“The Sofa and the Sanctuary”
Hebrews 10:19-25
19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21 And having an high priest over the house of God; 22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Introduction: In 2020 we have seen a phenomenon unlike anything we have ever experienced in the history of the church. We began the year with the announcement that there was a deadly virus that had been unleashed on the world originating from a lab in Wuhan, China. The results of this pandemic as it has come to be called was the “shutdown” of our country, our communities and our churches. A year later about half the country is still shutdown and even many of our churches are still in various stages of re-opening. I am thankful for the leadership of our church and the fact that except for a two month period last year and two weeks this year we have been open and having services. God has been good and we praise Him for His grace and mercy. But that being said we have also seen something else develop over the past year that is very disturbing. Almost everyone who studies trends in church attendance is saying that 20-25 percent of those who attended church pre-covid will not return post covid. If you love the Lord and His church this is an alarming problem and if you are like me you are asking some questions and looking for solutions.
There is a demographic element to this issue. It’s obvious that seniors have been staying at home during this pandemic because the virus has taken such a high percentage of this age group but it wasn’t just seniors who stayed at home, many families with children stayed home because churches were not able to provide children’s ministries until just recently.
But it’s now being recognized that there is more at work than just demographics. There is a spiritual component that cannot be ignored. Some have suggested that what we are seeing is a reflection of what the Bible describes that would happen in the “last days;” that there would be a “falling away” and that “the love of many would wax cold.”
Some Bible scholars believe that this trend started about 30 years ago and they point to the steady decline in attendance figures in the American church. They say that the Covid-19 pandemic just served to expose or reveal a problem that was already there. All this being said it will probably take years to analyze all the information.
What I want to do this morning is to look at is to look at our text and especially verse 25 in the light of what has happened. Let’s examine:
I. The Context
a. the author
Most Bible scholars believe that Paul is the author based on his familiarity with Jewish custom and the OT.
b. the address
The name of the book gives us what we need as far as who the letter was written too. These are Jewish believers for they are “brethren.”
c. the argument
Some of these believers having come to Christ are now in danger of recanting this confession and returning to Judaism. Paul argument is the Jesus is a better sacrifice, a better priest and a better way than anything offered in Judaism.
II. The Command
a. the meaning
I want to highlight two words in verse 25. The first is “assembling together.” It means a gathering together in one place and the (religious) assembly (of Christians).
The word “church” found in the NT is from the Greek word ekklesia and is an important component of understanding the church. Ekklesia is a Greek word defined as “a called-out assembly or congregation.” Ekklesia is commonly translated as “church” in the New Testament. For example, Acts 11:26 says that “Barnabas and Saul met with the church [ekklesia]” in Antioch. And in 1 Corinthians 15:9 Paul says that he had persecuted the church [ekklesia] of God.” The “called-out assembly,” then, is a congregation of believers whom God has called out of the world and “into His wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). The Greek ekklesia is the basis for our English words ecclesiastical (“pertaining to the church”) and ecclesiology (“the study of doctrine concerning the church”).
In his address to the Sanhedrin, Stephen calls the people of Israel “the assembly [ekklesia] in the wilderness” (Acts 7:38). However, in most contexts, the word ekklesia is used to refer to the people who comprise the New Testament church. Gotquestions.org
The second word is the word forsake which means “to leave behind or desert.” It is the same word in Matthew 27:46 “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
b. the mandate
When taken together Paul is stating that these believers should not “leave behind or desert” the place of assembly.
III. The Cost
a. the saints fellowship
Ask any believer who was a faithful worshipper at the house of God and then for some reason, maybe health or something else, they can no longer attend what the fellowship of the saint’s means to them. They will tell you that it means everything. There is something that we get when we are together that we can get no other way.
b. the saints fire
Coming together with other believers will keep your heart warm. The Holy Spirit works when we are together in a way that He does not when we are alone.
Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
D. L. Moody was visiting a prominent Chicago citizen when the idea of church membership and involvement came up. “I believe I can be just as good a Christian outside the church as I can be inside it,” the man said. Moody said nothing. Instead, he moved to the fireplace, blazing against the winter outside, removed one burning coal and placed it on the hearth. The two men sat together and watched the ember die out. “I see,” the other man said. (Source Unknown, Lou Nicholes - Missionary/Author).
c. the saints faith
Ask anyone who has had to be out of church for any length of time. They will tell you about the toll it has taken on their faith. They report struggles with doubts, depression and fear.
Depression and Aloneness
Author Bernard Anderson in "Out of the Depths" speaks of this remembering the multitudes and the house of God and makes a worthy observation. He says, "This is not a longing for a one-to-one relationship with God in mystic solitude. The poet yearns to be surrounded by the believing and worshiping community; to participate in the worship services of the Temple and to celebrate with the people the presence of God in their midst. This is not the kind of private piety or spiritual individualism that is often manifest in churches today."
There are too many people who become recluse when we can't get up. Instead of getting surrounded with people to help us, most of us try to eat the problem away or starve the problem away and stay behind closed doors. When life is toughest, we stay home from church. When we can't pull it together, we withdraw. In is in these times we need to be surrounded by church people and celebrate God's presence!
From Dale Pilgrim's Sermon "When You Can't Get Up"
e. the saints faithfulness
Church attendance cannot be separated from the Christian faith. The connection between our faith and our faithfulness in our text makes this clear.
22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Whose Side Are You On?
A story is told about a believer who was stone cold deaf. Despite this, they faithfully attended and participated in the local church of which they were a member. When asked why they bothered, they said, “I want everyone to know whose side I’m on.”
From a sermon by Dave McFadden, Why Church Membership? 6/1/2010
IV. The Cure
a. repent of any known sin
Why might you need to repent? It all depends on why you stayed on your sofa on Sunday morning. Was it because you genuinely feared for your life, which is problematic in and of itself or was it because it was more convenient or more comfortable to get a cup of coffee, sit on the sofa and which a live stream service? Just one problem with that is live stream viewing has dropped over the same time period. That means that the folks who have been on their sofas have slowly stopped watching live stream services. They are not attending in person and they are not watching a live service. If this is the case for you then you do need to repent. Professing Christians who have been out of service for any length of time are reporting a loss of spiritual fervor and fire and for many it has also meant a loss of joy and peace. Staying home on the sofa is just not the same no matter how you try to justify it!
b. return to the sanctuary
Over the year’s when I have told folks that they have been missed I’ve heard them say, “I was there in spirit preacher,” and my comeback has always been, “I can’t preach to spirits!” For able-bodied people who are not providentially hindered there comes a point where you have to make a decision. Are you going to continue doing what you have been doing or are you going to get “back in the saddle again.”
WHEN MY HAT IS HERE...
So, it’s not true that you can be just as good a Christian without going to church. You can’t simply say "Well, I’m there in Spirit… but I don’t have to be there in body."
It’s kind of like the true story of an incident that took place at a University. This university had a policy that if the professor was 10 minutes late for class...it was cancelled. But one day a professor put his hat on his desk and then went to the faculty room. He apparently lost track of time and when he arrived back at the class he was 10 minutes late and found it room empty. He was furious.
When the class next met, he informed his students “When my hat is here, I’m here!”
His class learned their lesson well. The following day, the professor arrived at 9 a.m. and he was met by the sight of 25 hats on the desks – but no students.
(Albert I. Raizman, Reader’s Digest 1/05 p. 54. From a sermon by Jeff Strite, Iron Man - The Learning Curve, 6/7/2010)
