus Christ is the Resurrected Lord and King and That He Was Going to Return to Resurrect His Kingdom to Eternal Life

They Were Encouraged to Not Even Think About Giving Up On That Hope

But Why Not?

Because Jesus Promised and He is Faithful/Keeps His Promises

So Don’t Give Up, Jesus is Going to Keep His Promise!

Hebrews 10:24–25 (NASB)

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.

Here’s the 3rd Exhortation

They Were Encouraged to Contemplate On How They Could Encourage Each Other to Love and Good Works

In Order to Stay Faithful to Christ, They Needed Each Other

They Needed Mutual Encouragement

Some Were Starting to Forsake, Neglect, and Abandon the Assembly

They Were Turning Away From Their Christian Family and it Would Only Be a Matter of Time Until They Had Fallen Away Completely

They Were No Longer Giving or Receiving That Mutual Encouragement to Keep Up the Good Fight of Loving and Doing Good to Others

We See the 3 Christian Motivations in These 3 Exhortations

They Were to Draw Near to God in Full Faith

They Were to Hold On to Their Hope

They Were to Encourage Each Other to Love

How is a Person Supposed to Remain in a Faithful Relationship to God When Surrounded By Persecutions and Hardships?

Faith, Hope, and Love

Have Faith/Trust in Jesus’ Saving Sacrifice

Don’t Let God of the Hope that Jesus Has Promised You

And Surround Yourself With Like-Minded Loving and Good Works-Doing Christians Who Can Encourage You to Be and Do the Same

Hebrews 10:25 Twisted

God’s Word Says You Must Not Miss Services

And If You Do, You are Being Disobedient and Unfaithful to God

Hebrews 10:25 UnTwisted

Christians Were Beginning to Fall Away and Forsake Christianity Because of the Persecutions and Hardships They Were Facing

And the Author of Hebrews Provided a Number of Reasons Why It’s Worth it to Stay Faithful to Jesus

After Giving His Arguments of How Jesus is Better Than Anyone/Anything Else, He Begins to Exhort/Encourage His Listeners

Jesus Has Provided to Those Who are Faithful to Him a New and Living Way to God’s Presence

To Be in God’s Presence is to Be in Perfect Fellowship With Him Because of Jesus’ Atoning Sacrifice

Since Jesus Has Provided Fellowship and a Reconciled Relationship Between Us and God…

We Can Draw Near to God, Having Full Confidence That We Have Been Fully Cleansed

We Can Have Full Confidence That Our Hopes of Resurrection and Eternal Life Will Be Fulfilled, Because God Keeps His Promises

We Have Each Other to Stir Up, Stimulate, and Encourage One Another to Love and Good Works

Jesus is Better!

Jesus is Greater Than Any Pain or Suffering You Could Possibly Be Going Through Right Now!

So Hold On to Your Faith

Hold On to Your Hope

And Hold On to Each Other

Because Without Each Other, You Will Soon Become Discouraged and Fall Away

Hebrews 10:25 is Not a Verse Telling Us That if We Don’t Go to Church Then We are Unfaithful

It is Telling Us That if We Don’t Worship Together, Fellowship Together, and Spend Time Together, Then We Will Never Have to Strength to Stay Faithful

It’s Not the Attendance in and of Itself that Makes You Faithful

It’s the Mutual Encouragement We are Supposed to Be Providing For Each Other That Will Help Us Remain Faithful

It’s Not, “Old So and So is Unfaithful Because He Doesn’t Come to Church.”

It’s, “Old So and So is Never Going to Be Able to Remain Faithful if He Doesn’t Let His Family in Christ Encourage Him.”

It’s Not Perfect Attendance that We Need to Be Faithful to God

It’s Each Other!

So Let’s Not Use Hebrews 10:25 to Shame People Who Don’t Come to Worship/Bible Study Regularly

We’ve Got People Who Come All the Time, But They Aren’t Encouraging Others or Allowing Themselves to Be Encouraged

Those People are Just as Disobedient to This Passage as Those Who Never Come

How Can We Truly Apply This Verse?

Let’s Start Talking More Before and After Services

Talk About Our Faith

Talk About Our Hope

Talk About Our Common Love

Don’t Let Anyone Sit in a Pew Alone

Be Friendly, Warm, and Welcoming to Everyone

Think of Ways to Encourage Others to Love More

Think of Ways to Encourage Others to Turn That Love into Action/Good Works

Don’t Just Walk in and Sit Down, But Be Active, Talkative, and Friendly

Treat These People Like the Family They Are to You

Whenever We Can Turn This Church Building into a Church House…

And Start Seeing Those in this Room as Actual Brothers and Sisters…

Then We Will Start Seeing a Church That Can’t Help But Grow in Strength, Faith, and Number…

Because We Don’t Allow Anyone to Fall Away Here

That is What Hebrews 10:25 is All About