Introduction: Three Exhortations
And more specifically, what are we to do as Christians corporately? As we go about our Christian way in this lower world, what do we do as Christians and as Christians gathering together in church? here in the book of Hebrews sets before his recipients and sets before us a proper pattern for living corporately before God, resting upon Jesus Christ in the perfection of his salvation, there are some things that he exhorts Christians to do in light of this so great a salvation. Christ Jesus, the Lord, has shed his blood for guilty sinners by his grace and for his glory. God, by virtue of that Perfect sacrifice has brought us forth from darkness to light in Christ.
What do we do now then as Christians and Paul gives us, or the author to the book of Hebrews, gives us a two-fold foundation for these three exhortations that he gives. And the foundation, if you'll remember, was this, therefore, the statement that begins in verse 19, Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he consecrated for us, through the veil that is his flesh. That's foundation number one. And then the having is supplied in italics here, but it's repeating, this having, and having a high priest over the house of God.
So that's the two-fold foundation for these three exhortations that follow. The exercise of our Christian duties, the exercise of our Christian obedience, a joyful compliance to the commands of God in light of so great a salvation, they rest upon these two foundations, the blood of Jesus Christ and the fact that He is our High Priest over the house of God. Now remember that all of this is delivered within a particular context. It's helpful to remind ourselves of what's going on in a particular context.
The reason why the Apostle Paul is setting before them these two foundations for their Christian performance, and why the Apostle Paul is then exhorting them with this threefold exhortation, is because they were being tempted to be stolen away from Christian worship to go back to temple worship. All of those washings and all of those ceremonies and all of those sacrifices were to be put away with the coming of Christ because they pointed forward to this Christ. And so they weren't to be tempted to go back to temple worship because Christ is the fulfillment of all of those articles of old covenant religion. Don't go back, but rather with these two glorious foundations in view, do these three things.
And therefore, go about your Christian way in the way commanded by God, in the way inaugurated by the Lord Jesus Christ. And the first two exhortations were first, a confident New Testament worship born of a perfect sacrifice and amazing grace. You'll remember that was verse 22. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
Remember, there is a vanquishing of fear that comes with Christ and the perfection of His sacrifice and those who He has saved by amazing grace. Let us draw near with a true heart. We can draw near in worship. We can come before our God.
We can come into the presence of our God. without fear, not because of something inherent to our Christianity, not because we're so great and we're so lion-hearted and we're so awesome, but because of what Christ has done for us, we can come with confidence and courage before God, bringing to Him our petitions, our supplications, our prayers, our thanksgivings, resting upon the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us draw near with a true heart. Now, what you'll notice in these three exhortations is that they're marked by the exhortation proper, and then they're also marked by the manner in which we are to go about in obedience to them. For example, let us draw near with a true heart.
The manner by which we are to do that is in full assurance of faith, resting upon this reality that our hearts are sprinkled from an evil conscience. Now notice the second exhortation was an immovable constancy in our profession of faith, buttressed by our unchangeable God. We have the exhortation proper here, let us hold fast the confession of our hope, and it is after the manner of without wavering, or it is according to this manner, without wavering. We lay hold of the confession of our hope, and we do that without wavering.
We don't ebb and flow. We don't wax and wane. We don't come to church and then go back to temple worship. We stay with our Christ.
We stay with our brethren. and we hold fast the confession of our hope. This Jesus who shed His blood, this high priest over the house of God. Well, thirdly then, and that's where we're at now,
The Third Exhortation Introduced
the third exhortation, and that comes in v. 24. The third exhortation is the thoughtful diligence in our communion with each other that spurs charity and joyful obedience to Christian duty. I'll just say that one more time if you'll allow me. A thoughtful diligence in our communion with each other that spurs charity and joyful obedience to Christian duty.
And hopefully you see that in the text. Let's read it. Verse 24. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching.
Paul wraps up this threefold exhortation with this third exhortation, which again is that Christians are to be marked by a thoughtful diligence, A thoughtful diligence in our communion with each other. Remember, when we come in here to church, we're not so many individual Christians coming and sitting in proximity to others and then just leaving. We just so happen to come in here together to worship and then we're gone. We're in here for each other.
We're not in here as packed-in individuals who then depart. We're in here as individuals, yes, but we're in here as individuals who are in communion with each other, who are in fellowship with each other, who associate with one another. We have a loving reciprocity. We have a mutually beneficial reciprocity, one to each other, where we are to be considering one another.
We are to be mindful away from ourselves and towards one another that we might arouse, that we might stir up charity, love, good works. We come in, yes, as individuals, but individuals in communion with one another. It is a thoughtful diligence in our communion with one another unto a particular purpose, and that is to stir up charity and joyful obedience to Christian duty. So
Christian Hearts Directed to Fellows
first off, we want to note this, that there is a particular activity that Christians are to engage in. We are to have Christian hearts that are directed in service to our fellows. That's what we have here in this language that the apostle sets before us, and let us consider one another. We are to be mindful towards each other.
We are to have this character about us, Christian hearts that are directed in service to our fellows. Owen puts it this way, and in his particular time, There was what he observed to be a departure from this particular Christian ethic. And he notes this from the words of the Apostle Paul, let us consider one another. He writes this, this is the great end of the communion that is among Christians in the mutual consideration of one another.
Just pause for a moment. That's what we're to do. That's what we're to be marked by, a mutual consideration for one another. Considering the circumstances, conditions, walkings, abilities for usefulness of one another, they do excite one another unto love and good works, which is called the provocation of them or the stirring up the minds of men unto them.
This was the way and practice of the Christians of old, but is now generally lost with most of the principles of practical obedience especially those which concern our mutual edification as if they had never been prescribed in the gospel. There is a command, there is an exhortation, there is an admonishing by the Apostle Paul in this third admonishing to consider one another, to be mindful of each other. We'll look at a number of ways that this can flesh itself out, but
Philippians 2: The Mind of Christ
turn with me for a moment to Philippians 2. With our minds drawn to the Incarnation this time of year, and we should say hopefully our minds are drawn to the Incarnation each and every Sunday. We gather together in the name of Jesus Christ, the Lord, the Incarnate One, the God-Man, our Mediator. We're drawn mindfully to consider His glory, His riches, His excellencies, each and every Lord's Day, and hopefully as you go about your Monday through Saturday, you're waking up and you're falling asleep with contemplations and reflections upon so great a Savior. so great a God.
But in Philippians 2, do you notice what we have here? We have the Apostle Paul exhorting in perhaps a more expanded way, if you will, the ethic of Hebrews 10, 24 and 25. Notice in verses 1 to 4, therefore if there is, and we might read this, therefore since there is, therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any, hopefully I did say Philippians 2, 1 to 4, If any affection and mercy, verse 2, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself.
Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. You see here a mutual consideration. You see, what's important in this apostolic exhortation for each and every one of us is to vanquish, to get rid of, to jettison our selfishness, our selfish ambition, and to be mindful towards each other. We're to consider each other.
We're to have our mind, our thoughts are to land upon our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We'll get to this a little bit later, but this has in mind our corporate gathering together as Christians in the Church of God, of which Christ is our head and king. But the exhortation is to not be selfish, to not be self-centered, to not focus upon self, to not walk around, if you will, with so many multitudinous metaphorical mirrors, looking at ourselves and considering only ourselves, but to cast away those mirrors and to consider one another, that we might stir each other up to love and good works. And you might ask the question, or you might not, because it follows right after here, and we've looked at this many times, but what's the motivation?
What is the foundation? From where do we gain the motivation and the stirring to be able to consider one another in the way that the Apostle Paul commands? Well, it is the incarnate work of Jesus Christ, our Savior. The reason why we are to be mindful, because there was one who had a disposition of mind such that is unmatched.
Verse 5, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. You see, there is a disposition of mind that we are to emulate. We have a pattern set before us. We have what we could call an exemplar, an example. set before us, and the prime, and the supreme, and the superior, and an exclusive, and an unrivaled one.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men. You see, we're to look at that following the exhortation, and we're to fall on our knees in repentance and say, God, give me the strength to be like Christ. We can never be like Christ in the sense that we're going to give ourselves for guilty sinners. We're not to do what Christ does.
We are to have minds which emulate the disposition of Christ. We're never going to be a Savior, but we can be like our Savior. And here set before us is the most beautiful, the most glorious, and the most humbling example of humility that ever there was. The Son of God coming down to our lower shame, taking upon our humanity to save us from our sins.
He had a mind that was not on Himself, but on others, and He gave Himself for others. The Son of Man did not come into this world to be served, but to serve, Christ said, and to give His life a ransom for many. We look at that babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger, and we find motivation of motivations to be mindful to each other, because He was mindful. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
You know, the incarnation of Christ... When we say the incarnation of Christ, that contemplates the entirety of His incarnate work. Not only a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger, but the entire scope, the entire breadth, the entire exercise of that incarnate mediator's work. From birth to death. to resurrection, to ascension, to current session, where he still has his true humanity ever living to intercede for his people.
But with respect to the incarnation, peculiarly, it's very often in view in apostolic exhortation.
2 Corinthians 8: The Grace of Christ
Turn with me quickly just for one example, one more example before we move on, and that's in 2 Corinthians 8. Remember, there's a particular activity that we as Christians are to engage in. We're to have Christian hearts that are directed in service to our fellows. Where do we find the motivation, the example, the exemplar?
We find it in Christ our Savior. And in 2 Corinthians 8, there's a wonderful verse here that the Apostle Paul, again, is using in order to stir up this joyful obedience, this joyful activity, and being mindful of others. And he's giving the example. In fact, the Philippians would be included in this example.
Macedonian Christians giving to those who were afflicted with poverty, giving of their liberality. And notice that his exhortation comes, or the example comes, in verse 8. I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.
You see, if your Christianity is a self-Christianity, if you come in here as an individual, and your parade horse blinders are on, and then you leave as an individual, never giving one speck of time, one iota of mindfulness towards your brother and sister, that can simply come in the manifestation of prayer, for your brothers and sisters, or whatever way is wholesome and lawful within the context of the church, but if you only ever come in as self and leave as self, then you need to be brought to the place where you consider with great repentance the condescension of Jesus Christ, and you are to be aroused to a consideration of others. stirred up to a mindfulness that takes your eyes off of self, casts them upon a brother and sister, and see your calling as one who stirs them up to love and good words, who exhorts, who admonishes, who loves, who reminds of Christ, who points to God. All of those things that should be our joyful Christian duty. So finding our way then back to the book of Hebrews, there is a particular activity that we are to engage in. we are to have Christian hearts that are directed in service to our fellows. That is simply wrapped up in these words, let us consider one another.
Then we have secondly this, that
The Purpose of Mutual Consideration
there is a particular purpose for this loving reciprocity. There is a particular purpose for this activity, and that is that we might excite, provoke, or