Don't Stop

 Read Hebrews 10

 

 

The bookies in Vegas won’t take your bet on this.  On what?

That Tom will use the words moving forward in the message. There is no such thing as a sure thing, except that moving forward does come up again and again. The author doesn’t always use the words going forward or moving forward but the message of this book has been just that.

Eyes fixed on Jesus.

Move forward.

No turning back.

After a second round of no turning back, no turning back we are challenged once again to be disciples. How?

One way is to provoke others. What?

Provoke can mean to pick a fight but it also means to challenge our thinking or light a fire under our behinds if we are getting a little lazy.

The verse that follows is what we most often use when someone says, the Bible doesn’t say that you have to go to church.

You are correct.  Why would the Bible say nonsense like that?  If you have professed Jesus as Lord, then you are the church, but we do go places.

We go to worship, often within a church building.

We go into the world with the gospel. We have plenty of gospels in the Missions Room in the church building.

We go to Bible study, perhaps in a church building or maybe in a home.

We are told not to stop gathering together as believers. The church must continue to gather as the church. We should gather frequently, at least weekly to worship and fellowship with other believers.

DON’T STOP!

Remember that the author targeted Hebrew believers. These believers would have gathered on the Sabbath in the Synagogue. As believers, there might have been some friction with the Jews who would not believe.

Some may have come the following day or just stopped gathering altogether. The direction here is don’t stop gathering.  Change the day or the time or just get along.

DON’T STOP!

The words are injunctive. They are meant to be so.  Don’t Stop! They are meant to stop you from stopping.

The author could have said, abide in your gatherings. Keep up your practice of meeting together. Continue in your corporate worship. Keep on meeting!

We might try to skim over this part. That’s just for the Hebrew meetings. Why do I care?

But can you think of a better message for believers in this century than don’t stop meeting together?

How many who have professed Jesus as Lord can’t find the time to pop into a place of worship for an hour or two a week?

How many just watch the Facebook video or download a podcast?

How many say, I can worship God from my boat but the thought of him doesn’t come up for days?

This challenge to not stop gathering together is as valid today as it was 2000 years ago.

But how do you motivate someone to just keep on doing what they have been doing when you have just told them that everything is new? What’s the motivation?

Hope! God is faithful to his promises. We just need to keep on trusting him and putting his words into practice.

We keep gathering together because we are people of hope and we are enriched by being in the recurring company of other people of hope.

 This is a big election year. Look at the political rallies being held across our nation. If you were to add up all the people at the rallies, there wouldn’t be enough to elect the county dog catcher.

But people gather nonetheless. They are of like mind and their candidates speak words that sound good to them. People gather with enthusiasm to hear people who tell a lot of lies for a living, to tell them their favorite lies.

Should not we who are of like mind in the Lord gather regularly and encourage each other? Should we not desire to gather where the truth is spoken as much—surely more than where politicians spew their mantras?

This Jesus business caught a lot of God’s Chosen People off guard. They knew how to make the offerings and sacrifices prescribed by the law that came through Moses. They were now told that atonement could come only through Jesus. That was tough to swallow. This salvation in the grace of the Lord was new to these people.

What was not new was gathering together to worship God and learn from the teachers appointed to teach. These people knew how to meet.

The message in Hebrews is DON’T STOP.

Continue to meet, greet, share, fellowship, learn, grow, and live with others who believe that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Continue to meet. Abide in you recurring meetings. Don’t stop.

You are the church so going to church is a nonsensical statement, but make no mistake, the church is meant to gather on a regular basis.

Even the people from 2000 years ago knew to gather together. They struggled with salvation in Christ alone. They were still shackled by their own understanding, but they knew to gather together as believers.

Just don’t stop. Keep meeting until you figure out what you don’t know, and even after that keep meeting. Gather together.

So today, when our modern problems seem overwhelming, don’t stop gathering together.

So today, when you see someone who used to attend worship, invite them to come again. We are not to stop gathering and worshiping.

So today, when someone seems disheartened or discouraged, invite them to gather in the assembly.

Why did the author need to include this statement of what was surely obvious? Because many had already fallen away from the practice of meeting together.

Yes, even 2000 years ago, believers had something else they had to do when it was time to gather for worship. Perhaps they had nothing else to do but just didn’t want to go to worship.

We have talked about inertia before. A body at rest tends to remain at rest. A body in motion tends to continue in motion. So, bring to rest the things of old that don’t get you anywhere in this age. Salvation is in Christ alone.

A body in motion that needs to stay in motion is the meeting of believers. The gathering of the children of God must continue on a regular basis. It is important.

When you stop gathering on a consistent basis, inertia kicks in. It becomes easier not to gather than to return to meeting again.

If you have ever been away from gathering with the church, you miss it at first. Then you miss it more. Then you miss it less. Then even less. Then, you just don’t go anymore. That’s inertia.

Today, we deal with apathy and ambivalence in the community around us. It’s not just here. It’s most of the Western world where life has become so easy that we don’t look to the Lord for our sustenance and strength as we once did.

Consider the counsel of Jesus to the rich. How hard is it for them to enter the kingdom of Heaven?

Why do I need God? I have almost everything that I need and if I do need something there is Amazon One Click. Why do I need to gather with other believers?

If we are going to navigate this world as believers, we must understand that the trip is more manageable with other believers. We should gather with each other, encourage each other, pray with each other, and provoke each other on to accomplish the good deeds that God wanted us to do from the beginning.

When we gather with other believers to worship God, we also prepare ourselves for the trials of the world. We prepare ourselves for the opportunities in the week ahead. We encourage and challenge, comfort and confront, reinforce the truth and give each other a hunger to know more about God and his love.

We need to stop looking at our lives from the perspective of what can I get away with and still get into heaven to what choice will bring glory to God.

Gathering often with other believers to worship God and learn his word helps us make good choices as we navigate our days and maneuver through our weeks.

Being in the company of others who believe that Jesus is Lord helps us keep our eyes fixed on him.

Gathering for worship is not something new but it is a practice that we must renew again and again.

DON’T STOP!

Your attendance does not bring you salvation. Salvation is in Christ alone, but your salvation—our salvation—that has come to us by grace, should bring us not only to attend but to fully participate in worship, education, and service for our Lord.

We know to come and worship. This has not changed. We know this part.

DON’T STOP!

 

Amen.