CHURCH AND COMMUNITY MEMBERSHIP AND ACTION IN LIGHT OF CHRIST’S RETURN
HEBREWS 10:25
Introduction: Hebrews 10:25 encouraged the Hebrew Christians to find strength in participation and involvement in their local church in light of the pending destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. They were called to establish community which would help them to effectively carry out the work Christ gave them to do while maintaining their walk with the Lord. This passage also speaks to us of the necessity for community participation or involvement and action in light of Christ’s imminent return. I believe that there are three reasons why we need to establish and support biblical community within the church in these Last Days – Satan, Service, and Salvation.
I. Satan - The Hour being late, temptations are great as Satan knows his time is running out.
A. Revelation 12:12 (NKJV) Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
B. While Revelation 12 has reference to the devil’s onslaught during the Tribulation, the principle applies true today. The devil is a great theologian and knows the Word of God. As he sees the lateness of the hour he realizes that he is on borrowed time. Consider a football team which is down and losing in the last minutes of the big game. The team will pull out all stops and throw everything it has in its arsenal in a last ditch effort to win. Likewise Satan as the hour draws nearer to his inevitable doom will pull out all stops to defeat the work of Christ.
C. 2 Timothy 3:1 - 5 (NKJV) But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
D. Mark 14:38 (NKJV) Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
E. Matthew 24:12 (NKJV) And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
F. By maintaining a strong relationship with God, we can overcome temptation. But we need the strength and encouragement that comes from having fellowship with other believers.
G. Ecclesiastes 4:9 - 10 (NKJV) Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.
H. Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NKJV) Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken. (NLT) A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.
I. Communion is strength; solitude is weakness. Alone, a fine old beech tree will yield to a storm’s mighty blast and lie flat in the field. In the forest, supporting each other, the trees laugh at the tempest. The sheep of Jesus, the Great Shepherd need to flock together. (Adapted from C. H. Spurgeon)
II. Service – The Hour being late, the fields have turned white and needs harvesting
A. John 9:4 (NLT) All of us must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent me, because there is little time left before the night falls and all work comes to an end.
B. John 4:35 (ASV) Say not ye, “There are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white already unto harvest.”
C. Crops go through three stages: green, ripe, rotten. Harvest is effective only at one stage. Likewise, witnessing at the right time can produce a rich spiritual harvest.
D. Matthew 28:19 - 20 (NKJV) Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
E. Matthew 21:28 (NKJV) “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’
F. In Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians, writing in light of the second coming of Christ, Paul gives three directives to the church at Thessalonica regarding work: first, he says, follow our example of work (3:6-9); secondly, work for your own bread (10-12); and thirdly, mark men who won’t work (13-16). We have been called to work and not to sit.
G. Matthew 24:46 (NKJV) Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.
H. One of the earliest kings of England was called Ethelred the Unready! What an interesting name. We wonder if some of his relatives are still around. As we look at our churches in America we wonder if some of his descendants haven’t become members of those churches.
II. Salvation – The Hour being late, for some the midnight call is their last call.
A. 2 Thessalonians 2:6 - 12 (NKJV) And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
B. For many today may be the last day, the last call, and the last opportunity to respond to the calling of the Holy Spirit. For many tomorrow will be too late.
C. Genesis 6:3 (NKJV) And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
D. Isaiah 55:6 (NKJV) Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. (you should look for the LORD before it is too late; you should call to him while he is near)
E. David Brainerd, the great missionary to the American Indians, was on one occasion witnessing to a chief, who was very close to deciding for Christ. But he held back; there was some pause or hesitation. Brainerd got up, took a stick, drew a circle in the soft earth about the chief, and said, "Decide before you cross that line." Why this passion and urgency? Because Brainerd recognized that at that moment, that chief was close to God. If he missed that moment, he might never be so close again. - Bruce Thielemann, "Tide Riding," Preaching Today
F. Matthew 25:1 - 12 (NKJV) “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
G. Romans 10:14 - 16 (NKJV) How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”
Disclaimer: Source material for this sermon has been gleaned from many different sources. I have attempted to acknowledge these sources whenever possible. Please feel free to use this message as God’s Holy Spirit directs your heart.
