I want to read an article in
today's bulletin written by Don Fortner. This goes so good with
all that we have in our study and in our message today. Don
writes in the face of events that shake our society to its
very foundation. We must not be shaken. Our God
is still on His throne. Let us therefore walk through
this world of woe Even through this valley of the shadow of
death, confident and free of fear, God has not given up the
reins of the universe. He has not taken his hand off
the helm of the ship. He is still in total control
of all things at all times in all places. That's the God we
worship. We call him God because he is
God. There is no other. and He is
holy. Hebrews 10 verses 24 and 25,
but I want to back up once again to verse 21. Look at verse 21
of Hebrews 10 with me. These three verses, four verses
go together, or five verses. And having a high priest over
the house of God. This is speaking of our high
priest, our better than the high priest of men. our high priest,
the Lord Jesus, let us draw near. Having this high priest, let
us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having
our hearts sprinkled from evil conscience, and our bodies washed
with pure water, let us hold fast the profession of our faith
without wavering, for he is faithful, that promise. And then we come
to verses 24 and 25, and let us consider one another to provoke
unto love, and to good works, not forsaking the assembling
of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting
one another so much the more as you see the day approaching."
Now, we've been considering matters of responsibility these last
two weeks. We considered first, let us draw
near, as we read in verse 22. Then we considered secondly,
let us hold fast, as we read in verse 23. And we've come to
our third one, let us consider one another. What a great privilege. What a privilege it is to come
out of the world. And that's what we're doing here
today. We've come out of the world. The world that we walk
in the other seven days. The world that we're going to
return to as soon as we leave this building. The world that
we may be returning to right now in our own minds, even thoughts
of what may be going on in the world around us. I was asked
by my son, what are you going to do today, Dad, other than
going to church? Well, I'm going to, thinking
of the world, I'm going to sit and listen to a game of golf.
Kathy, she may have other plans for
Father's Day. of which I will give into, but
see how quickly our mind can go back to the things of the
world. What a privilege. What a privilege. We've got two
young ladies on the line with us right now, Cheryl and Shirley,
and they've put the world aside. I know they're not here physically.
They're joining us the best they can through electronics, and
aren't we thankful for that? Aren't we thankful that they
can have fellowship with us this morning, visit with us as we
walk in and out of the building, spend a little bit of time kind
of saying, you know, putting our faces in each other, saying
hello to each other. We call that fellowshipping,
fellows in the same ship. But what a privilege for us to
put the world behind for just a moment and think on the things
of our God. He who loved us and gave Himself
for us, that we might live with Him for eternity. What a privilege. What a privilege of grace we
enjoy in our Savior, the Lord Jesus. The Triune God has a covenant
to save us. The Son of God has redeemed us
by His own precious blood. We are forgiven of all sin, sanctified
by the grace of God, and given permanent access and acceptance
with the Holy Lord God in his son, Christ Jesus. We've been
made recipients of such grace by the power and the grace of
God, the Holy Spirit, by whose saving operations we now believe. That's right. Our belief is by
his operation. We're heirs of God and joint
heirs with Christ Jesus with such great privileges, and with
those great privileges come great responsibilities. Let us draw
near to God, it says in verse 22. Let us ever come to our God
in prayer and praise with honest, open, and sincere hearts. What
is a sincere heart? A sincere heart is one that believes
God. We know that when we come to
our Savior, we know that He's God, and we know it in our hearts. We come to Him with sincere hearts.
He will receive us, for our hearts have been sprinkled with the
blood of His Son, the Lord Jesus, and our bodies have been washed
and purified by His Spirit through the Word, through the preaching
of the Word and by the power of His grace. A true heart, wrote
John Trapp, is this, a heart truly and entirely given up to
God. A heart truly and entirely given
up to God. Delighting to do His will. Desirous
rather that God's will be done than our own. Have you ever thought
to yourself like that? Lord, is this your will? Lord,
help me to seek your will and to put mine aside. I do that
all the time. I just assume all of God's people
do the same thing. It doesn't mean I always chase
after it, but it doesn't mean I think about it. It is my desire. We've been sprinkled with the
blood of Christ, and our bodies have been washed with a pure,
purified spirit through the word of his power and his grace. If
our hearts are true, if we truly trust Christ alone for the whole
of our everlasting acceptance of God, then we can and shall
come to Him with the full assurance of faith. Being confident of
acceptance with Him because of Christ's finished work, not because
of anything we have done. I have full confidence that when
I get out of my knees, not physically, because that hurts, but in my
mind, and cry out, Lord. I have full assurance that he
hears. Why? Because his word tells me he does. He hears the
words of his people. If I'm his, he hears me cry out. And oh, how often he's proved
it when he answers our prayers, even if they're not in ways that
we desire for. I know that was of God. It may
not be the results of what I was praying for, but I know it was
of God, and I know it's for my good. And I know it's for His
glory. Next we see, let us hold fast
to our profession of faith without wavering, for He is faithful,
that promise, that's in verse 23. It is our responsibility
to continue steadfast in the faith of the gospel, because
God is faithful. We must allow nothing to turn
us aside from Christ. Turn over to Philippians. Hold
your place there in Hebrews 10, chapter 3, Philippians 3. We
come to the Lord holding fast to our profession without wavering
because He is faithful. And just as Paul gives us this
example here in Philippians beginning at verse 4, Paul writes these
words, he goes, though I might also have confidence in the flesh.
Now remember, Paul was a Pharisee of the Pharisees.
He was carrying letters from the high priest to persecute
the church. He was steeped in his religion.
He says, though I might also have confidence in the flesh,
if any other man thinketh that he is, whereof he might trust
in the flesh, I more. Circumcised the eighth day of
the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, of the Hebrew of
the Hebrews, as touching the law of Pharisee. concerning zeal,
persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in
the law, blameless. But what things were gained to
me, those I counted lost for Christ." When he came to Christ,
when he began to put his trust in Christ because of God doing
a work in his heart, just as he has done with you and I, Paul
counted all the knowledge he knew of God before, or what he
thought he knew of God, he counted it but done. Look at what's going
on with me. But what things were gained to me, those I counted
lost for Christ. Yea, doubtless I counted all
things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do
count them but done that I may win Christ. Back in our text.
We must allow nothing, including our knowledge of what we knew
in the past to interfere with what God has shown us in His
Word. And what has He shown us in His
Word? We are saved by grace through faith. We are saved by His grace. What is that grace? It's His
Son giving Himself for us. It's His Son laying down His
life for us. It's His Son shedding His blood
where our blood should have been shed. You must allow nothing. Whatever trial, whatever fear,
whatever doubt, whatever trouble is going on in our lives, let
us believe God. Faithful is he that calleth you
who also will do it. That's 1 Thessalonians 5.24.
So now we come to our text this morning, consider one another.
As we make our way through this world of woe, Let us ever consider
one another, as we read in verse 24. Let us ever consider and
be considerate of one another. That's not always easy, is it? You know, I try, and I have to
express that as try, because many a times we come up short
in accomplishing what our desire is to do, but I try to remember
when I'm struggling with something, a brethren, whether it be here
or whether it be across the country or wherever it might be, that
I may be troubled with something. I may be thinking, well, you
know, I'm not so sure it means that. Or maybe I'm thinking,
you know, you've gone out too far on a limb. I'm going to use
my dear brother, Bill Silva, because he's gone on to be with
the Lord right now, and I don't want you to be thinking that
I'm pointing fingers at anybody today. But I'm going to use this
as an example with Bill. So Bill and I, as you know, have
had conversations deeper than any conversation I've even had
with my own wife, who I've been married to for 47 years. He and
I would talk on the phones all day long, as I'm driving my truck,
I've got my earpiece in my head, driving down the highway, going
to the different deliveries, and he would be with me on the
phone, even when I'd go in to make deliveries. So we'd just
be talking about things, and most of the time, Bill and I
talked about scriptural things. He would often, after services,
sit down with Kathy and I and talk about scriptures at the
table for a couple of hours before he'd finally go home. And I'm
guilty of what I'm about to say as much as Bill was. So don't
think I'm just pointing a finger at him. But there were times
where he would go out on a limb too far. And there were times
when I would go out on a limb too far, and we would talk to
each other. Now, we're talking about considering
one another. That's our subject today. If
I'm sitting with my dear brother Mike Love, for this. There have been times
in the last four years, a time or two, when he said, John, I
don't think that's what that's talking about. And I can be very
thankful for that. He's considering one another,
considering each other. We're lifting each other up.
We're iron sharpening iron is what it is. As we make our way
through this world, we consider one another, consider each other
as being sinful men and women. I can't tell you how often I
have been able to forgive somebody because I think of them as sinners
as I am. And I pray the Lord gives each
and every one of us that very same thought. I can be forgiving
too. You know, we don't just have to do that with brothers
and sisters in Christ. We don't know who our brothers
and sisters are. I have family members that I
would rather not see ever again. They're sinners just like I am.
just like I am today. They may not know the Lord as
I do, but they're still sinners. For that, we can be forgiven,
Calvin, because we know how much God has forgiven us of the sin
that is within our own flesh right now, this very moment.
If we make it our business to love one another and to care
for one another, we'll have less time to complain less time to
complain of being neglected of our own thoughts and desires.
We will each consider one another that will help to kindle and
rekindle love and grace towards others. It says, let us consider
one another. Brethren should always be thoughtful
and considerate of one another. Why? Because we are as men, as
men. We are all as men. We are all
but men and men and women of like passions and like infirmities. We should consider one another's
weaknesses, making allowance for them. We should consider
one another's outward state and condition in the world and try
to understand one another's needs and help each other. We consider
each other as believers. Not only do I know you as sinners,
I know you as sinners who believe God. I can have compassion on you
because I know how hard it is to fight those temptations that
swell up in us. How hard it is to be compassionate
to one another. We consider each other as believers,
as saints. as men and women in Christ. We are all partakers
of the same grace, folks. We are all loved with the same
love of Jesus Christ our Lord. We are all conceived and brought
forth in the womb of God's eternal electing grace, interested in
the same covenant, redeemed by the same blood, and we have the
same graces and privileges as every one of us. Every one of
us. We all have the same and equal
right to heaven and eternal glory in our Savior Christ Jesus. We
all have one spirit, and the same spirit, the same grace,
same faith, same righteousness, same foundation, the same fullness,
the same throne of grace to go to, and the same inheritance
to enjoy. We should consider each other
as members, members of the church. Church members of the same family,
the same body. May God grant us grace always
to consider each other in this light. How can we fulfill this
admonition? Well, David, the sweet singer
of Israel, the sweet psalmist of Israel, He gave the highest
possible regard to the matter of public worship. He says, without
neglecting private worship, he said this, he said, as for me,
I will come into thy house, speaking of the Lord's house. Do you see
how he's accomplished what it is? How can we consider one another? First, by coming into God's house
and worshiping together. That's the first and most priority
right there, to worship our Savior, the Lord Jesus. I like the way
Gene said this one time. He says, you put that before
everything else, and God will take care of everything else
there is. I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy
mercies. Isn't that what we hear about?
We come here after spending our days in the week, in the world
around us, and we hear about God's mercy to you and I. Oh,
the multitudes of thy mercies. And then he goes on and he says
this, and in thy fear will I worship towards thy holy temple. That's
Psalms 5, verse 7. David could not force others
to worship God, and he would not if he could. I don't force
Susan to come into church. I know pastors that would. I
know brothers and sisters in Christ that would. But I don't. Because me forcing her to come
into church is not going to help her. It's going to take God to
bring her in here and for him to give her ears. And I pray
for that often. I pray for that often. David
could not force others to worship God, and he would not, but he
says this, he says, as for me, I will come into thy house. When he came into the place of
worship with the saints of God, David was determined truly to
worship the Lord. He says, in thy fear will I worship
toward thy holy temple. David was resolved in his heart
at every appointed time to come to God with the saints in the
place of public worship so that he might worship God in heaven
in the temple of his holiness. How? How can we consider each
other? Number one, we come together
when it's time to come together and worship our Savior. Number
two, we remember each other as we are, sinners saved by grace. Number three, we remember that
we are loved of God And he is faithful to do what he has promised. Amen.