Our focus
this week has been Putting Value in the Local Church. We have been discussing many of the “one
another” commands of Scripture because as we obey them we will not only find
the local church valuable, but we will make it more valuable to others.
Today we
continue in Hebrews 10:24- 25. Hebrews
10:24–25 (NKJV)
24”And let us consider one another in
order to stir up love and good works,
25not forsaking the assembling of
ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so
much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Yesterday,
we were challenged to “consider one another in order to stir up love and good
works.” Vs. 24 Today we are going to move into verse 25 and
see that we are to be “exhorting one another”.
This exhortation “implies speaking in God’s name and with the Spirit’s
power.” [1] In order to live lives that are worthy of the
gospel we need to be challenging one another as we speak God’s Word as Paul did the Philippians in Phil. 1:27.
The reason given for the importance of this is because “the day
approaching.” The day is the “glorious
appearing of our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ” referred to in Titus
2:13. Just like the passage in Titus 2,
Hebrews is challenging us to have lives that reflect the image of Christ in
order to have a spotless bride ready for the bridegroom.
Yet, believers are not often open to exhortation and having areas of their lives revealed that must be cleansed and changed.
Think through this illustration with me.
If you were at a wedding and were sharing the last few minutes with a
bride before she walked down the aisle and you noticed a big blotch on her
dress, would you say something? Of
course you would. And when you said
something she try to figure out anything possible to get that dress clean. She would never say, “Oh be quiet; it is none
of your business what is on my dress. Just
keep your mouth shut and mind your own business.”
Yet, it is not unusual when believers are challenged by others about a
spot in their life that would not reflect a “spotless” bride.
We indeed are called to exhort, what is interesting is that the same
root word for “exhortation” is also translated “comfort.” The manner of our exhortation is important so
that an individual is not blown away by it; but the fact that it must be done
remains because we are looking for that Day when Christ returns, and we want to
reflect that spotless bride as we await the Bridegroom.
The video version of this is available at www.youttube.com/churchoflittleton FW # 36
The video version of this is available at www.youttube.com/churchoflittleton FW # 36
[1] Gerhard Kittel, Gerhard Friedrich and
Geoffrey William Bromiley, Theological
Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 1995),
781.
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