Sermon: God’s Instructions For Fulfilling Our Potential
Scripture Lesson: Hebrews 10:22-25, “let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”
Introduction: We live in a noisy, conflict driven world. With so much danger in the world, one would think that truth, and official information would be accurate. But with social media comes a flood of half-truth and misinformation disseminated that raises the level of public anxiety. In the past, people relied on radio and television broadcasts to reduce uncertainty. Today social media channels are frequently the source of updates, and users are exposed to a greater amount of conflicting speculation and unverified reports. Furthermore, this exposure is associated with greater distress. Politic, society, schools, organizations and even the church has felt the impact. Yet God has clear instructions for his church in confusing times.
Believers are admonished to draw near to Christ. Many believers live in defeat and discouragement because they walk too far from the Lord and His way. We cannot expect to be productive for the Lord or fully appreciate all we have in Him if we are not walking with Him on a consistent basis. The writer now stresses the importance of Christian community and perseverance. We can stand firm in our faith because God is faithful, but we also need one another as Christians. God does not intend for us to go it alone.
Life was difficult for the believer in that day, and the writer knew it was only going to get worse. As we draw nigh to the coming of the Lord, we know that things will only wax worse and worse. We know there will be a great falling away. We know that men will be lovers of their own selves more than lovers of God. As these perilous times come, we need the support and encouragement of one another. The world isn’t going to provide biblical instruction or spiritual guidance. You will not find the help you need in the world. As our society continues to deteriorate, we need one another. We need all God’s biblical instruction to fulfil our potential for Christ.
The book of Hebrews compares Jesus to key historical people and events proving that Jesus is superior. He is greater than the angels, the Law, Moses, the promised land, earthly priests, sacrifices, and the covenant. Jesus alone has brought the believer into right relationship with God. Believers are complete in Christ Jesus with unlimited potential. How do we fulfil our potential in a world full of distractions and confusion. In a day when many are calling right wrong and calling wrong right. Our text today gives believers a powerful exhortation. To fulfil our potential as Christian Disciples of Jesus Christ, we must holdfast the confession of our hope.
1. Let Us Holdfast the Confession of Our Hope. “let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.”
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. Your confession is what you say. You should persistently continue speaking in faith, agreeing with what God has said, regardless of circumstances. Our sins have been washed away, our conscience is clear and our faith in Christ is secure. While we may be accustomed to defining the essence of our Christian faith in other ways, Christianity involves not only a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, but also holding on to an entirely different outlook on life that is grounded in the hope we have for all that God has promised. That outlook on life is so contrary to the world that believers need to give careful attention to ensure their anchor is well grounded. In the Song, On Christ the Solid Rock, Robert Critchley said:
“My hope is built on nothing less, Than Jesus' blood and righteousness, I dare not trust the sweetest frame; But wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness veils his lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace; In every high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil. His oath, his covenant, his blood, Supports me in the 'whelming flood. When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay. On Christ the solid rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand, All other ground is sinking sand.”
The currents working in our society and the winds of worldly thinking can get pretty strong at times. To secure that anchor, God has provided the Church hope in their confession of faith. In the Church, God calls His followers to meet for fellowship and encouragement, centered around the truth and promises of His Word. As we study, meditate, and memorize His words, it should become a part of our daily confession. We must confess that we are what God says we are, and we can do what God said. Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Then we can join Robert Critchley and say, “When He shall come with trumpet sound, Oh may I then in Him be found Dressed in his righteousness alone; Faultless to stand before the throne.
On Christ the solid rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand.”
2. Let Us Stir Up One Another to Love and Good Deeds. “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.”
In a world where the love of many has waxed cold. the exhortation from this verse has to do with ministry responsibilities to others. We must stir up one another to love and good deeds. The present world is on a course of selfishness, looking out for number one! Believers must stand against the tide of self-centeredness. There will be a great temptation to feast on the riches of God’s Word, believing it’s all for our personal benefit. God never intended believers to get fat on His Word for themselves alone, but rather, He intended believers to receive the spiritual nourishment necessary to go out and serve Him by serving others. Praying, studying, and learning together encourages some growth, but doing ministry together expands God’s kingdom. Though we are gifted, our gifts can be self-centered and self-serving, if we are not careful. Giftedness and knowledge can puff believers up, love for God and others humbles believers. Believers need one another to watch over one another, and to stir up one another to love and good deeds.
The fastest gazelle or the strongest wilder beast can be captured by a group of hungry lions if isolated. Regardless of our spiritual strength, when the devil isolates believers, they are easy prey. Knowing this, fellowship should never be the last item on the church agenda. Fellowship is God's way of building a community of believers. The lack of fellowship is Satan’s way of assassinating believers. Fellowship really is a matter of life or death.
Fellowship proceeds growth. People who understand the necessity of fellowship usually have glad hearts and minds. If unbelievers desire fellowship with fellow unbelievers, how much more should we desire fellowship with likeminded brothers and sisters. Fellowship turns the soil of indifference and cultivates the soil expectancy. Fellowship destroys the seed of selfishness. There is a major difference in interaction with personal friends and Christian fellowship. We could dramatically increase the level of interdependence if we fellowshipped on a consistent basis. Not only does fellowship precede growth, but growth is also a direct result of fellowship.
The close connection secured during periods of fellowship grants us the freedom to trust others with our personal weaknesses. When our hearts are joined as one, we find no pleasure in exposing other's weaknesses. Much of our spiritual strength is the result of nourishment received from the root of fellowship. How can I bear my neighbors burden, if I do not foster and cultivate a healthy relationship with my neighbor?
Serious saints recognize fellowship assist in converting them into useful vessels. God has commissioned each of us to encourage the other. Life has been demonically designed to extract our strength; fellowship is designed to replace it. The word teaches us the importance of assembling for worship and fellowship. Because Christ is soon to come, we must encourage all believers through fellowship and love like never before.
Do you need to reprioritize your life? Do the screams of the urgent drown out the whispers of the important? Is God's command to fellowship as important to you as His command to worship? If the only ability Christ inquires about is availability, how available are you?
3. Let Us Assemble Together More Often As The End Draws Near. “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”
Finally, it is life with one another that is the focus of Hebrews 10:25. Christians must remain connected to each other and stand with each other, so life pressures do not pull people away from the faith. Loyal love should characterize the attitudes of Christians. I know many people will say, this verse does not tell us to attend Church, even though God does not tell us to gather in corporate worship in this verse, as crucial as that is. God tells us to love one another. Staying in fellowship with one another is how we love each other. Abandoning others in need is how we forsake the church.
Hebrews 10:25 says,?“…but exhorting one another, and so much the more so as you see the Day approaching”?(emphasis added). The “Day” is the day of Jesus’ return.
Assembling is necessary for our strength and protection. We are to apply this verse even more as we draw closer to Jesus’ return because we will experience more resistance to do so. Assembling may look different than it did five or ten years ago, but God’s Word remains true. God's Word contains wisdom and a warning to gather “more as you see the Day approaching.” It is critical to assemble as we move further into the last days, so we are strengthened and protected. There will be spiritual forces that resist the saints assembling. Quite possibly, the biggest reason we are not to forsake the assembling together is that this is God’s instruction for divine protection.
1 Peter 5:8 reminds us to be vigilant because the adversary walks about like a lion, seeking to devour. How does a lion walk when he is seeking to devour? He looks for the prey in isolation. The Word gives us a warning—do not forsake the assembling because the enemy seeks to devour those who are in isolation.
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. Mr. Moody said nothing. Instead, he moved to the fireplace, blazing against the winter outside, he took the poker and moved one of the burning coal from the pile and moved it over by itself. As the coal burned lower and lower, finally going out. Mr. Moody and the man looked at the coal. Looked at each other, without saying another word, yet the message was clear.
We may have not known about the pandemic, but God knew a falling away would come. God knew some would fall in their attendance, fall away from His standard, fall away from Holiness, and fall away from love. God knew many would fall into isolation, fall into waywardness and wickedness, and fall into selfishness. So, Hebrews 10 is God’s admonition to every believer who desires to Fulfil their full potential. “let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”
The book of Hebrews reminds us that meeting together as the church is not simply about ourselves. We assemble to bless others. We come together so that we may encourage, bless, and minister to one another. We come to be in each other’s company, not merely for our own benefit, but for theirs.
In every church, there are people with questions, doubts, and struggles. The church has been called a hospital for sinners, not just a sanctuary for saints. As believers, we gather in our brokenness, our need, and our vulnerability. This means that within the church there are people who need us to proclaim the love of Christ to them. As believers, our ministry to one another is to testify that hope overcomes despair, love defeats hate, and life rises out of death.
Paul reminds us that “we are God’s handiwork, created in Jesus Christ to do good works” (Ephesians 2:10). The assembly of believers is the place where we receive our call to ministry. It is the place from which we are sent into the world, empowered by the Spirit. Life in the church strengthens our witness in the world. It is hard to be empowered for ministry if we forsake the very place where we are strengthened and encouraged. There is simply no other place where these exhortations are fulfilled.
Committing to the church is an act of faithful discipline. It demands that we step away from the worldly push to self-focused gain and individualism. It also means there are times when we must make a choice; where the call to the church runs counter to the lure of entertainment, commercialism, or the busyness of life. The call to “not forsake assembling together” demands that we recognize the importance of the faithful gathering. The truth is, if we wish to draw closer to the Lord, be steadfast and hopeful, and encourage one another, assembling with the faith community is a must. There is no way around this. AMEN.
