Your church needs you - Part 1
8th January 2010
Hebrews 10v19-25
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,
by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,
and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled
cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds.
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one
another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
One could write a book about these glorious words but this week I'm going to just take a quick look at them. This passage has two parts.
Firstly, the writer encourages us in our relationship with God
The writer is explaining that Jesus's sacrifice of His body gives us access to God, and he offers us an analogy; Just as Old Testament priests entered the Holy of Holies through a curtain, which separated it from the rest of the temple, so we enter the presence of God through the sacrificed body of Christ. Further, he explains that Jesus is the church's great priest.
Since Jesus is our sacrifice, our priest, and the curtain, we can enter the Most Holy Place TODAY. And we can do so with "a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience". This is signified to us through baptism, "having our bodies washed with pure water".
Isn't it a little strange that we need to be reminded to enter the Most Holy Place? Isn't our access to God in prayer the most wonderful thing in our lives? But we find it difficult to choose to pray. We are engaged in a spiritual war and our enemy wants nothing more than to persuade us not to pray. But we must pray and, when we do, it's wonderful.
The writer also urges us to "hold unswervingly to the hope we profess" and not allow ourselves to be held back by doubts. We can do this, he explains, because "he who promised is faithful". Let us always remember that our faith, our standing before God, and our eternal future, depend not upon us but upon God. Then we will not lose hope, but will grow stronger in our faith.
Then the writer encourages us in our relationship with other Christians
We need each other. The writer continues, "let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds". We NEED the encouragement of others. And others need OUR encouragement. In my experience, most Christians realise that they need other Christians but, somehow, many don't realise that other Christians need them. In a way, that's rather endearingly humble. In another way, it's an absolute tragedy. Every Christian who fails to realise that other Christians need them will neglect those other Christians to some extent, and the church and the work of the gospel will suffer.
The writer says, "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing". Many, many Christians have left their churches and have not returned. This happens for a variety of reasons. They may have been hurt by their church. Their love for Jesus may have grown cold. Or they may not believe that they can help and encourage other Christians. In any case, this is a disaster. Also, many Christians have stayed in their church but go along to the various church activities less often than they used to. This is so very sad. Why should God's people and God's work be lower priorities now than when we first believed? Shouldn't we have learned that they are even higher priorities than we first thought? We can get so easily discouraged. And so can our fellow believers.
Instead of allowing our commitment God's work and to the church to tail off, "let us encourage one another".
You need your church.
And, however difficult it is for you to believe this, Your church needs you.