Therefore... Let Us... Gospel Implication for God's People

Introduction

There are two possible reactions when someone hears the gospel of Jesus Christ and him crucified.

1. You can go on with you day as if nothing has happened. Go back to apostasy and rebellion against God.

2. You can repent of your sins. Put your faith in Jesus for salvation and from that moment nothing will ever be the same. There is never a more dramatic change in someone’s life than when they put their faith in Jesus.

Because trusting in Jesus for salvation is not just a prayer you pray then go back to your normal life. In Ephesians Paul likeness it to being raised from the dead or blind eyes given sight. It’s dramatic. It’s life altering. For those of you here this morning who have put your faith in Jesus you know exactly what I mean because your life has been changed.

Well what we see in this passage is a certain way that we as born again believers should live. The author of Hebrews (who we don’t know who that is although I may accidently call him Paul) does what we see Paul doing in all of his letters only in a more condensed version. If you read almost any letter from Paul there is a simple format. Paul starts for a few chapters explaining and expounding on the gospel. Then he launches into Gospel Implication.

Essentially he says this is the gospel and because it is true we should live this way.

What we learn from this format is that everything the Christian does is founded on the gospel. We never get away from. Who would want to???

But that’s exactly what we see in these 6 verses. The author of Hebrews using Old Testament imagery shows us the gospel than immediately goes into the implications the gospel has in our life.

He says, Therefore, brothers, since, explains the gospel then launches into three different implications by saying Let us.

The title of the message is this. Therefore… Let Us

So what we are going to do this morning is first look the gospel then its implications.

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.

Let’s start walking through this passage and see what God has for us this morning.

Hebrews 10:19 “19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus,”

fIt’s important to note who Hebrews was written too. It says therefore, brothers. Now there is good reason based on the context of the entire letter that it was written to Jewish Christians not Gentile Christians. If you’ve ever read the book of Hebrews you’ll quickly find out that it is really important to have a firm grasp of the Old Testament. The author is continually making reference to Old Testament stories or practices without giving much back story for gentiles like you and me.

These Jewish brothers are being urged to to believe in Jesus Christ as their perfect sacrifice for their salvation.

I think it’s important to understand that this was written to Jew for this reason.

I want us to try to get into the into the mind of a first century Jew and how they viewed God.

We take the holiness of God for granted and as a result we have a very low view of God. Therefore some of the things mentioned in these verse can be taken for granted but do not miss this. What we are told in these verses are as shocking to the Jewish mind as it gets.

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus,”

The NIV translates it like this.

Hebrews 10:19 NIV

19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,

The holy places or the Most Holy Place as the NIV translates it is is a reference to the sanctuary in heaven we God is. We can enter into the very presence of God.

This isn’t a one off statement either. Heb. 4:16 “16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace,

Notice that word confidence used in both verses. Not only can we enter into the Most Holy of Places not only can we come to the throne of God and enter into His presence we can do it with confidence. That word confidence in the greek has the idea of authorized. SO we can enter with confidence because we have been authorized to enter.

Why can we enter into God’s presence with confidence? What authorized us?

Was it because you were a good person? Was it because you did more good things than bad? Was it because you prayed a prayer once when you were a kid even though you had no idea what you were doing? Was it because you were baptized?

NO! We can with confidence enter into the Most Holy of Places because we have been authorized by the blood of Jesus.

Now remember this was written to a Jewish audience and there would be nothing more shocking than being able to go into the presence of God and with confidence no less. Why was this? Because they understood the holiness of God. They understood how shocking ti would be to be in the presence of a perfect and holy God.

Let’s briefly look at two stories that showed them the holiness or the set apartness which is what holiness means of God.

Remember Nadab and Abihu? You read about them about the time you start to reconsider if this really is the year your gonna read through the Bible in a year.

Look at what Lev. 9:22-10:2 says

Leviticus 9:22–10:2 ESV

22 Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he came down from offering the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings. 23 And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. 24 And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces. 1 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. 2 And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.

Nadab and Abihu came into the presence of the Lord and offered God unauthorized fire and immediately they were consumed with fire and killed.

What made this fire unauthorized I have no idea but result is clear. TO bring something into the presence of God that was not authorized was to be meant with certain and immediate death.

Notice they weren’t sat down and told not to do that again. They weren’t taught a lesson and sent on their way. They were consumed with fire. They were burned to death. Because they brought something unauthorized before God. Because they disobeyed the clear commands of their creator. Because God is Holy.

This isn’t the only time God responded in this dramatic way. Remember Uzzah?

So a little back story. The Ark of the Covenant which was the most sacred vessel in all of the Holy of Holies. It was the throne of God. The priests of God had strict instructions on how to handle the ark. Num. 4:15 “15 And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, but they must not touch the holy things, lest they die.”

So the Ark of the Covenant had fallen into enemy hands but due to several miraculous circumstances GOd’s people were transporting it back to the tabernacle.

Listen to 2 Samuel 6:1-7 about what happens during the transport.

2 Samuel 6:1–7 (NIV)

1 David again brought together all the able young men of Israel—to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark. 3 They set the ark of God on a new cart (which to just stop here. They were not to put it on a cart to carry. It was designed to have poles run through rings on both sides so it could be carried without being touched. But they were in a hurry and put it on a cart to be pulled by oxen.) Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart 4 with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. 6 When they came to the threshing floor Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. 7 The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down, and he died there beside the ark of God.

Did you catch that? The ox stumbled. The ark was going to fall off onto the dirt so Uzzah reaches out and grabs the ark so it doesn’t fall. How does God respond? Does he tell Uzzah thank you? Does he say nice catch? NO! God’s anger burned because of his irreverent act and he struck him down dead.

That seems crazy right? How could God act that way? How could God kill him? I don’t think it’s wrong to assume that Uzzah’s actions were almost involuntary. The ark was falling so he reached out and stopped it. I’m sure his motives were pure. He wasn’t try to desecrate the ark he was trying to save it and yet God strikes him dead?

How could that be? Well there was a lie that Uzzah had subtly believed. He believed that his hand was purer than the dirt. He believed that him touching would be better than letting it fall into the dirt and mud.

But had the dirt ever done anything wrong. Seems like a dumb question but the answer is no. Dirt does exactly what God has commanded it too. It gets dusty when it’s dry it gets muddy when it’s wet. Dirt has never disobeyed God. It couldn’t if it wanted too.

The only thing other than the devil himself who has ever had the audacity to disobey God is man himself. Only man has ever done what God has told him not to do. Only man has ever had enough pride to look at it creator in the face and disobey and rebel.

The lie that Uzzah believed. The lie that we are so tempted to believe even today thousands of years later is that we are not that bad and that God is not that holy. Which is to say that God is not that set apart from us. That He is not that different from us.

But what I hope you begin to understand what I hope I begin to understand is the holiness of God. He is completely set apart. Completely other than us. And to come into his presence dirtier than dirt. TO come into his presence unauthorized would mean certain death.

But the writer of Hebrews tells us that we can come into the Most Holy Place. We can come into the presence of God with confidence. Something dramatic must of had to happened for this to be the case and of course we know what that was.

God the Son gave up His life. Spilt his blood so people like you and me could be with God and we could do it with confidence.

I pray you never get over that. Meditate on it. Live you life in this truth. We can confidently go into the holiest of holy places because of Jesus.

But the author doesn’t stop there he continues in Heb. 10:20 he writes “20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,”

What is the author talking about here? Again it is a reference to the Old Testament.

Allow me to take a few minutes and explain what this verse is talking about but to do this we must go all the way back to the beginning. Which are probably some of the scariest words a preacher can say…

All the way back in Genesis we see the Garden of Eden. Now the Garden of Eden was in a sense the first temple. In fact God’s instructions on how to buld the tabernacle and later the temple were actually modeled on the Garden of Eden.

So the Garden of Eden was the first temple and the whole thing represented the Holy of Holies. There was no sin. Nothing wrong. It’s where the presence of God could be found and God himself would go on walks with Adam and Eve.

But we know what happens next. Eve takes the fruit eats and hands it to her husband Adam and he eats. As a result man and earth are put under a curse and Adam and eve are kicked out of the garden. They were thrown out of the presence of God.

And what did God place in the entrance of the first temple, the Garden of Eden? Cherubim with a flaming sword. The message was clear. You can come to the entrance. You can offer sacrifices. You can pray and talk to God. But man was no longer allowed into HIs presence. The Cherubim and their flaming sword made sure of that.

But eventually a flood came and wiped out the earth including the garden of eden. But eventually God would call for himself a people and give to these people a law that would show them how to live and how to interact with God.

Part of this law was an explanation of how to build the tabernacle down to the last minute detail. In the tabernacle were three places. The outer court, the Holy Place, and the Most Holy Place or the Holy of Holies. The outer court was where the Priests ministered as they offered sacrifices for sin and guilt. In the center of the outer court was another tent. This was called the Holy Place. It was set apart and only the priests were allowed to come in. But at the back of the Holy Place was one more room called the Most Holy Place.

In the Most Holy Place was the Ark of the Covenant and on top of the Ark of the Covenant was a special place called the mercy seat. This was seen as the throne of God. Now even though God is omni-present it is here that God chose to dwell in the middle of His people.

One author explains further. This second chamber could only be entered by the high priest on one day of the year, the Day of Atonement, and only with a blood sacrifice. The high priest would enter the Most Holy Place with smoke (from the altar of incense) to help shield his view and sprinkle blood on the ark of the covenant to atone for the sins of the people. Anyone who entered this chamber when he was not supposed to would be killed.

What separated the Most Holy Place from the Holy place and everything else? A curtain. A curtain with a Cherubim and a flaming sword.

The imagery is clear. Just like the garden of eden was guarded by cherubim so too was the Most Holy Place.

But something important shifted with this new practice. Unlike the Garden of Eden which allowed no admittance into the presence of God now God was opening a crack. Now once a year with the blood sacrifice of the spotless lamb the High Priest could walk into the Holy of Holies and offer a sacrifice to cover the sins of God’s people.

For generation after generation this was the practice. God’s people were only given the faintest of taste of God’s presence.

Until God himself comes in the likeness of man and dwells among us and at the climax of the gospels we read this passage

Mark 15:33–39 (ESV)

33 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

Did you hear what happened. After thousands of years of seperation from God. The very moment that life was ripped from Jesus the curtain was ripped in two. That big keep out sign that had separated humanity from the presence of God had been torn in two. God had made a way. What sin had ruined God had fixed!

How? Hebrews 10:20 “20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,”

The blood of a spotless lamb would only allow one man spend a few precious minutes in the presence of God one day a year. But this new way, this living way, this infinitely better way has opened the door to anyone who would willingly walk through it.

Through the broken body of Jesus the barrier to God has been removed and through the blood of Jesus we have authorization to the presence of God.

Can we sit with that for a moment. We have access to God. Us as mere man have access to God. Uzzah was stuck dead for simply touching the ark. Nadab and Abihu were consumed with fire for offering something unauthorized to God.

Yet how often do we come into this building and worship God with hearts full of sin.

We sing songs like All Praise To Him and yet we covet the praise of man.

We pray but are more concerned with what the people who hear us think instead of what the God who hears us thinks.

The offering plate gets passed and we withhold from God what he rightfully deserves.

We partake in communion but with unconfessed sin.

We preach and hope people think highly of us instead of thinking highly of God - or maybe that’s just me...

And yet we’re not struck dead. We’re not consumed with fire… Because God has opened a new way. A better way. A way that has nothing to do with our performance. A way that has nothing to do with the good deeds that we do.

It’s through his blood and his broken body that we have access to God. He knows our hearts. He knows how hopelessly sinful we are and yet he loved us enough to make a way. If only we would repent of our sins and turn to Jesus.

1 Peter 3:18 “18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,”

But the Good news isn’t done though there’s even more to share.

Hebrews 10:21 “21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,”

I’ll try to be more brief with this point. But the author of Hebrews gives us a second reason why we can fulfill the three commands we will look at shortly. It’s because we have a Great High Priest.

See not only was Jesus our perfect sacrifice he is also our perfect High Priest.

What does the High Priest do? The Priest job was to be the intercessor. Which means they intervened on behalf of the people. They made a case for the people. Essentially it was their job to point to the blood of the lamb to show that their sins had been covered.

IN this verse we see that He is our High Priest and in Hebrews 7:25 it says “25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”

Jesus lives to be our High Priest. He lives to make intercession for us. It’s what He loves to do!

One author writes, “Christ’s intercession reflects how profoundly personal our rescue is. If we knew about Christ’s death and resurrection but not his intercession, we would be tempted to view our salvation in overly formulaic terms. It would feel more mechanical than is true to who Christ actually is. His interceding for us reflects his heart—the same heart that carried him through life and down into death on behalf of his people is the heart that now manifests itself in constant pleading with and reminding and prevailing upon his Father to always welcome us.”

Many of us know that Jesus died for us. We know that it’s his sacrifice that opened the gates to heaven. But we miss this point. We miss the incredible personal and constant intercession of Jesus on our behalf.

Day in and day out we have a High Priest who is constantly making intercession to the Father for us. Now this is not to say that the Father is cold toward us. It is His deepest desire and longing to say yes to the Son and to accept his sacrifice on our behalf.

An intercessor or a High Priest acts like a third party making the case of one to another. But I wonder if the main job Jesus has as our intercessor is not towards the Father but towards us.

There are a few ways we wrongly respond to our sin.

We wallow in our shame. We assume God is so fed up with us that he couldn’t possibly forgive us again. Surely he’s tired of us.

But day after Day Jesus lives to make intercession for us. He loves to shows us moment by moment how we are forgiven. He points us to the cross. He shows us his nail pierced hands. He reminds us how loved we are. He tells us we don’t have to worry. We aren’t going to be kicked our of his presence. We will always have a room always have a spot at the table. Not because we have our act together but because He does.

We run away from God. We think we too far gone so we figure we might as well start running. Thinking our case is hopeless we dive further and further into our sin.

But day after day Jesus lives to make intercession for us. He tells us we are always welcome back home. We are always loved. He tells us that our sins are already forgiven. That we can come home not as a servant but as a son or daughter. Like the father of the prodigal son. He waits by the door until we walk back home and he runs to meet us. Because he lives to make intercession.

The third way we respond wrongly to our sin is by downplaying its significance. We act like our sin isn’t that big of a deal. We tell ourselves what we done really isn’t that big of a problem. Why do we do this? I think the main reason is simple. We are scared. We’re scared if we were honest with ourselves and with God surely he wouldn’t love us anymore. SO we lie. We lie to God and we lie to ourselves. We downplay our sin.

But day after day Jesus lives to make intercession for ourselves. He tells us we don’t have to worry. He already knows what we’ve done and He’s already paid the price. We can be honest. We can be honest with ourselves, with others and most importantly with God. Because we’ve been forgiven.

All we do when we downplay our sin is downplay God’s love for us. When we think our sin isn’t that big of a deal we think GOd’s love for us must not be that big of a deal. But when we understand the depth of our depravity the depth of our sin we see the greatness of God’s love for us. That’s what I want us to see is how sinful we really are how undeserving we really are so then we will have a better appreciation for the way God loves us.

This is the glorious gospel that the author of Hebrews wants us to know. The glorious gospel that I have so poorly tried to explain and it is this glorious gospel that is our foundation for three commands that come next.

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.

Therefore let us.

Because of everything God has done let us.

3 gospel implications for GOd’s people.

the first is found in Hebrews 10:22 “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.”

This almost seems crazy that it has to be said. Who wouldn’t draw near to God. Given this incredible opportunity that we have as Christians why wouldn’t we draw near to Him. Yet, we all know that we don’t.

This Jhhn Piper quote has always stuck out to me. He says, "I am astonished at people who say they believe in God but live as if happiness is found by giving him 2% of their attention." - John Piper

Unfortunately this is true isn’t it. We say we believe in God and yet we only give him the left overs. We give him so little attention. We spend so little time drawing near to the God who has moved heaven and earth to be with us.

But my point isn’t to guilt trip you into a relationship with God but rather show you that it is possible. That we can by the grace of God draw near to the lover of our soul. The only one who can satisfy your soul.

How do we draw near? It’s rather simple isn’t it.

We draw near through His Word. The word became flesh and dwelt among us. We draw near to the throne of grace and when pour over the scriptures. We draw near to God when we find a passage of scripture that speaks to us and roll it around in our mind over and over again. When we take it like a diamond and inspect it from every angle seeing the beauty from every part of the scripture. We draw near to God when we mediate on it so much we begin to memorize the beautiful piece of scripture and so drill it into our mind that we are able to mediate on it all day long.

I use the dwell app and listen to scripture on repeat and it gives time in between each quoting of scripture that allows me to meditate on it and think on it before my ears are again flooded with the Word of God. We draw near to God when we pick up His Word and soak in it until we begin to change to become more like His Son. We draw near to God when we grab a pencil and paper or open a word document on our computer and begin studying the word of God. When we come to God’s Word with determination to find out who HE really is. We draw near to God when we become so completely dissatisfied with our own understanding of God and desire to know who this God is who supposedly loves us so much.

We draw near to God through prayer. Oh how I loved when my eyes first caught glimpse of Abby. We spent hours on the phone in conversation drawing near to one another. We draw near to people when we speak to them. We draw near to God when we speak to HIm. We are told to pray without ceasing. Donald Whitney explains that as constant conversation with God with frequent interruptions. The more we spend in the throne room of the Father talking to Him the closer we draw near to the very heart of the Father.

We draw near to God when we obey Him. In John 15 Jesus tells us to abide in HIs love. How do we abide in GOd’s love? By keeping HIs commandments. We don’t earn God’s love by keeping His commandments but when we obey Jesus when we do what Jesus tells us to do it’s when we feel the heat of GOd’s love for us. Parent’s you understand how this works. When your child lives in complete disobedience you don’t love them any less. Nothing could make you love your child less. But there is no fellowship without obedience. It’s not that you child is any less loved when they disobeyed its that they have chosen to abide in something other than your love when they choose to disobey. The same is true of our Father. When we put our Faith in Jesus for salvation we go from being children of His wrath to children of His love and there is nothing we could do to make him un love us. But if we want to abide in the center of HIs love we must obey Him.

So we draw near to God when we have to the humility and the trust to obey God even when it doesn’t make sense even when it scares us. And the more we obey God the more we feel and understand His love the more we have drawn near to the Father. Obedience isn’t a chore its an opportunity to draw near to God.

I could go on but lets keep going.

Hebrews 10:23 “23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”

What is the hope we are to hold onto? The hope of the gospel. The hope that someday we will be in the very presence of God. But notice again the foundation of this hope. It does not come from us but but because he who made the promise is faithful. So what is the foundation of our hope. None other than God himself. He is our hope. This is also a clue as to how we are to hold onto this hope. Look to the one who is faithful. Look to the ways that he has been faithful.

It is this hope that will carry us through a lifetime of struggles. It is this hope that we can build our life on. Build a marriage on. Build a family on. Build a church on. The hope of Jesus.

1 Timothy 1:12–17 (ESV)

15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.

That’s the hope we hold on to. When the world tries to distract you. Refuse to take your eyes off Jesus. When the world brings you down look up to Jesus. When like Peter the waves and the storm surround us and threaten to drown us don’t get distracted lest you sink. Keep you eyes transfixed on Jesus. But then never forget this. When you do fail. WHen you do get discouraged. When like Peter you do take your eyes off Jesus. Know that He will hold you fast. He will reach down and save you You can hold fast to the confession of your hope because the confession of your hope will hold you fast. You can hold onto Jesus only because he is holding onto you and that will never change because he who promised is faithful.

At this point I want to make sure I point something out. Notice the phrase Let us. Did you notice that really important two letter word.

Us.

We draw near to God we hold fast to the confession of our hope not on our own but with each other. We’re not meant to do this on our own. We draw near to God together. We hold fast together.

It’s why we have have going through the one another commands and we find one more one another in the next verse.

Hebrews 10:24-25 “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.”

These two verses are often brought up in regards to church attendance. It says do not neglect meeting together as is the habit of some. Which is true and good. We need you to come. We need you to be here week in and week out. Church needs to be a priority in your life for the good of your own soul but also for the good of the church.

But what I think is interesting is how often the other two commands are forgotten. See if all we do is not neglect meeting together. If all we do is come to church every week but nothing else we have totally missed the heart of this verse.

It says let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works and encourage one another. So if all you do is come, sit, and leave you’ve missed it.

How do we stir up one another to love and good works? How do we encourage one another?

A couple ways.

Consider

The first way to stir up love and good works in someone else is to take time out of your day and consider it. Take time to think or even plan how you could stir up in someone love and good works.

2. Consider others.

This means we have to stop thinking about ourselves. Stop coming to church like a consumer expecting everything to be catered to you. Come to church with this thought process. “How can I best stir up love and good works in people today.” Imagine how revolutionary that would be for your own heart. If instead of coming and complaining about the music or how cold or hot it was in the auditorium. Looks for ways you can stir up love in peoples hearts. Instead of complaining about the length of the sermon or whether or not you feel adequately reached out too. Look for ways that you can spur someone on to good works.

Now imagine if we were a church filled with that thought in mind. What if we were filled with people who took time out of the day and instead of thinking about themselves they consider others and how to stir up love and good works in them.

3. The verse says encourage one another. That word encourage has the idea of pouring courage into someone. It’s more than just being nice it’s giving them courage. Which is something we all desperately need. Soldiers on the battlefield aren’t the only one’s who need courage.

It takes courage to be a stay at home mom. It takes courage to get up tomorrow morning and to know that your entire day will be spent meeting the needs of everyone but yourself. It takes courage to respond with love and gentleness when your kids disobeys for the 100th time.

It takes courage to wake up tomorrow morning and go to work. It takes courage to go to work and live in such a way that glorifies God even when it makes you unpopular with you coworkers.

Kids, it takes courage to go to school. To do what you know is right when everyone around you is sinning.

It takes courage to work on your marriage. Marriages fall apart because people are to scared to do what it takes to keep them together. It takes courage to go to counseling knowing that your going to have to open your heart and your soul to someone else. It takes courage to love a spouse who refuses to love you back.

It takes courage to be a good Father. It takes courage to lead your family in the way that is right. It takes courage to go to your family and admit you have been failing as a Father and that things need to change.

It takes courage to confess your sin. It takes courage to be honest with those around you what you are struggling with.

It takes courage to love the unlovely.

We are in desperate need for courage. It takes courage to live for God and thats why we need each other. We need people to encourage or to pour courage into us if we are going to follow God.

But what is is that will encourage us to do all that we are supposed to do. What kind of encouragement do Fathers need to lead their family. What kind of courage do Mom’s need, employees or students need?

We need to hear Heb. 10:19-20 “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,”

We need to hear how we are loved and accepted by God. We need to hear how he has opened the door and authorized us to come into his presence. We need to know that He is with us and He is for us.

So that’s what we need to do.

When we consider how to stir up love and good works in each other we are considering how to point them to Jesus. Nothing stirs up my love for others quite like learning about God’s love for me. Nothing stirs up a desire to do good works for others quite like hearing what God has done for me. Nothing gives me the courage to do what is right like knowing God is with me.

So when someone comes to you with a struggle don’t just tell them to try harder that makes them feel shame. Don’t tell them it’s not a big deal then they feel pushed aside. Take their struggle seriously then point them to the one who took their shame and bore their struggle. Then they will feel loved.

And just like hurt people hurt people. Loved people love people.

Therefore because of all that God has done for us. Let us draw near to God. Let us hold fast to our confession and hope and let us consider how to stir up love and good works.