Hebrews 10:23 - 25 “Let
us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful
that promised; (24) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to
good works: (25) Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the
manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see
the day approaching.”
Today I want to remind us all that as Believers in Jesus
Christ there are things we need to keep reminding ourselves of. If we are going
to “walk in the Spirit” as God said, then we need to walk according to the
scriptures.
First, the Lord tells us “Let us hold fast the profession of
our faith without wavering…” holding fast means – to be unmovable – our faith
is a gift from God, whether it is the faith to be saved or the faith to believe
and sustain the scriptures. It is easy for Christians to fall away from
scriptural truth. Your spiritual stability depends on your “scriptural roots”
the more faithful you are to the church and study of the word, the deeper your “spiritual
roots” are. “They on the rock are they,
which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root,
which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.” Luke
8:13 It is so sad to see “weak believers” because they are so gullible for
Satan and his teachers of error. The writer to the Hebrews went on to explain
this statement “for he is faithful that
promised;” God is faithful to us, and we must be faithful to God. Faithful
in church attendance, study, love.
Secondly, the Lord said, “provoking one another to unto love and to good works”. Do you pray
for your fellow church members to succeed in their spiritual walk, do you
encourage them, we certainly ought too. The word “provoking” means - the act of incitement – As church members we
are “a body”, that is one single body and we ought to function like one. A body
is not divided, nor does it go different ways. It works together with every
part as needful as the other. We do not depreciate any part of our body, there
is not one part of your body you do not love and want to keep. The church
membership is the same as your body. Let us work to encourage one another to be
at church, to study and learn, that the entire church will walk and grow
together without weak membership. This is to love, God said to provoke each
other unto love and to good works. If we learn the importance of our
membership in the church, then we will learn how much we are needed.
And last, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves
together” If we learn the first two then this one is a little easier to do. God
put you in the local church because He wanted you to be a part of that body. No
member is of no value, each and every member is needed. The commandment of God
is, that we do not forsake our church attendance. There truly is nothing more
important than your church membership. This is because, just like your
salvation, your church membership is just as much by grace. God could have
given your spot in the church to anyone in the world, but He chose it for you. Forsaking
the assembling of ourselves together is forsaking the church, and the reason is,
you are part of the church. How would you like it if you went to work and your
arm stayed at home? We also need money to operate the church, and your
membership includes your financial support of the church. Not putting money
into church is also forsaking the church.
Folks, churches are small, and we need every single member. We
need your attendance, money, support, opinions, love, and kindness. You are, as
a member the strength of our church, our church is only as strong as our
membership. Churches are hurting for members, strength, money, strong worship
and love, because members are not all doing their part as a member. Do not
depend on other to do what God has designated for you to do, if we all do our
part we will have a very strong and good loving church until Jesus comes.
