This word that is translated, “encourage” in some translations and “exhort” in others, requires some special attention before we get started.
It is ‘parakaleo’. Now, I am not a student of the Biblical languages. But my resources tell me that this word comes from the same root word that means to ‘come along side’.
That is the reason I wanted to dwell on it a little bit in beginning. You see, in our language there seems to be a slight difference between encouraging and exhorting. We think of encouraging as expressing a kind of “you can do it; hang in there” approach; but we tend to think of exhortation as warning or a sort of ‘friendly instruction’. “Hey, shape up guy! You’re walking on the edge here! Be careful!”
Well in truth, this word is both. We’re going to discuss this further. But I wanted to point out its Greek meaning, because the idea of ‘coming along side’ denotes friendship and true concern.
It is not coming face to face in confrontation; it is not whispering in the ear from behind as though we don’t want to be too closely associated; it is coming along side in friendship and brotherhood and support...
...LOVING AS CHRIST LOVED US.
Let’s take a fresh look at verses 12-14 of Hebrews 3.
“Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God.
But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end;”
Although our primary focus is verse 13, by virtue of the fact that this is a study on the ‘one another’ verses, we only get the full impact of this verse if we look at 12 through 14. So let’s use this outline:
Verse 12: The warning
Verse 13: The exhortation
Verse 14: The promise
THE WARNING
In the earlier verses of chapter 3 the writer has warned the reader not to harden the heart against God’s voice; using the children of Israel as an example. If you look at verse 8 you’ll see that God considered the deliberate hardening of their hearts against Him as a provocation to anger.
In verse 9 He says that they tried and tested Him, in that they saw His works for 40 years, yet (vs. 10) they always went astray in their hearts in that they did not know His ways.
Do you see the distinction being made? They saw His works, but they did not know His ways.
Throughout the history of mankind, men have seen God’s works. Paul tells us in Romans that “...since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”
If we just let our minds wander through the stories we know from the Old Testament, we have to agree that men have always seen God’s works. Pharaoh saw God’s miraculous power over and over again. Saul saw it, the Philistines saw it, Nebuchadnezzar saw it, all those who defied God’s prophets saw it (Ahab & Jezebel, etc), but seeing God’s works was not enough. They did not care to know His ways.
It has always been those desiring to know God’s ways, know Him personally, who have been accepted of God.
If you look for it in the Psalms of David, you’ll see him asking God over and over, to teach David His ways. An example is Psalm 25:4,5
“Make me know Thy ways, O Lord;
teach me Thy paths.
Lead me in Thy truth and teach me,
For Thou art the God of my salvation;
For Thee I wait all the day.”
The children of Israel in the wilderness, warns the writer to the Hebrews, saw God’s works, but they did not know His ways; therefore He became angry with that generation and swore in His wrath, “they shall not enter My rest”.
With all of that in mind, go directly, as the writer did, to verse 12 and take it as a warning, Christian, because it is for you.
“Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God.”
Note first of all that the Holy Spirit does not warn us against falling away from religion. Sometimes I think it would be a blessing for all of us to become a lot less religious.
He does not warn against falling away from being Baptist.
He also is not warning against ‘falling into sin” here, but falling away from the living God.
It was the Living God who breathed life into Adam, who walked with Enoch, who called Abraham out of idolatry and commissioned him to go to a land he knew not. It was the Living God who called Moses from the burning bush and dwelt among His chosen nation in the Holy of Holies. It was the Living God who became man and suffered and bled and died and rose again. It is the Living God who promises to return for His own.
It is falling away from Him that the Holy Spirit warns us against!
To what does the Holy Spirit attribute this ‘falling away’? An evil, unbelieving heart.
Notice that God equates unbelief with evil; and note that it is unbelief that causes us to fall away from the Living God.
If we fail to trust His word, BOTH ITS PROMISES AND ITS WARNINGS, we fall away from Him, and God calls that ‘evil’.
That is why He warns us, for our own good, to encourage one another to obedience and faith; and He requires that we do that DAILY because He knows our weakness and our propensity toward unbelief. He wants us to guard against being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
This brings us to our second point;
THE EXHORTATION
“But encourage one another day after day...”
Do you see why this word ’encourage’ must be taken as something much stronger than a glib, cheerful admonition to “hang in there”?
This encouragement, this exhortation, is a serious, caring, coming along side of each other to both warn and give comfort. It is intended that we should continually, daily give attention to one another in order to guard ourselves and each other from the deceitfulness of sin, that causes us to relax our guard and become hardened, and disobey God through unbelief.
So let’s look at three ways in which we encourage one another:
1. We are encouraged by each other’s example of godly living.
Kind words, a godly outward life that is the fruit of inner holiness, expression of wisdom that comes from saturation in the Word and fervent prayer. That is why Christian fellowship is so important.
We can see examples all around us of Christians whose attendance to the church is sporadic and infrequent. Their lives remain in turmoil. They go from one crisis to another, weak and unable to stand against the pressures of life; unable to live a godly example in their own homes or to the world around them.
They refuse to subject themselves to the body of believers, and therefore their walk is weak, when faced with decisions they are unwilling to follow the admonitions of scripture or the counsel of other believers, and they make the unwise decisions that drive their lives into further turmoil and stress and disaster and failure.
There is a reason for Christian fellowship, believers. There is a reason the writer of this letter says here that we should encourage one another. It is the same reason he later says not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together.
It is because we struggle with the sin nature, and if we do not feed the divine nature it grows weak and our baser nature wins. We are hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
I know this sounds dark and harsh; but this is a very, very serious warning from the Holy Spirit of God in these verses, and it must not be shrugged off as passive advice.
He says ’TAKE CARE’. ’TAKE CARE, BRETHREN’. And then He says, ’ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER’.
We cannot stand alone in this Christian walk.
2. We are to constantly practice encouraging one another.
It must be constant. We should actually look for opportunities to encourage one another. When the writer says in verse 13, “...as long as it is still called Today”, he’s really referring to a perpetual present. Right now. At every opportunity.
Stay close enough to one another to be a constant help to one another. We’re in enemy territory, and there’s strength in numbers.
Don’t drift so far from each other that a brother or sister has to find themselves in a pit before we’re even aware they’re in trouble.
Come along side, and whisper words of encouragement and exhortation. We can see each other through; we must stay alert and look for ways to encourage.
I don’t do this often enough. Do you? Of course not. But we can work together to develop the habit, can’t we?
3. We should reflect on our eternal hope in Christ Jesus.
When we are down or in trouble, or see others down or in trouble, we can encourage with the promises that the Lord has given to us. Of course, first, we have to know those promises; and that requires study of His word.
But they can be very encouraging, can’t they?
“In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage, I have overcome the world”
“..behold I am with you always, even to the end of the world”
“..to him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on my throne”.
And there are so many things Paul says throughout his epistles that should encourage us to a closer and more victorious walk:
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.” Gal. 2:20
In our church we’ve recently been studying some very encouraging truths in Romans.
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the Law of sin and of death.”
The entire eighth chapter of Romans is one of great encouragement. And there are many places throughout the New Testament epistles that both exhort and encourage us.
The fact is, when we neglect the reading of them we forget them, and we are hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Therefore, coming back to Hebrews 3:13, the writer exhorts us to encourage one another day after day. Constantly. And we should be encouraging one another with these promises of God.
That brings me to the third point:
THE PROMISE
“For we have become partakers of Christ...”
How is it that we are partakers of Christ? By believing the promises. By holding fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end.
Now what does THAT mean?
Well, what was the beginning of our assurance?
That we were saved by faith and identified with Christ in His death and resurrection.
That was the beginning of our assurance. Hope in the promise of resurrection and eternal life in Him.
This is not just a repeating of some words. It’s not just taking an oath of initiation into a club.
Saving faith (faith that saves), is the expression of assurance of a hope that is yet unseen. It makes us partakers with the One in whom; on whom, we have placed our confidence.
“...we have become partakers of Christ...”
Partners with Him.
He identified with us in taking flesh, suffering and dying to pay the penalty for our sins.
“Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil...” 2:14
He trusted the Father.
“And again, ‘I WILL PUT MY TRUST IN HIM’.” 2:13
He was obedient and dependent on the Father.
“...but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house.” 3:6
He was raised in power; the first fruits of the resurrection.
“But we do see Him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor,” 2:9
So how do we become partakers (partners) of Christ?
Through our identification with Him; faith and trust in Him as He trusted the Father; Obedience to Him as He obeyed and depended on the Father; Glorification with Him...because the Father raised Him in power and He now gives His resurrection life to all who believe.
This is our great hope, and we must hold fast to it, firm until the end.
Now right after these things, in verse 15, the writer goes right back to warning, using the fate of the Children of Israel as his example They were not able to enter God’s rest because of unbelief.
In so doing, he simply punctuates what he has said in verses 12 through 14. His warning, his exhortation, and his promise.
Don’t let yourselves be hardened, Christians. It happens slowly. It’s a sneaky thing. But it’s deadly. Take care, take care, take care...to not be hardened by the crafty deceitfulness of your own sin nature.
How best to avoid this?
ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER. LOVE AS CHRIST LOVED US.
Be aware of one another’s spiritual needs. Come along side and constantly...daily...while it is still called ‘TODAY’..., encourage one another with this truth; WE ARE PARTAKERS OF CHRIST!
HOLD FAST, BROTHER! HOLD FAST, SISTER!
LEARN GOD’S WAYS. DRAW NEAR TO HIM. HIS PROMISES ARE SURE; AND HE HAS PROMISED YOU A PLACE IN HIS KINGDOM. IN FACT, SO SURE IS THAT PROMISE THAT HE IS ALREADY PREPARING A PLACE FOR YOU THERE.
Let the promise of that give you strength and courage to hold fast your assurance; and with that assurance go forth in faith and obedience until ‘Today’ is over; and He takes you home in glory, through the power that raised Jesus from the dead.
JESUS IS THE GREATEST ENCOURAGER OF ALL. FOLLOW HIS EXAMPLE BELIEVERS; AND ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER DAY AFTER DAY.
LOVE AS CHRIST LOVED US.
