Theme: Commitment to the Church Pt.1
Text: Hebrews 10: 19-25
Introduction:
A. Last Sunday we have talked about our commitment to God the Father. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself taught us by word and example what commitment to the Father means. It is to be committed to His glory, fellowship, and holiness. First, we are called to live our life in a way that God is glorified. Second, God wants us to commune with Him. And last, we are called to be like Him.
B. This morning we will continue on in our series on the subject of commitment, and this time, let’s focus on our commitment to the Church.
The church is the people who believed on the saving work of the Son of God at the Cross, people who, by faith, believed they were sanctified by the blood of Jesus, and people who adhered to the claims and message of Jesus Christ. By this definition, we understand that we are the church. This congregation is the church of God, a local visible part of the universal invisible church.
We are yet 3 years being a church here. Now, we are on our fourth year. Will you believe with me that this year can be a blessed and wonderful year for us as a congregation here? Can you believe with me with all your heart that something marvelous and glorious will happen in this congregation of God? There are some things that we know are going to happen based on vision and goals. And there are certainly things that will happen that we do not know or expect about. There will be challenges. There will be opportunities. We must prepare ourselves. We must be ready.
The way to be ready is to be committed. Each of us is a part of this church family, of this church organization, and of this church army. We must each one love, serve, and fight with a deep commitment. We are members of the Family of God. How do we live up our commitment? The author of the book of Hebrews tells us 4 things to do to live up our commitment to the church of God:
I. WE MUST CLEAN UP (v.22)
The author of Hebrews, whoever he is, says, “…let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings, because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.”
The focus of this verse is holiness. There is a book that teaches how to stop making Jesus look bad. It says that sin is what keeps most of us from living with power. Sin destroys our witness in a world that desperately needs to see the love and victory evident only in the life of a committed Christian. Sin is not only killing you, but it is hurting the body of Christ through poor testimonies. Sin does not only hurt you, it also hurts the people whom God is ministering through you. We need to become reacquainted with a sense of holiness.
God’s plan for us is holiness. God’s purpose in our life is not our happiness, but our holiness. I Thess. 4:3 states clearly, “For this is God’s will for you: your sanctification.” Every Sunday we come here and listen to the instructions of God’s Word. Everyday God may have laid something in our heart to repent about. If you fail to listen and settle it with God, you deeply hurt yourself. If you fail to listen to the conviction of the Holy Spirit and allow the sin to continue, you also allow your spiritual wounds to continue.
But you also hurt the church body as well. Imagine the damage it could bring to the church if you live a defeated life. How many would become discouraged and disheartened? On the other hand, imagine the environment which would be created if you responded to God’s call when you were under conviction. How many more would confess if you did? How many others would be challenged or encouraged to give their lives to the Lord because they have been blessed with your life? Friends, it is time to get serious about sin and clean up. We can never enjoy a wonderful fellowship with God with sin in our heart. We could never help to build up this church of God when your life is not a blessing to others.
II. WE MUST STAND UP (v.23)
“And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy.”
The focus here is on our commitment to the hope we have in Christ when we placed our faith in Him and confessed Him as our Savior. The hope is that God has delivered us from the bondage and penalty of sin, that we are no longer condemned and under God’s divine wrath. The hope is that soon, in the time set by Him, we shall be with our Redeemer in His eternal home. We are commanded to hold fast, to anchor, to stand firm on this hope without wavering because it will never fail. The author says with emphasis, “…for the One who made the promise is trustworthy.”
We must be a church who stands up with a message to confess and live. The message is that Jesus saves us from the bondage and penalty of sin. The message is that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. The message is that Jesus brings us to the Father. He is the way to the Father! He died to pay for our sins. His cross is the message of forgiveness. He died to make us holy –that we might live in holiness. He died to give us life everlasting.
We must be a church who stands up with the power of God to release people from their spiritual prison cells. A church that demonstrates the power of God’s deliverance, a church that demonstrates God’s love to the rejected, and a church that brings hope to the despairing, comfort to those who are suffering, peace to the troubled, and light to those who are darkened in sin.
What I really want to say is this: being the church of Christ, we must have the passion to live a faithful Christian life. There’s nothing that assures church growth and increase than every believer living a faithful Christian life. This is the strongest proof of our commitment to the church.
III. WE MUST BUILD UP (V.24, 25)
“And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.” The focus here is building up our church family by serving each other.
First, believers are mandated here to consider each other. The author is trying to emphasize that, as believers, we are responsible for each other. We are to bring positive impact to each other. Every person is to work on everyone until we all look like Jesus. Actually, we do not have a choice in this matter. If we are not impacting those around us to walk closer to Jesus and be more like Him, then we are failing in our duties to the body of Christ. We must stir one another up to be more like our Savior! We should do our best efforts to challenge or help others to grow closer to Jesus in their walk.
Second, in verse 25 the author tells us one more thing that is needed to the work of building up our church family –exhorting. The church needs exhorters and encouragers to grow. We need encouragers because there are things that are not perfect here. After all, there is no perfect church. There is no need for murmuring and tearing down the church. Each one of us has a responsibility to encourage those around us.
We should exhort each other to be a part of what God is doing. Encourage each other with how good God is. In fact, this verse points out that the closer we get to Jesus’ return, the more it is important that we encourage each other. The world around us is going to get worse and worse before Jesus’ return. This would happen as Jesus had predicted it. We need to be reminded that Jesus is coming back soon. We need to be reminded we have the hope of His return. We need to be around each other and build each other up: “Hey brothers, keep up the good work because Jesus will soon be here. Keep serving because Jesus is returning soon and He will reward you for your faithfulness.”
IV. WE MUST SHOW UP (v.25)
The focus of this verse is attending corporate worship. The author’s choice of word here being inspired by God stressed the truth that we don’t have the option to “blow off” the church. The word “forsake” is clear in this passage. Some translators used “abandon.” In order to forsake something, you must have an obligation or duty. The same is true of the alternate word abandon. Do you see God’s choice of this word? You have a duty to the services of your church family because of your duty to your brothers and sisters in Christ. You are obligated to be at church when we worship corporately unless you are providentially hindered. If we skip church, then we abandon our brothers and sisters in Christ on the battle field to fight alone. It is that simple.
We are here each week because we are biblically commanded. Therefore, I will have to spend my entire life faithfully attending Sunday mornings with you or with God’s people because I am a Christian and therefore have a sacred obligation to my Christian family. This is not some ridiculous and fanatical obligation. If I forsake my assembling here then I am simply abandoning my fiduciary obligation to the body and to my Savior.
Many would say that they are not required to come to church because they can worship in the woods, in their house or wherever. That is one of the most patently incorrect statements someone can make. It is simply an admission of an ignorance of even the basic and most simple truth of scripture. This passage, for one, clearly refutes such nonsense.
Why did God design it so? It is because when someone gets into the habit of missing church, his spiritual life suffers, he is led to make decisions which make his life to suffer. Actually, this is without exception. You need to be in church because this is for your good. God knew it that is why He commanded it. Moreover, you need to be here because we need for you to be here. This body of believers could be better off with your involvement. So show up!
C. Conclusion:
Let me end this message by encouraging you to be a part of the serving and sacrificing to live up to our commitment to be the body of Christ here. I want you to be sowing so we can be reaping. Be blessed by being a blessing to God’s family here.
