Be Confident
Belong

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Good morning church! We’re starting a new series today, entitled, “BELONG: The Basics Of Belonging To God’s Family.” We’re working out an answer to some basic questions about being a Christ follower and about being a believer. Today’s question that we’re going to be working out is: “How can I be sure that I’m a Christian?” Is that possible? Can you be confident?

The title of today’s message is, “Be Confident.” Can you be confident? Can you “know that you know that you know?” This is the beginning sermon that we’ll be talking about today in this five-part series.

This five-part series is following the first five lessons that we offer in our Life on Life Discipleship plan. Out of curiosity, how many of you are currently involved or have been involved with our Life on Life Discipleship plan? Wave at us. If you haven’t, you can sign up for that on your Connection Card or on the Church Center app if you’re watching online. If you are here in person, you can use your Connection Card. Check the box on the back, “Life on Life.” We’ll find someone to help you go through this process, of one person mentoring another to grow more like Jesus. We’re following the first five lessons in this plan as a way of promoting people to become involved in our discipleship, but also making sure that we cover these basics.

What’s your level of confidence, if you are a follower of Jesus, that you know that you have eternal life? Is it possible that somebody might be sitting here today, wondering if they can know that? Can you know that with confidence?

Sometimes, I’ll ask people this question. I’ll say, “If you were to face God today, if He were to call you home, you were in an accident or something happened and you were standing before the Lord, would you have eternal life?” Would He invite you into His heaven? Do you know what people usually say to me? “I hope so.” Maybe they’ll add this additional information; they will say, “ I hope so, because I’ve tried to live a good life.” The problem with that approach is that no one has lived a good life. There’s only one person that’s lived a perfect, holy life and that’s Jesus. All of us have fallen short.

The bible says that all of us are sinners. In other words, we’ve “missed the mark” of God’s holiness. Here in Wilson County, if you were to go door to door asking people, “If you were to stand before a holy God and He would ask you, ‘Why should I let you into my heaven?’ what would you say?” Most people in Wilson County would say, “I tried to live a good life,” like there’s some something in heaven, a scale on one side is your good works and on the other side is your bad works and if your good works outweigh your bad works, He lets you in. No, that’s not in the bible. The problem with that is, the bible actually says your bad works outweigh your good works and so no one is fit for heaven without Jesus. So, we’re back to that question; can you be sure that you’re a Christian? Wouldn’t you like to change your hope? Would you like to be able to say, instead of “I hope so” to “I know so?” I hope, by the end of this message today, you’ll be able to change your “hope” to “know.” That’s our goal today.

As we approach God’s word today, in the book of Hebrews, believers were told that they could have confidence that they belong to God’s family through faith in Christ Jesus. I believe today that we can have confidence, that we can know that we belong to God’s family through our faith in Jesus. As we look at the text today, I think that we’ll see three exhortations for being confident that we belong to God’s family through faith in Jesus.

Hebrews 10:19-25 (ESV) 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.” This is God’s Word. Amen.

Three exhortations for how to be confident that you belong to God’s family. Here’s the first:

1. By drawing near to God in full assurance of faith.

Look at verse 19. If you have your notes there, circle the word, “confidence.” You see the word, “confidence,” there in verse 19. Then, look down in verse 22; do you see the word, “assurance?” Circle those two words. This passage is teaching us how to be confident and assured of our salvation. The reason that I have you mark in your bibles and your study notes that we give you, is I want you to know that the only authority I have is God’s word. I’m nobody without God’s word. I’m nothing without Jesus. When I’m preaching, I’m preaching from the bible. I want you to see that. That’s why I say to you, “circle this, take note of that,” so that you understand where the authority for the message comes from.

Having said that, our first exhortation comes from verse 22. Do you see it in verse 22? Let us draw near because of what the book of Hebrews has done here, starting with verse 19. Verses 19, 20 and 21 tells you this is what we’ve been doing. This is what we’ve been talking about for 10 chapters Now, as a result of that, here are three exhortations. “Let us draw near” in verse 22 and “let us hold fast” in verse 23. “Let us consider how to stir one another up: in verse 24. Do you understand where the three exhortations come from now? I’m teaching you how to preach; this is what’s happening right now, so that you recognize that this is how this guy does this. He studies and he tells us. Here’s all I’m really doing; I’m “the cook in the kitchen” who’s just carving up the pieces into bite sizes for you. The “meal” is right here; I’m just carving it up. There are three exhortations. You can see them in verse 22, 23 and 24. What we’re going to do is we’re going to unpack verses 19 to 22 so we can work out what it means to be confident by drawing near to God.

Let’s work on the word, “therefore.” My congregation knows that when we encounter the word, “therefore,” what should we always ask? “What’s it there for?” That’s right. It’s like an equal sign in math. Whatever has happened previously in this book now results in this. The word, “therefore,” marks a transition.

In the book of Hebrews, this book has given us very heavy doctrine, telling us that Christ is the supreme and only satisfaction for being right with God. Why is it called “Hebrews?” It is because it was written to believers with a Jewish background. What that means is, it won’t sound that familiar to people that don’t have a Jewish background unless they’ve been studying the Old Testament because the book of Hebrews is filled with Old Testament, sacrificial tabernacle, temple imagery. You won’t be able to understand this book, but if you had grown up Jewish, you would know what this is about and what the book of Hebrews was trying to establish, so that they would recognize that Jesus is the Messiah. He’s the fulfillment of the temple worship of the tabernacle. He’s the fulfillment; the “therefore” is telling us this. In verses 19, 20 and 21, he’s summarizing everything he has said for ten chapters up to now. He says, “since we have…”

I don’t know anybody here who has a Jewish background. If you do, I haven’t met you yet, so make sure you say “hello” to me in the lobby today. Most of us don’t have a Jewish background, so what we have to hope for, if we don’t have an Old Testament background, is to spend some time working on it.

Verse 19 says, “Therefore, brothers, since…” That’s the first “since” word in verse 19. You see it again verse 21, “and since we have…” There’s two things we have that he is summarizing: The first one is this; we have confidence to enter the holy places. We have confidence.

The word, “confidence,” can be translated, “boldness or free access” to enter the holy places. Maybe, a better translation is found in the New King James; it says “the Holiest” or in the NIV, “the Most Holy Place.”

What are we talking about? Visualize that I’m in the temple in Israel and now I’m standing in the Holy Place, which is the area that all the priests could come into. I’m in the Holy Place; there is a table with twelves loaves which is the table of the “show bread.” The incense is burning on a little table; there is a golden lamp stand. There’s a curtain and the only person allowed to go behind the curtain is the great high priest because it is called the Holiest Place. The great high priest can only go in there one day out of the year. What day is that? The Hebrews call it “yom kippur,” which means the Day of Atonement. When the great high priest goes in there, he carries with him the blood of the lamb. He goes behind the curtain; he goes in and he represents before God the payment for his sin and all the people of Israel. He’s a representative of that and he sprinkles the blood on the Mercy Seat, which is the Ark of the Covenant. It is said that he had a little chain around his ankle because no one else was back there. If he got back there and didn’t do it according to the book of Leviticus, he might faint. Nobody wanted to go in there to get him, so they would just pull him out by the chain. That’s how holy the Holiest Place was.

This is what is being talked about here in this scripture passage . We can enter into the Holy Place where the Mercy Seat of God is because all of that in the Old Testament was all a type pointing to its reality in heaven. So what we’re talking about here is not that Old Testament figure, but the reality that we’re able, with confidence, to enter God’s throne room; to enter right into the presence of the Father, since we have the blood of Jesus. That’s the confidence we have, that the blood of Jesus has been spent, has been spilled for us. That’s the first basis; it’s a past tense basis. It already happened 2000 years ago. Jesus died.

What is the Gospel? Jesus died for our sins and He was raised on the third day. He died; His blood has been shed. The blood of Jesus has been shed so that we can enter into the Holy Place. It says in verse 19 “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus,” It’s not because of some attribute of my own. It’s not because I’ve been good enough. It’s because the blood of Jesus has been received by me, by faith, so that I’m able to boldly, with confidence, come before the Father. It’s not because of me, because I’m not good enough, but Jesus was good enough and He died in my place . It’s because of that past tense reality that we can, with confidence, enter.

Then, he gives us another reason. He says, not just by His blood, but in verse 20, “by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh.” It’s a new sacrifice. It wasn’t like any of the other sacrifices back there. This one unique sacrifice was the sacrifice of the son of God, not only of His blood but of His body. Notice that it says “through his flesh.” So not only of His blood, but His body was beaten and crucified so that He became the Lamb of God who died for the sins of the world. This is the basis by which we can enter with confidence.

What is this new and living way? It’s not by the sacrifice of lambs, but it’s by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. It’s new. It’s original. There is none like it.

The book of Hebrews spends ten chapters telling us that He’s the only way; He’s the supreme, unique way. John 14:6 (ESV) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” He’s the way. The only way to please God is to place your faith in Jesus.

Verse 20 speaks of the word, “curtain,” that is open for us. This temple imagery again. Remember, that I told you there’s this curtain separating the Holy Place from the Holiest Place? We read in the Gospels that when Jesus died on the cross, an earthquake happened, the sun was darkened and the earthquake caused the temple to shake and the curtain was rent; it was torn from top to bottom. What curtain was torn? It was the curtain to the most holy place. No longer would people have to, once a year, depend on a human priest . No longer would they have to keep doing all of those sacrifices. For centuries, they were like checks that were useless until the future deposit was made that made them all good.

Do you remember back when you could write a paper check on Friday and it wouldn’t clear until Monday? You can’t do that anymore because they run it through that electronic thing and “boom” you better have that money in the bank.

All of those sacrifices in the Old Testament were like checks written on a future deposit, when Jesus died on the cross for our sins. The last words He said on the cross was, “It is finished,” which literally means, “paid in full.” That’s why we can have confidence because He has paid it in full by His body and by His blood.

Verse 21 gives us a second “since;” Verse 19 told us that we can have confidence because of His blood and body. Verse 21 says, “and since we have a great priest over the house of God,” The fact that He died was a past tense reason that supports it’s a basis for our confidence. Jesus is the high priest; not only is He the sacrifice that the priest carries in, He’s the priest. When you look at the temple and you look at all of the temple furniture and the activity, everything about it ultimately points to Jesus. The bible says that He’s the advocate, who stands before the Father, praying for us. Not only do we have a past tense basis for our confidence, we have a present tense basis because He’s praying for us right now, making sure, right now, that you have access to draw near and enter into the presence of having a relationship with the Father.

We’re talking about how you can be confident . It’s on the past basis of His sacrifice, of His body and His blood and the present tense priesthood of Jesus who prays for you, loves you and makes sure that the Father accepts you. He’s the great high priest over the house of God. We’re not talking about the Old Testament temple now; we’re talking about the temple in heaven.

We’ve been summarizing the first ten chapters. Now, he’s ready to give us three responses, three exhortations. They’re worded in an unusual way; they’re not like strong commands. They’re more like invitations to lead us. Since He prays for us continually, let us draw near. He’s paid for the entrance.

Why wouldn’t you draw near? Why wouldn’t you say, ‘I want to know God’ and ‘I want to know Him better.’ ‘I want to draw near.’ Why wouldn’t you do that? It’s the invitation to let us draw near ; that’s in verse 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.”

“To draw near,” in Greek is “proserchometha.” It has the idea of “to come near to or to approach.” It’s in the present tense in the Greek; it means to continually do it every day. To get up and say, ‘Lord, I want to be closer to You today than I was yesterday. I want to know you better today. I want to draw nearer and nearer to you.’ Let us draw near; it’s an invitation. It’s an exhortation. Let us draw near.

It reminds us of the Book of Leviticus. The first high priest’s name was Aaron, the brother of Moses. This terminology is familiar from that time in Leviticus 9:7 (ESV) “Then Moses said to Aaron, “Draw near to the altar and offer your sin offering…” In other words, ‘come on in.’ “Draw near” is Old Testament language, but it’s being used here for us as Christians. You can ‘come on in’ to the presence of the Father. You don’t need a priest in between you and the Father. You come yourself because of Jesus. He is your high priest. You can go right on in.

He continues here in verse 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.” A true heart and a sincere heart; not just lip service, but sincerity.

Remember what Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 29:13 (ESV) “And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me…” What’s going on with you today? Are you saying you’re a Christian or is it just words to you? I come to church and I sing the songs. It’s just lip service; there’s no sincerity of heart.

God doesn’t just look at the outward appearance. The bible says that He looks at the heart. Let us draw near to Him with a true heart; with a sincere heart. With a heart that’s been changed. In what way? With full assurance of faith, that I have placed my faith in Jesus as my sacrifice, whose body and blood were broken and shed for me as as my high priest, Who continually praise for me. I’m placing my faith in Him; that’s my access and here’s what He’s done to me so that I’m worthy to go in. He’s sprinkled my heart clean. He’s made my heart true, because I’ve placed my faith in Him. He’s done a work in my heart. He’s made my heart new.

If you’re a believer, if you’ve made Jesus your Lord and Savior, He’s going to do a work inside of you that no one can do. You can’t do it yourself. He’s going to give you a new heart, a true heart, a sincere heart that beats for Him. My heart is sprinkled clean. That’s the imagery again of the blood being sprinkled upon your heart as it were. It’s that old testament imagery again, that His blood has given you a new heart.

He says, then, that our bodies are washed with pure water. That’s the imagery of what they would do. We don’t have time to go back and look at all the places, but when they would receive the lamb, they would wash it before they sacrificed it, they would wash its parts. These images are being applied now to our Christian faith. Some see this imagery, that it might point to the Lord’s supper or baptism. Perhaps, this is so, but really what I think’s going on here is just imagery from the Old Testament that he is talking about, how you now have died and you have a new life in Christ. That is what gives you the right to move in and to draw near, with your heart sprinkled clean with the blood of Jesus.

Robert Lowry wrote a hymn back in 1876, entitled, “Nothing But The Blood.” Here are some of the lyrics: “What can wash away my sin, nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” It was true in 1876 and it is still true in 2022. There’s no other way to be confident that you can enter into the heavenly place, the throne room of the Father, except by the blood of Jesus, which is applied to your heart, by faith, when you receive Him, so that you have a true heart, a new heart and a brand new heart.

It says in Hebrews 4:15-16 (ESV) 15 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” We have a high priest that’s been tempted as we, except without sin, so He is able to sympathize. When we come to the Father, He’s able to say, ‘Father, I know how she feels. I know how he feels. I’ve been there. Father, hear her prayer. I know how he feels, Father. I’ve known that temptation. I understand.’ See, Jesus understands you. He’s a high priest that’s well acquainted with our griefs and our temptation, yet without sin. He’s the perfect priest to go before the Father and He says, ‘Come on in.’ He holds back the curtain. He says, ‘Come on in. Draw near.’ Why wouldn’t you draw near after all He’s done? Why would you stand outside and not come closer?

Hebrews 7:25 (ESV) “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” You might be thinking, But you don’t know what I’ve done. You don’t know how far from God I am . It doesn’t matter. He’s able to save you to the uttermost. He’s able to pull you out even though you’ve gone down for the third count and you’re drowning. He’s able to pull you out to the uttermost. How can you receive this?

Hebrews 11:6 (ESV) “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.You receive it by faith.” We place our faith in Christ; it’s by our faith in what He has done, not what we’ve done.

Jesus says to come on in and draw near. When we talk about drawing near, I’ve been using imagery from the Old Testament. You might be thinking, Okay, well, how do I draw near? He’s way up in Heaven. We’re talking about proximity; not of place, but of a relationship.

My wife and I got married 43 years ago and we’ve been living in the same house ever since . Can you believe that? It’s not the same house that we’ve been living in; we’ve lived in several houses, but the two of us have always lived in the same house, wherever it was. That was confusing the way I put that, but I think you got the point. Through these 43 years, we have geographically lived together as a married couple and after 43 years, we have drawn nearer and nearer. Not geographically but relational.

It’s not geography that he’s talking about here; he’s talking about relational proximity. Are you closer to the Father today than you were yesterday? I could ask you right now, on a scale of 1-10, how close are you to the Father? A waitress at a restaurant a while ago was talking to me about some things. I had known this person for a while. I asked her, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how close are you to God?” She dropped her head and tears started pouring down her face. She said, “I wouldn’t want to answer that. I’m not close.” I said to her that it doesn’t have to be that way; He hadn’t moved, He’s waiting for you and He loves you.

I don’t know how you’re feeling today; are you close or do you feel like your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling, like you’re distant from the Lord? Here’s His invitation to you: Because of what Jesus has done, since He’s died for you and since He makes intercession for you, why don’t you come on in? Why don’t you draw near?

Some years ago, there was an accident that caused me to lose hearing in my left ear. So I have a 40% hearing loss in my left ear. If I’m trying to listen to someone and there’s background noise, you might see this old man kind start to lean in. It’s because my right ear still works much better than my left ear. You know what I do? I “draw near” with my right ear. I told the people at the first service that “draw near with my right ear” sounds like a good country song. Somebody ought to write a song with that title.

Draw near to the Father, so you can hear His voice to draw near, so you can know Him better. Come on in and draw near. Will you draw near to God? Jesus has done everything l necessary to help you. That’s the first way that you can be confident and assured. Here’s the second way:

2. By holding fast the confession of our hope.

We’re now at verse 23. Let me read it to you to refresh our minds, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” To “hold fast” means “to hang on, to get a grip on, to take hold of” the confession of our hope. The word, “confession,” means “to say the same word.” It means to “agree with.”

There is a confession that we’re invited to make to believe in Jesus. The confession is that we confess Him as Lord and we believe that He died for your sins He has been raised again. Notice that it doesn’t say “profession;” it says “confession.” There’s a difference between those two words, they’re often used anonymously. The “pro” in the word, “profession,” means “in the face of, at the beginning of.” The “con” in the word, “confession,” means “with or it’s already true.” When you make a profession of faith, you’re saying, ‘I intend to believe this. I profess that I will.’ A profession of faith is a good thing; you’re intending to do this. Confession means that you already believe this.

We recently had a baptism service and we baptized seven candidates. Maybe, if you were here and listening , you heard me say to each of them, ‘John Smith, do you confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?’ Then, that person would say, ‘I do.’ I would say after that, ‘On the basis of that confession, I now baptize you, my brother/sister, in the name of the Father, Son, the Holy Spirit.’ Because you’ve said Jesus is your Lord and He died for your sins, that’s the confession of your hope. You should hang on to that without wavering because He’s faithful. It’s not because you’re so faithful. He who promised is faithful to what He promised. He promised to save you if you call out to Him.

I have three grown children; the middle one was a “runner” when he was little. He now has four kids of his own and all of his turned out to be “runners.” Maybe it was in our genetics. When my middle son, Jonathan, was young and we would get out of the car, I would get him out of his car seat. If I just put him down, he would run; his feet were running before they even hit the ground. So, as soon as I put him down, I was hanging on to different things like his ear, the collar of his shirt, whatever I could get my hands on. I would, ultimately, take his hand but he would try to pull his hand out of my hand. He’s three years old and trying to pull his hand out because he thought he was in charge already and was trying to get moving. I would grab his hand and hang on. But even if he tried to let go, I hung on better. I would hang on tighter because I was faithful as a father to not let him run into traffic and get killed because he didn’t know any better. He was a “runner” and some of you are “runners.” You’ve tried to take hold of God, but you keep doubting. If you would just recognize that He’s already done it and He’s still doing what’s necessary to save you. Just reach your hand up and take hold; He’s faithful. Once He gets a grip on you, He won’t let go.

It says in John 10:28-30 “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.” He won’t let go; he’s a faithful father. You can hold fast.

What’s our confession? Look at Romans 10:9-11 (NLT) “For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.” This is our confession; remember that that word, “confess,” means “to agree with.”

Has there been a time in your life where you have said, ‘I agree that Jesus is the boss. He’s the master. He’s the Lord and I believe in Him with all of my heart. I believe, with a sincere heart; I really believe it that God raised Him from the dead.’ Does it say, “maybe” you will be saved? Does it say, you “hope” you’ll be saved? What does it say? It says, “…you will be saved?” Not “maybe,” not “later,” because He’s the one that does the saving. You are the one that reaches for it by believing in your heart that you’re made right with God. It is by confessing with your mouth that you’re saved. Have you done that?

Sometimes, through the years, I’ll see somebody who comes to Christ on a Sunday morning and during the week I’m the one that ends up meeting with them. Sometimes, it’s someone else in the church that meets with them but sometimes it’s me. I have a habit that I try to get them a new bible and I’ll sit down with them and I’ll say, ‘John, what did you do this past Sunday?’ He will respond, ‘I prayed that prayer.’ I will ask him, ‘What prayer did you pray?’ and he will say, ‘I prayed that Jesus would be my Lord and that He would save me.’ I will ask him, ‘What was the date?’ He will tell me, ‘Well, it was Sunday, August 21st, 2022.’ Then, I will get his bible and I’ll write it in the front: ‘On this day, Sunday the 21st, 2022, John Smith prayed to receive Christ.’ Then, I ask him to sign his name and I will co-sign it as a witness. After signing, He says to me, ‘Well, that’s pretty cool.’ I say to him, ‘Do you know what I’m doing? I’m giving you something to hold fast to. I’m giving you something to hold on to. It’s your confession; the devil is going to try to get that out of your grip. He’s going to try to make you believe that you really didn’t do that; Jesus really didn’t save you because you’re still thinking some pretty filthy things. You’re still tempted. You still have that addiction. You still struggle with anger and you have doubts. So, you take hold of that confession. You asked Jesus to save you and He did.’ He’s the son of God. He’s the great high priest and He enables us to keep this confession. It says in Hebrews 4:14 (ESV) “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.” He’s still helping us. He’s still praying for us.

Here’s John writing about it; I think he’s probably 90 some years old when he writes 1 John. He’s an old man. He calls everybody “children.” Have you ever listened to J. Vernon McGee on the radio? He would always address everybody as “My dearly beloved.” That’s how John was; John was always calling people “children.” When he wrote, he “put all the cookies on the bottom shelf” so the kids could reach it.

1 John 5:11-13 (ESV) 11 “And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” This is not great grammar, but it’s like this: “Got Jesus? Got life. Don’t got Jesus? Don’t got life.” See how he’s “putting the cookies on the bottom shelf?”

How do you know if you’re a believer? Do you have Jesus? Have you received Jesus? Does He live and abide in you? He’s giving you a new heart; then, you can be confident. He says, in 1 John 5:13, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” It doesn’t say that you may “wish” that you have eternal life. It says “that you may know.” When your belief in God is unsure, your fear of death will remain, but when your belief is confident, you fear no man. You fear nothing; you’re fearless because Jesus lives in you. Here’s the third:

3. By considering how to stir up one another to love and good works.

We’re in verse 24 now; “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” Notice how all three of these began with, “Let us.” These are invitations. “Let us consider.” In other words, give careful consideration to how you can get the other brothers and sisters worked up to love one another and do good works.

I did a study on “stir up;” 99% of the time in the Bible it’s used in the negative connotation. “Do not stir up your brother to wrath;” it means “to provoke.” It has the idea “to poke them,” “to provoke, incite or irritate.” If you are using cowboy language, “to spur on” would be to cause a horse to go faster with the spurs on your cowboy boots. That word could be translated, “paroxysmos.” Three times, I found in the bible that it’s used in a positive sense. This is one of the three . The other two are in 1 Peter.

The best way I can describe this, is the way Solomon describes it in the book of Proverbs. Proverbs 27:17 (NIV) “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” If you take two pieces of iron and bang them together. It’ll sharpen both pieces. Sparks will fly and it’ll make a big clamor, but it’ll sharpen them. He says that if you want to grow in confidence and assurance, you need to be thinking about how you stir your brothers and sisters up. In the process, you’ll get stirred up. In other words, it’ll provoke you to have more confidence in your faith. It’ll grow you. Christianity is not for “lone rangers;” it’s for people who recognize that they need each other. We’re to think about how to do this and consider it; consider how to stir one another up.

Now, some of you might leave here today and say, ‘I feel like you stomped all over my toes.’ Some of you might leave here today and not come back because you’re mad that I picked on your particular favorite sin. All I’m doing is “poking you,” like the scripture says. If you’re receptive to being “stirred up,” to being “spurred on,” it will actually cause you to grow in your confidence and in your faith. Some people are here today and you’re still hanging on to something. You need to let go of it and let the Holy Spirit strip it away. We gather like this to be “spurred on” in our faith, to be “stirred up” in our faith and to love. The word here is “agape,” sacrificial love, to good works. Love is like the inner result. It’s hard to love people you haven’t met. It’s hard to love people if you just sit next to them on Sunday morning if that’s all you do. You have to start serving together. You have to be in a community group where you meet together weekly in someone’s house and “unpack” God’s word; then, guess what will happen? You’ll start having love for each other. You’ll “stir” one another’s love for each other up. Then, you’ll see somebody that’s a little farther ahead than you are in their following of the Lord. Maybe it’s a young woman; she sees an older woman and she thinks, I want to be like her. I want to be patient like she is with her kids and her grandkids. I want to treat my husband the way I see her treat him. Young men might see an older father and think, I want to be like him. You get “stirred up” by one another, but you don’t get “stirred up” if you don’t come together. You don’t “sharpen” one another unless you come together.

In fact, he tells us this now in verse 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.” He basically says, ‘Here’s how not to obey this invitation: “not neglecting to meet together.” He says, “not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some.”

Now, that habit has grown in modern times. We started this church on January 26, 1992; this day was our first public worship service. We could count on people that called themselves members and regular attendance of our church that they would attend 3.5 times per month. I don’t know what the “.5” looks like. I don’t know; maybe they slept through that service, but they would be here on average three plus times per month. Then, we noticed, after the turn of the century, habits have changed. Some people haven’t come back since Covid. They’re out there. As a pastor, as a shepherd, my heart breaks. I don’t know how they’re doing. Some people are still in the process of trying to come back. Some people have come back but they have a new habit now; it’s twice a month . Nationwide, it’s already dropping down to where it’s once a month and then it’s twice a year – Christmas and Easter. Apparently, this is not new.

There’s a warning here in Hebrews, that people get in a bad habit. They start thinking, Well, I’m right with God. Why do I need those christian people after all? They’re so aggravating. They keep “poking” me. The scripture here is saying that you need to be “poked” because if you’re left on your own you start sliding in the wrong direction. We need one another. Stop this habit of not meeting together. Do the opposite; instead of neglecting, encouraging one another and all the more. Meet more instead of less. Encourage more than you used to instead of less. Why? Because the (capital D) Day is approaching.

What does that word mean? It means the day of Christ’s return. That’s why it is capitalized; it is the day of Christ’s return. He’s coming soon . We should love each other because it’s the mark of a Christ follower. John 13:34-35 (ESV) 34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (ESV) “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up…”

This coming Labor day is when my family, the Combs clan, has their annual family reunion. Believe it or not, I’m the oldest in the family; my parents are both in heaven now. I’m the oldest son; I’m the patriarch now. The family reunion was in Wilson last year; this year, it’s in Bristol, Virginia. We’ll all be traveling up. We’ll take our kids and grandkids. We’ll all head up to the mountains for the family reunion. Fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts and a whole passel of cousins will be there. Why? Because we belong to the family and we miss them if one person doesn’t come. How do we belong to this family? Most of us are family by birth and some of us are family by marriage, but we’re all family. We’ll go to the reunion because we’re family. This year, we’re taking two little ones from down here in North Carolina, two of my grands. They are probably going to be a little scared; little Penny and little Deacon are our two new grandchildren. It’ll be their first family reunion and they’ll be a little overwhelmed. They will need to get to know the family because it’s a chaotic mess of having funk playing sports and eating lots of food. That’s what families do and the new ones have to be introduced so that they know they’re part of the family. We’re going to “stir up” little Penny and little Deacon this year. They’ll get “stirred up” so that they have love and they recognize what it costs to keep the family together.

Will you give careful consideration to how you might stir one another up to love and good works? Will you answer the invitation that God offers to you? The God of the universe says, ‘Draw near to me and know me better through Jesus.’ You can do it. Will you take hold of the confession of faith that you’re a Christ follower and when you become part of the fellowship of faith, of the family of believers, reminding each other that we’re family so that our confidence grows.

Let’s pray. “Lord, thank You for Your word. Lord, I pray, first of all, for that person that’s here today or maybe they’re watching online. You’ve never given your life to Jesus, You’ve never said “Yes” to Him. You can do it right now. You can pray right now and make your confession of faith. You can pray with me as long as it’s your heart’s desire. ‘Dear Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner. I surrender my life to You. I believe You died on the cross for my sins, You paid with Your body and with Your blood for my sin and I believe that You were raised from the grave and live today. Would You forgive me? Would You come into my life and make me the person You want me to be? I want to be a child of God, I want You as my Lord and Savior.’ If you’re praying that prayer right now, He will save you. There are people doing that right now, somewhere in this room , somewhere in the room next door or watching online. He’ll save you. If you will make that confession of faith, He will save you. He’s done all that’s necessary. You can draw near. Others are here and you believe. You are a follower of Jesus, but you’re not as close as you want to be. In fact, some of you might say, ‘I’m not even as close as I used to be.’ Right now, Holy Spirit, would you speak to those hearts so that they’re able to pray, ‘Help me draw near. I want to be nearer to You now, God.’ In Jesus’ name. Amen.”