Take your Bibles now and turn
with me to Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. And this
morning, our text will be found in verse 24 and 25. I'm sorry,
24 down through verse Well, really the remainder of
this chapter. We're going to try to go through the end of
this chapter. I know, Tia, that doesn't always
happen, but we're going to give it our effort this morning, if
the Lord's willing. And the title of the message
this morning is, The Abandoning of Worship. The Abandoning of
Worship. and thus far the apostle having
come to the height of doctrine, having come to the pinnacle of
doctrine, As is normally his custom in writing, he brings
us through all the way to the crescendo of doctrine, which
is this, that Jesus Christ, by His one offering, has forever
put away the sins of His people. That He, as our High Priest,
has entered into the presence of God, not with the blood of
others, but with the blood of His own offering, and God has
accepted His offering on the behalf of His people, and now,
You, who are in Christ, here it is, you have access to God. This is the crescendo, is it
not? This is the glory of the gospel. That sinners, by nature,
by choice, God has made you righteous. God chose you. God redeemed you
in Christ. God calls you by His Spirit.
And now, you who believe, you have access unto God. Isn't that
what he said in verse 21? I'm sorry, in verse 19. Having
therefore, brethren, boldness. to enter into the holiest by
the blood of Christ. Crescendo. The highest form of
doctrine. Here it is. It's done. That's
it. Gospel's finished. Christ has
redeemed us. We are acceptable. Acceptable. When am I acceptable? You're
acceptable now. How about now? Now. But I've
sinned. Accepted. in Christ accepted. Always accepted. You have this. It's yours. According to the
covenant of mercy, by a new and living way, Christ has brought
you and made you acceptable unto God. And then, Paul begins now,
coming down from the mountain heights of glory and the gospel,
he begins to descend down into the valley of practical application. Because this is true, therefore,
you should do this. Isn't that what he does in Romans
chapter 12? He said, I beseech you by the
mercies of God, because of the mercies that I've just explained
to you in the past 11 chapters, because of the mercies of God,
here's what you do. Present your bodies a living
sacrifice unto God, holy and acceptable, which is your reasonable
service. To a believer, Obedience is reasonable. That's just reasonable. It's not for salvation, but rather
because of it, we willingly present our bodies a living sacrifice.
And this is what he's saying. Well, because you have this,
now then, he is encouraging you to exercise it, to do it. Look at that in verse 21. He
gives us three three exhortations in verse 21 through verse 24. Look at this. Let us draw near
with a true heart of full assurance of faith. That's the first exhortation. Believer, draw near to God. You
have access. Now use it. Use it. Draw near. Draw near to God because you
are weak, because you are prone to sin, We are so often in trouble. But is not our God a very present
help in trouble? He's a present help in trouble. Our God is both faithful and
just to forgive us our sins. Our God is omnipotent in power,
and by His grace we are made strong. Isn't that what He said
to Paul in his thorn in the flesh? Paul besought the Lord three
times that this thorn in the flesh depart from him. And what
did he say? My grace is sufficient for thee,
for my strength is made perfect, made manifestly perfect in your
weakness. Oh, how foolish it is to draw
near to God only when you're strong. Isn't that redundant? If you're strong, you wouldn't
want to. It's when you're weak you need him most. Draw near
when you're weak. My heart is cold. Draw near when
your heart is cold. Don't wait till your heart is
warmed again. Draw near now. That's what warms
the heart, isn't it? It's the presence of God. And
then secondly, he said, let us hold fast our profession of our
hope. Our hope, that word faith, is
better translated hope, which is meaning a rock-solid confidence. Consider, believer, that this
world is fleeting, that all we have and hold dear in this life
is but a vapor and will soon be vanished away. Therefore,
we are to hope, look forward to the coming of Christ in hope,
anticipation of something far greater than the things of earth. Most of our troubles are not
looking forward to Christ's coming. Isn't that the reason for our
troubles? We're looking too heavily on the things that are now, instead
of holding fast the hope that is set before us. Christ and
Him crucified is our hope, our confidence that we shall reach
glory. What's your confidence you'll
reach glory? Is it in your circumstance? Well,
everything's going well, so I must be bound for glory. No, not in
your circumstance. That changes on a daily basis. You don't have any hope in that.
Well, my family loves me and they're... Is that your hope?
No, uh-uh, that's fleeting. It's passing away. It's a vanity.
Wealth, health, none of that's any hope. You
can't hang on to any of that. What is my hope that I'm to hold
fast to? My hope is the hope I laid hold
of when I fled to Christ for refuge. My hope is in the promises
of God which are sure and steadfast and cannot be moved. That's my
hope. And so I look forward to the day when those promises shall
be made manifest. Everything in this world opposes
my hope, my confidence. But don't let your confidence
be shaken. Why? Because your hope is Christ
who cannot be shaken. Cannot be shaken. Cannot be moved.
So He exhorts us to lay hold of it. Remember, believer, we
are pilgrims and strangers in this land. We were chosen of
God to be holy, and in love He predestinated us to be sons.
Jesus has accomplished our salvation to bring us to God. The Holy
Spirit has quickened us, called us to life because we are sons,
and soon God will restore. Restore a righteous creation. Isn't that going to be a day?
A day when there is no sin anymore. There is no death. There is no
sorrow. There is no pain. That day is
coming. It is moving. Faster and faster
it appears. It approaches. It's coming. Lay hold of that, the Apostle
said. Don't lay hold of any of this stuff here. Lay hold on
that. And you'll have great confidence. You'll have great hope. Why?
Because he is faithful. That's what he said. Why should
we lay on this hope without wavering? Because God is faithful. God
is faithful. Man is not faithful. God is faithful. Faithful men are few and far
between in this world. But even the most faithful men
cannot be trusted completely. Because they have no power to
do what they promise. Have no strength. God is my rock. And he cannot be moved. He's
faithful. And here's the third exhortation. Look at this. He
said, Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good
works. This next exhortation is concerning
the grace of love. Love. Let us consider one another. This word, as we saw last week,
is a very strong word. It's not a mere passing consideration. Gee, I wonder how so-and-so is
doing. That's not this consideration. That's not what it means. So
when he is telling us to consider one another, it is a very strong,
active word. It means to always be concerned
and care and actually do for others what they have need of.
to actually care with love and compassion. It's no trivial or casual activity,
but is an ongoing, determined behavior of those that we consider. It is compassionate, caring,
and loving consideration of every member of the body of Christ. I tell you this, we should love
all men. There's no doubt about that. We should be kind and compassionate.
Paul says this, especially the brethren. Especially the brethren. I want you to know this because
it's true. I set you in a greater love than I have for any earthly
kin that I have. This is without a doubt truth. I love you more than any person
in this world. Why? Because you are part of
the same body of Christ that I am. And you should have that same
affection toward each other, toward me and every believer
in Christ, every saint of God. We should have this affection
whether they worship with us or they worship some other place.
We should have that same bond and kinship. And this is true
everywhere I go where the gospel is preached. I have a kinship
with them. I have a relationship with them
and I've never met them before. Why? We are one body. Though
we differ in gifts, we are not envious of the gifts, but rather
would encourage the gifts that God has given His saints. I know this. You encourage me.
You encourage me in the work that God has given me to do.
But you should not envy the work God has given me to do. God has
given you a gift to do what He has given you to do. Do it with
all your might as unto the Lord. Consider one another. Use that
that God has given for each other. This is what Paul is saying.
We are to be one body, one mind. Speak the same thing. This is
what it is to consider one another. And I'll tell you this, we should
consider one another because Christ gave His commandment to.
Isn't that the greatest reason? I should do that because Christ
said to. A new commandment I've given to you. That you love one another. Now Lord, how much do you want
me to love them? As I have loved you. that you also love one another. That says it all. There's no
limit then to how much love I'm to love you with. There's no
limit. No limit. Christ loves me without
limit. I should love you without limit.
Christ forgives me without merit. I should forgive you without
merit. And John reminds us of this in
his epistle. He said, brethren, I write unto
you no new commandment, but an old commandment, which you have
heard from the beginning. An old commandment is the word
which you have heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment
I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you. Because
the darkness is passed and true light now shineth, we know that
we are passed from death into life, listen, because we love
the brethren. How do you know you're in the
faith? You want to know an evidence that your faith is real faith?
Do you love the brethren? Do you love the brethren? How do I know if I'm passed from
death to life? I love the brethren. That's how. Because the love of Christ constraineth
me. Because His commandment that
He has given me is not grievous. JD, I don't have to grit my teeth
to love you. I just don't have to do it. I do not have to grit
my teeth to hug you and to be affectionate towards you and
to fulfill your needs. It's not grievous. It's not grievous. Why? Because I know the love
wherewith God loved me. And I'm sure my sin against Him
has been greater than any sin you've sinned against me. Therefore we are to consider
one another, because it is evident by our love. He said, By this
shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love
one for another. Love, love. Hereby we perceive
the love of God that he sent his Son to lay down his life
for us. Even so shall we lay down our life for the brethren,
John says. All who are believers in Christ have these graces.
These three graces that I just mentioned are these exhortations.
Draw near. How? By faith. Right? Let us
hold fast our hope without wavering. And third,
let us consider one another love. Three graces. Every believer
has them. Our hope is in Christ. Our faith
is in Christ. and our love is toward God and
toward His people. This is the evidence of our salvation.
If any man claim to believe on Christ but love not the brethren,
John says that man is a liar. That man is a liar. You just can't get plainer than
that, can you? I don't want to muddy the waters
on this. I don't care how much you jump up and down and claim
you believe in Christ. If you don't love the brethren,
John says, you're a liar and the truth is not in you. That's plain scripture. It's
plain. It's clear. You see, the saints do love God.
We do love our Lord. And we love all of those who
are in Christ. Now I know this, we do not love
like we should. No one has reached the pinnacle
of love but Christ. Yet we strive for it. We are
to strive. This is why the exhortation is...
You know what? If you had reached the pinnacle
of love, why would he give this exhortation? Well, Paul, what
are you saying? We've already done that. We've
already considered the brethren. What do you mean consider the
brethren? Well, we haven't fully considered one another as we
should. That's why we are exhorted to do these things. Consider
one another. To love, even as our Lord loved
us. To encourage forgiveness, kindness,
and compassion. Listen, love begats love. It does. And so then if we consider
and love one another, what does Paul say? That stirs up love. Let us provoke one another to
love and good works. In Ephesians, Paul said, Be ye
therefore followers of God as dear children. How do you follow
God? Walk in love. If you want to follow God, you'll
walk in love. You'll love one another. Walk in love continually,
perpetually, and constantly, considering our brethren the
body of Christ. Let us not despise or envy each
other, but rather desire the best for one another. That is
what it is to consider one another. Paul says, set each other above
yourself. Now, if you want to be honest,
who do you love the most? In this world, who do you love
the most? self. Well, you gotta put that guy
at the bottom, and you gotta put God's people, and especially
Christ, at the top. And the only way you can put
me at the top is if you see me as I am in Christ. Otherwise,
you wouldn't put me at the top. Christ, always seeing us through
Christ. And so what then is the means
that This love, this consideration is displayed. How do we display
this consideration? Now, Paul could have given many
other examples as to how to display love, how to provoke love, how
to provoke good works in the church. He could have used many
illustrations, feeding the hungry, sheltering them, giving them
clothes. He could have mentioned anything, but he didn't. The
Holy Spirit of God gives him one example by which believers
consider one another the best. Here it is, verse 25. Not forsaking the assembling
of yourselves together. This is speaking about our regular
gathering together to worship Jesus Christ through prayer,
through singing, and especially preaching the gospel. Why would Paul then put this
at the highest? Why would he make this the most,
the pinnacle of displaying affection for one another? Well, first of all, it is the
height of love in that this is the where God saves sinners. Through the preaching of the
gospel is the means that God has chosen to save sinners. Why do you support
the ministry of this gospel? Why do you support by your attendance
and by your gifts and by your love and by your service? Why?
Because this is the means that God has chosen to call our brethren. Isn't it? Our brethren are still
out there. Our brethren are still lost.
And they must be brought in. How will they be brought in?
Through the preaching of this gospel. That is how. It's the
salvation of sinners. 1 Corinthians. I'll show you
I'm not trying to... And this is not self-exaltation.
My goodness, no. This is exalting of Christ. We
don't come here to exalt ourself. We come here to exalt Christ.
To magnify Christ. But this is the means God has
chosen. Look at this in verse 17, 1 Corinthians 1. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not
with the wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ be made of
none effect. For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness. But unto us, which are saved,
it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of this
world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For
after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew
not God." You listen to this. Pay close attention. It pleased
God. by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that belief. Do you get that? You understand
why preaching is vital, why it is necessary? Because it pleased
God. Now, do we need any other excuse? Do we need any other reason? It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching. No one is ever saved apart from
preaching the gospel. No one. Whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How shall they call
on him in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear
without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? How beautiful, therefore it is
written, how beautiful are the feet of them which preach the
gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things Faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Do you not
see why the assembling of the saints is important? Because
God has an elect people. Christ has redeemed them, and
now he will use this message, the message of the gospel, to
call in. And what greater love is it then
that we keep this light burning for the elect? That's what we
should do. We should desire that God not
put out this light, but rather make it shine brighter until
the day of His coming, that others may come in. This is love. This
is love. That we forsake not the assembling
of ourselves together so that we might encourage others to
come and hear and believe the gospel. Does anybody have to ask you
where you're going to be today? You suppose anybody would ask
me where I was going to be today? If at all possible, where I was
going to be today. If I wasn't in the hospital, or I wasn't
sick, where would I be? Do you not think this comes at
great cost? At great difficulty? At great expense? You bet it
does. David said, I will not serve
God with that which cost me nothing. And I'll tell you, it is a great
expense to do this, but I do it because of love for the brethren. I know this. God's people must
be fed. Saints must be called. And this
is what he has given me to do, is to call them in. And he has
given to you to go out into the world and to preach this same
gospel to others so that others might come in. Who are these
others? His people. I want the whole
body of Christ to come in. Isn't that what we desire? I
don't want the world to come in. We're not here to entice
the world, are we? We're here to call God sheep.
And this is the means. So, this is why we should be
faithful and it is a full measure of display of the love of the
brethren is by our attendance. Therefore, Paul said, I'm not
ashamed of this gospel. I'm not ashamed to be here. You who believe, you're not ashamed
to be here. Why? Because this gospel is the
power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. Now,
do you love the brethren? Do you desire to stir one another
up to love and good works? Then let us consider this, not
forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. It is the greatest
desire of the saints, then, for others to come to Christ. What's
that song? Lord, I long to see thy churches
full. Thy churches full. It'd be a great sight, wouldn't
it? I know this. Right now this church
is full. It's full of everyone that God
has called to be here. Isn't it? It's full. We're not
missing anyone. This message is intended for
you. You're not missing anything. It's for you. And you know what? Heaven, Earth, and Hell could
have not kept you from coming today. No. God intended for you to be
here, and you're here. And let us then not, for their
sake, Let us support the gospel, encourage others to be faithful
to attend to it. Therefore, public worship is
of great importance and value to the souls of men. It is the
place where God is worshipped, where Christ is honored, and
the primary place where the Holy Spirit quickens, comforts, and
exhorts and strengthens His people. Therefore, we should not forsake
it. Secondly, we should not forsake it because this is where believers
are refreshed. Believer, is this world barren
to you? Is it not a wilderness full of
vanity and emptiness? It promises everything and delivers
nothing but pain and sorrow and suffering. Therefore God for his people
has created an oasis in the desert and this is it This is it You know, this is as close to
heaven as we get This is it The Saints gathered
together The presence of Christ in our midst and Christ exalted, God honored,
the gospel preached. That's exactly what takes place
every day in heaven. This is as close we get until
we get there. This is our refreshing, our spring
in the desert. And you know what? It flows every
day and never runs dry. You run dry. It never runs dry. And you know what? If you were
in the desert and you were seeing a fountain, you know, admiring
that fountain from a distance would do you no good. Would it?
Man, that's a pretty stream. Look how it flows. And it just
continues. I'm thirsty. I'll pin down a
drink. Get some. Get some. Taste and see that the Lord is
good. This is what we're here for.
It's what you're here for. To be refreshed, to be encouraged,
to be strengthened in the gospel of Christ. That's what you're
here for. We should come because that's what it does. It refreshes
us. Thirdly, we should come because Christ is here. Matthew chapter
18. Matthew chapter 18, just let
you know I'm not being presumptuous to say Christ is here. Some people
say, well, you're, man, you're arrogant. You think Christ's in that little
group that you got going on there in that little bit? No! No, I'm
not being presumptuous at all. Look at this. Matthew chapter
18, verse 20. He says this, for where two or
three are gathered together in my name,
there I am in the midst of them. There I am in the midst of them. What is it to gather in his name?
It is to preach his gospel and to exalt his glorious sacrifice. It is to preach to sinners the
gospel of hope and salvation. It is to say to the lost, come
to Christ and believe. It is to say to those who believe,
come to Christ and be refreshed. It is the gospel message. That's
what it is to meet in His name. Now I'll tell you this, wherever
false religion is, He is not there. I don't care how big and
how dramatic and how special. It looks or appears or smells.
That has nothing to do with it. We can meet on top of a dunghill
and he would be there if we are preaching his gospel
and not another. He said, I am here. What more reason do we have for
assembling than Christ being here? Do you need any other reason? If you desire to love, you say,
but I'm cold, I can't love the brethren, I'm having difficulty
with this. Do you not think His presence
would do you good? It did His disciples. You remember
on the road to Emmaus? He met them on the way, and then
He did what? He expounded unto them in all
the Scriptures things concerning Himself. And what did they say? Did not
our hearts burn? They were sad, he preached, and
their hearts burned. Is that what you want? You should
be where he is. You should be where he is. And
he'll preach to you. That's the important thing. I'm
not preaching to you. I pray that he's preaching to
you. I want him to speak to you because if he speaks, Your hearts burn with love and
faith and hope. Yet despite these reasons, there
are still some whose manner, whose custom, whose habit is
to forsake the worship of God. Now, this was happening in Paul's
day. He said there are some, even in his day, that had a custom
of forsaking this assembly. They found other things more
vital and more important. At this time, prosperity was
growing in those regions. They were bustling with business,
and most of those people, they say, were prosperous, and that
was the reason they had to travel so far to go and make their money,
and they were absencing themselves on purpose from the gospel. They were choosing rather to
make their living than to Attend the worship. They said that's
the manner don't do that Don't do that and These who do it even in our
day I Don't imagine I've heard every
excuse, but I've heard quite a few I've heard quite a few
and I want to be candid with you. I've made quite a few Okay,
I know what that's like And so some would claim then, because
of their absence, they say, well, private worship is just as important
as public. They say, I can serve God just
as well alone as I can in public. Not according to the Word of
God you can't. Now, I tell you, beyond a shadow of a doubt, private
worship is vital. Because I tell you, men, there's
some people who have this idea of assembling publicly and they
don't go home and worship privately. They're pretty faithful to come
in here, but when they go home, their Bibles are closed, their
lips are shut, and they wait till the next service. They don't
have anything to do with God until Sunday or Wednesday. So
private worship is vital for you. And I would never deny you,
private worship is necessary. It is wonderful. It is an experience
that you must have as a believer. You must be about that, about
your father's business in private worship. Communion with God,
fellowship with God in private. Our Lord talks about private
prayer, going into thy closet and praying. So yes, private
worship is vital. But I'll tell you this. I've
never met a man who is unfaithful to the public worship who worships
in private. Now they can tell me they do,
they can say all sorts of things, but you listen to them talk for
a little while and then they've got no clue what the Word of
God is saying. I tell you in the Old Testament
there were some men who despised the Moses and Aaron. They said,
who set you above others? This is sometimes, some reason,
some excuse people give. How are you set up above others
that you should be the one preaching? Aren't we all children of God?
Isn't that what the sons of Korah said? You know what God did? God swallowed them up. They tried to use that as an
excuse not to attend to what Moses and Aaron were preaching. Private worship is vital. A man
who claims to fellowship with Christ in private but willfully
rejects the promised presence of Christ and the expressed love
of the saints through public worship is in direct opposition
to Christ. He's not in fellowship with Christ,
he is in direct opposition to Christ. That man who is forsaking the
worship of God is one who is not considering his brethren,
but rather considering himself. Why do you suppose men absence
themselves from the worship? Because it's something involving
themselves. Something is going on with them. That's why. But I want you to consider that
that end is not considering the brethren, but rather considering
self. Considering self. That man is
selfish, who is obsessed with his own troubles and cares of
this life, that he causes the brethren to be discouraged by
his failure to worship with them. I want you to be just as honest
as I can. When people miss the worship,
I'm discouraged. And I know this. So are those
that are faithful. They're discouraged. And so you
don't think that it affects other people, but it does. It affects
the saints. It affects those who you are
supposed to love above self. And so this is why we are exhorted
not to do this. Let me ask you this. How can
you provoke me to love if you're not here to provoke me? How can you encourage me when
you're not here to encourage me? How can you say you love me and
not desire to be with me? That's like saying, I love my
wife, but let's have separate dwelling places. You know, I'll
see you on the weekends. That would be a strange love,
wouldn't it? Be a very distant love, a very
cold love. And I tell you, those who willingly
forsake the worship of God are a discouragement to the saints.
They only confess their love to Christ and the brethren, but
because there's no display, no evidence of their love and faith,
it causes us to weep and doubt their union with Christ. You
know, there's nothing sadder than this, than have a man that
professes faith in Christ, and yet when he comes to the end,
and you say, well, was he a believer? I don't know! You know, that would be a sad
case. You don't know. It would cause
me great discouragement not to understand or have any hope for
this man. I don't have any evidence here. I don't know. I can't determine. So it causes a believer much
confusion and doubt. And we don't want that for each
other. When I go home to be with the
Lord, I want you to know where I'm at. I want you to know it's
okay. I want your heart to be settled.
That God's people will say it's alright with them. It is well with them. I was talking
to my dad today about my uncle. You know, my uncle died, he was
in his fifties, and he died of colon cancer. It came on quick
and everything. And during this time, the Lord
worked in his heart. And I saw such a conversion in
this man, such a love for the gospel and the love for Christ
that I'd never seen in all of his life. And I have a good hope
for that man. I have a good confidence for
that man that I'll see him again soon in glory. Now, that encouraged
my heart. Does that encourage your heart?
That story I just told you. And it encourages your heart.
It provokes you to love. Looking forward to meeting Him.
See how it provokes. But if there's a man, you say,
I don't know. Well, it kind of doesn't leave us with any encouragement.
But let me find a faithful man to worship God. Let me find one
who loves the gospel, supports the gospel, loves Christ, and
shows his love and consideration, and encourages the saints, and
I will find you encouragement for the saints. That's encouraging. There's nothing more that encourages
a pastor than a faithful man who loves the gospel. Nothing.
thrills our hearts to see God's people faithful. It does. It
does. And that provokes me to love. And it provokes you to
love. Is it not? I pray that the faithfulness
that God gives me to declare these messages to you provokes
you to love. It should. So like Paul, I say,
be you followers of me even as I follow Christ. We walk by example. We walk by example. Reliever,
let me ask you, are you troubled? Are you in despair? Feeling anxious
and fearful? I got a cure for that. Consider
one another. Consider one another. And the
more we pour ourselves into the care and concern for the brethren,
the less time we have to feel sorry for ourselves and complain
of our lot in life. If you got no time, if you're
poured out into someone else, you've got no time to think about
your troubles. Well, you wanted a cure, I just
told you. You got one. Avail yourself to it. Pour yourself
into the brethren. Pour yourself into the gospel.
Pour yourself into the love of Christ, the furtherance of the
gospel, and His kingdom, and the glory of His grace. The more time we spend considering
what our Lord has done for us and what God is doing with us
for the kingdom of his glory, we should be less prone to wonder
from Christ. And this is what public worship
does for the child of God. I like this quote. I've told
you many times, and it's worth repeating. I need constantly
to remind myself that all things are of God. Let me not preach
sovereignty and then complain of my lot in life. Let me not talk of divine purpose
and then spend my days murmuring about my trials and troubles.
It is totally inconsistent with faith in the sovereign Christ
for me to question God's good providence. Paul called covetousness
idolatry, and said, I have learned whatsoever state I am therewith
to be content. I pray for submission, for with
it comes peace and rest. See then the value of public
worship? Has this not profited you? It's very profitable, isn't
it? It is, for the saint is very
profitable. It's of great value. Christ is honored by it. That
His presence is here with us, and by it the saints are blessed,
loved, comforted, and encouraged. We, by the assembly, are stirred
up and moved in our hearts when we see others come and join and
worship with us. Believer, there is no higher
honor or privilege upon the face of the earth than to worship
God publicly before this lost world. You know this, when you
got up this morning, everyone who saw you leave knows where
you went. If a thief desires to rob my
house, he should know. He should know from the time
on Sunday from 9 a.m. until noon, he has plenty of
time. Because he knows where I'll be. Because this is where I am blessed. This is where my heart is. Our Father has appointed this
assembly. He approves of it. His glory
is concerned in it. And His gospel is furthered by
its declaration. Both we and all the saints have
need of it. And by it we are refreshed, fed,
instructed, edified, and we grow in the grace and knowledge of
Christ. The Apostle Peter says this, Therefore, beloved seeing,
you know these things. Beware, lest you, also being
led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your steadfastness. I'll tell you this, there is
a temptation to fall from steadfastness. And I pray that God would give
us the grace to understand our weakness. That we are not here
by our own strength. I'm not faithful to this assembly
and to the worship of God by my own power. If God were to take his hand
off of me for a moment, I would be gone. But God in grace keeps His people. That's it. The grace of God keeps
us. And so, we are warned to not
fall from steadfastness, but rather grow in the grace and
knowledge of our Lord and Savior, to whom be glory both now and
forever. How do we grow? Is it not by the hearing of the
Word that is preached? We grow in the grace and knowledge
of Christ How do we grow? We draw near to God. We hold
fast the hope that is without wavering, and we consider one
another. Let us grow in these graces. Believer, we're not to remain
children. We're not to remain children.
We're to grow up. And I'll tell you what, that
takes a lot of pain and suffering and anguish and God puts His
people through it and trouble and tribulation. That's how patience
and graces are grown in trouble, in trials. God does it through the preaching
of His Word. Let us consider one another.
Let us provoke one another. Encourage one another while it
is called today. Let us forgive one another. How? By God's chosen means of
public worship. Let us not forsake the assembly.
You see how now the two are tied together? Love for the brethren
and the assembly of the worship of Christ are tied. Inseparable. Inseparable. Thus Paul encourages
us to these means as we see the day approaching. Brethren, as
we see the day of our demise drawing closer, does it not cause
us to desire this assembly more? I mean, as the days go on, the
world is passing away, and it is more vile and disgusting to
me today than it was when I first started. when I first believed
in Christ. But I know this, as we see the
day approaching, let us be more earnest in this. Let us be more
faithful in this, to provoke one another to love, draw near
to Christ, hold fast to the hope set before us. Let us do these things as we
are encouraged to do them. You know, Paul said this, I counted
all things with loss and do count them. Continuation. He said that I may know Him,
that I may be found in His righteousness. Isn't that our desire? Now then,
the second thing I want us to see quickly is this. That forsaking the worship of
God is the way of apostasy. Now then, the Apostle is going
to tie these two together. That forsaking the assembling
of ourselves together is the way to apostasy. Look at that
in verse 26 of your text. Four, if we sin willfully after
that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth
no more sacrifice for sin but a certain fearful looking for
the judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversary. He that despised Moses' law died
without mercy under two or three witnesses. How much more sore
a punishment, suppose ye, he that be thought worthy, who hath
trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood
of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing,
and hath done despite to the Spirit of grace." Now, this sinning
willfully It's not just a willful commission of sin. Some men have
thought that, that, well, when you're saved, you don't sin anymore,
and if you willfully sin, then you're lost forever. That's a... Can't even begin. I don't have time for that. But
that's just full of lies. We know this. Abraham sinned
willfully. David sinned willfully. Acts
of commission of sin. All saints have done that. So
this is not the sin he is talking about, but the context here is
the sin of forsaking the assembly. That is what he's talking about.
If we willfully neglect, if we willfully despise and reject
the assembly of ourselves together, Paul says this is the beginning
of apostasy. After he had received the truth,
supposedly received the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice
for sins. If you who are professing to
believe on Christ, you say, I've received the truth. But then
all of a sudden, you're gone. You no longer have any desire
for the worship of God. I tell you, that man has only
received it mentally. He has only received it mentally.
This same apostasy was spoken of by the apostle in Hebrews
6. Hebrews 6, it says, for it is
impossible for those who were once enlightened, tasted the
heavenly gift, made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted
the good word of God and the powers of the world to come.
Listen, if they shall fall away. How do you know if a man's falling
away? What's the evidence of falling
away? The evidence is this. they abandon
the worship of God. Now then, their falling away
surely happens spiritually in their heart, but the evidence
of their falling away is their abandoning of the worship of
God. Remember what John said. John said, they who went out
from us, not of us, If they were of us, they would
have no doubt continued with us. See the correlation? See that these two are tied?
that this is the evidence of graces, that we love the saints,
that we enjoy the worship of God. Do you enjoy the worship
of God? Enjoy the presence of Christ. Are these things vital
to you? Are they necessary? They are
to the believer, but to the apostate, they are not vital. They will
go away. They can only grin and grit their
teeth and bear it so long, and they've got to get away. And I know believers wonder,
why do they go? Why did you leave? Do you not see abandoning the
gospel is abandoning Christ? Isn't that what Paul said in
Galatians? He said to those who walk, he
said, I marvel that you're so moved, soon moved, from him,
from Christ, by another gospel. You see, if
a man is moved from this gospel, from this assembly, this worship,
and moved to another gospel or to the world, that man is on
his way to apostasy. This is a description of what
has taken place on the inside as Hebrews 6, but in Hebrews
10 is the evidence of what has happened outwardly. To abandon
the worship of God is to abandon God. To leave the gospel of Christ
is to leave Christ. To leave the fellowship of the
saints is to hate your brethren. You remember the Lord Jesus Christ
after He preached that gospel in John chapter 6? Sovereignty
of God and that so rich, so full. And many of his disciples went
no more with him. And he turned to his disciples
and he said, Will you go away also? What was his answer? To whom
shall we go? You have the words of eternal
life. You have the words of eternal
life. You see, the believer doesn't go anywhere else because he cannot
and does not desire to go anywhere else. We desire only to have
Christ and to be with Him. And so then let us not be deceived.
To abandon the worship of God is to abandon Christ. Yet all
true believers know this, that we are sinners, that the old
man is just as vile and corrupt as he was, and we never excuse
our sins, but rather it is a burden and is grievous to us. Believers realize something that
lost men do not, that sin is mixed with all we do. And therefore, we need to hear
this over and over and over and over again. We need to be constantly
reminded. And so then, knowing our sin,
knowing our proneness to wonder, the Lord doesn't leave us with
this, because I know this, the only true people who worry about
apostasy are believers. They seem to be the only ones.
Look at the ones who are gone. Do you think they're worried
about apostasy? You think the apostate is worried about apostasy?
He's not. Not concerned at all. But believers
become concerned. So the Lord gives us this. Look
at verse 32. But call to remembrance the former
days, in which after you were illuminated, you endured the
great fight of affliction, partly while you were made a gazing
stock, both by reproaches and afflictions. and partly whilst
you become companions of them that were so used. For you had
compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling
of your goods, knowing in yourselves that you have in heaven a better
and enduring substance. Cast not away therefore your
confidence, which you have great recompense of reward." You know
what the remedy for this is if you are worried about this, believer? Remember what great things God
has done for you. Remember. Paul was the psalmist. He was in great trouble. He was
in great trouble. And he said, in the day of my
trouble, I sought the Lord and ran in the night and ceased not. My soul refused to be comforted.
Listen, I remembered God. and was troubled. I complained
in my spirit and was overwhelmed. Thou holdest my eyes waking.
I am so troubled I cannot speak. I have considered the days of
old, the years of ancient times. I call to remembrance my song
in the night. I commune with my own heart and
my spirit. Make diligent search." And he
said, this is my infirmity, but I will remember the years of
thy right hand of the Most High." I will remember Christ. Are you
troubled? Have you forsaken the assembly?
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Consider the
brethren. Love the gospel. Serve Christ. Remember what great things God
has done for you. And I tell you this, I'm persuaded
of better things of you. I'm persuaded of better things
of you who are faithful, you who love the gospel. I'm persuaded
of better things of you. Recall what grace and mercy God
has had to you and hold fast your confidence. Why? Because
you have need of patience. He said, cast not therefore thy
confidence. It hath great recompense of reward. For you have need of patience.
After that you have done the will of God, you might receive
the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come
will come, and will not tarry. But now the just shall live by
faith. How are you supposed to live
then? How are you supposed to continue in this, drawing near
to God, loving one another, holding fast to hope? How are you supposed?
By faith. The just shall live by faith.
I do this by faith. By faith. But, if any man, any
man turned back, he said, my soul shall have no pleasure in
him. But we are not of them that draw
back into perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of
the soul. Believer in Christ, may God give
us such grace to consider one another, to hold fast the gospel
of Jesus Christ, support it, encourage it, strengthen ourselves
in it, comfort ourselves, bathe in it. There's plenty. Benefits are
massive, huge amounts of benefits from this gospel. If you neglect them, you neglect
them to the hurt of your own soul. Drink. Eat. And by doing so, you love and
stir up love in one another. I pray God give us grace for
this. Keep us. Lord, please don't let us go.
I hold Him with everything I've got, but my hope is not my holding
Him, but His holding me. His holding me. And in this I'm
safe. Safe. May God refresh your souls
with this. Let's stand and be dismissed
in prayer.