Hebrews 10:19-25 — 19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
What does Heb. 10:24-25 mean for us practically?
-It means that we must give constant, deliberate, careful thought as to how we might prod one another to greater expressions of love toward God (Heb. 6:10), manifested in good deeds & sacrificial service towards one another even at great cost to ourselves; how we might incite one another to press on in faith & faithfulness rather than shrinking back towards the world & towards selfishness & ultimately towards apostasy.
And so, let me ask you a question: do you make an intentional effort every time that this church is gathering for worship to be here specifically for the purpose of inciting & provoking the other members of this body to true biblical love that expresses itself in good deeds & sacrificial service? How much thought do you give to that each week? What are the specific ways in which you’re stimulating & provoking others to greater expressions of love & good deeds here? Who are the specific people that you’re inciting to action? Can you name anyone that you’re influencing in this way?
Let me ask you: how much time & attention & effort do you give each week to obeying this command; how much time did you spend this week carefully & intentionally thinking about specific people in this flock & the specific ways in which you could come this morning & encourage them & incite them to greater faithfulness & greater selflessness expressing itself in love & good deeds towards others in the Body? Did you spend any time at all thinking about that this week? Or do you just think about yourself & how you could come & benefit indicating you were only thinking about what you can get & NOT at all about what you can give?
Listen, all of us need to resist the temptation to be self-centered & self-absorbed; and we need to realize that when we’re getting ready to meet with the people of God that our ultimate motivation needs to be external to ourselves; it can’t be what am I going to get? What’s going to benefit me? How come people aren’t responding to me & seeking me out & making me the center of attention? Instead, we need to open our eyes & look at the people around us thinking carefully about ways in which we can intentionally incite them to love & good deeds! In this way we can obey Christ’s command from Heb. 10.