We got a couple of boys here. Alright. There we go. Okay. Alright.

Plenty of energy. Okay. I could use a little bit of that. Hebrews chapter 10. We are going to begin reading at verse 19.

Hebrews chapter 10, and we'll begin reading at verse 19 as we continue on with the benefits of salvation. One of the benefits of salvation is you. You are a benefit to me. We are a benefit to one another. The church, meaning the congregation of believers in Christ, the fellowship of believers in Christ, is a wonderful benefit that we have in Jesus.

In Hebrews ten nineteen, we start reading and it says, having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say his flesh, and having an high priest over the house of God, that's that's all talking about Jesus, by the way, and what he did for us on the cross. 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. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering for he is faithful that promised. 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 and so much the more as you see the day approaching.

For if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. But a certain fearful looking for a judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much more sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who had 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 unto the spirit of grace. For we know him that has said, vengeance is mine vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord.

And again, the Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Dearly father, thank you, Lord, for this day and for this passage of encouragement, challenge, and warning. Lord, thank you for all the many privileges and benefits undeserved that are ours in Christ Jesus.

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of everlasting life and the joy to know that we are going to spend it with many brothers and sisters in the Lord whom we love, whom we have started this journey together here in this place. Thank you, Lord. May you be honored and exalted in all we say and do today. In Jesus' name, we do pray. Amen.

As recorded by John in the Gospel of John, Jesus said to his disciples, by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples. By your what? By your love for the brethren. In first John, John wrote again on more than one occasion that one of the testimonies to our relationship with God, our having been born again into God's family is that we love who? That we love the brethren, that we care for them, that we're concerned about them as they are concerned about us, that we love to be with them and to be of assistance to them as they are of assistance to us.

That is a joy to the child of God. Despite whatever may be going on, there there is a desire within our heart to be with our Christian brethren. Paul, whoever is the writer of Hebrews here, I think it was most likely Paul, an associate of his. We know that the word comes from God and and by his spirit. We read these verses here.

In regards to that important fellowship, that congregation that we call the church. Now, we're not talking about the building. We're not talking about just this one local assembly. We're talking about the redeemed in Jesus Christ. It tells us here when we look in chapter 10, just a brief summary to help connect some dots.

He starts out here in verse 19 speaking of the boldness and the confidence that we now have to enter into the presence, into the most holy place through the blood of Jesus Christ who who, as we talked about, he rent the veil into as we talked about prayer last week. We can have full assurance of our standing with God through faith. Unless we should waver in that faith and confidence, God has given us one another. And he's given us his spirit to remind us, to encourage us in the faith. We must not therefore abandon such an amazing gift or set in question the authenticity of our faith by forsaking the assembly of believers.

In context, it helps to understand some of what Paul or the writer of Hebrews is dealing with here. In context, some of these so called Hebrew believers that had initially responded to an invitation, initially had had started to come into the church and the body of believers, some of these Hebrew professing believers had caved to the pressure of their Hebrew brethren to depart from the church and to go back to the synagogue and to go back, to the old covenant, choosing to abandon their faith in Christ and to once again put their faith in the sacrifices of bulls and goats, which Christ said, which the Bible says is only a shadow of the reality. And once the reality has come, you can't go back to the what? To the shadow. K.

Take it for instance like this. K. When I was a kid, I had matchbox cars. I loved my matchbox cars. I raced my matchbox cars.

But when I got to be 17, 18 years old, I put away my matchbox cars and I got myself a what? A a big car, one with a motor that that made its own noise. I didn't have to make it for it. You know, you know. It made its own noise and it went down the road.

Okay? Now why would I give up my car that I can sit in and drive and actually takes me places to go back to playing with matchbox cars? That's silly, isn't it? They're not gonna help me. I need the real thing.

The old covenant was just a foreshadowing of the new. And once Christ had come and died and shed his blood on the cross for our sins, to reject Christ and the sacrifice of Christ and go back to the old ways was now become meaningless and powerless because the real thing had come. And if you rejected Christ, you rejected God's offer of salvation. And some of the professing believers had due to pressure and other things decided, okay, I will abandon Christ. I'll abandon the church and I'm going back to Judaism without Christ.

And Paul was warning them. There is no other sacrifice for sin. If you if you reject the sacrifice of Christ, these sacrifices are of no avail to you. You must stick with who? You must stick with Christ.

And that was evidenced. Sticking with Christ was evidenced by staying with the assembly of what? Other believers that were worshiping him and not departing from them to go back into Judaism. No. By committing this willful sin of rejecting Jesus, that's the willful sin he talks about here, they did not lose their salvation.

For if they had been saved and truly born again into God's family, they would not have gone what? They would not have gone back. I really like this verse. It helps clear up some things in my mind. First John two nineteen.

John writes concerning some others who had done similar things. He writes here, they went out from us because they were not, what? They were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all, what, of us.

Not all professing believers are possessing believers, sadly. There are some that go through the motions. There are some that believe by sitting in a pew that they're going to get to get to heaven or or by getting dunked in water, they're going to get to heaven or by putting money in the offering plate, they're going to get to heaven. But there's only one way to heaven, and that is to put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ who died on the cross for your sins alone. He is the only way to heaven.

He is the only way to be born again and become part of God's family. As Jesus told Nicodemus, he must be born again. And then he explained a few verses later, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. You're born again by placing your soul in Christ's hands to give you everlasting life, to rescue you from sin and hell, and forgive you, and never leave you nor forsake you. And he will do that if you will trust him.

And you will become part, truly part, of the family of God. Not just on on the membership role of a local church, but part of God's true family of believers. And though people do switch churches, local churches from time to time, True believers do not abandon the Lord altogether or one another. I've had many people ask me I've had many when I knocked on their doors and I and I asked them, do you go to church anywhere? And said, well, I used to.

I don't know. Yeah. Are you saved? Oh, yeah. I'm saved.

I don't have to go to church. And then the answer to that question is yes and no. Do should Christians go to church? Are command Christians commanded to go to church? The answer to that is what?

Yes. We're commanded to congregate together. Okay? We're commanded right here. And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.

So do you get to heaven by simply going to church? The answer to that is no. You get to heaven by putting your faith and trust in who? Jesus Christ. But Christians assemble together because we have a love for one another.

That is a wonderful privilege that we must not take for granted, which too often I think we do. Even sometimes when we're sitting in a pew, we still do. I'd like to read verses 22 through 25 again. In verses 22 through 25, we are presented with the three lettuce plan. Okay?

Three lettuce no, not lettuce as in, you know, what you buy in the grocery store, but let us as an l e t u s. Three imperatives commands by God. Number one is found in 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.

The writer says, you can draw near in full assurance to Christ that he will receive you, that he has accepted you, that he will be with you. Verse 23, the second, let us. And let and let us hold fast to profession of our faith without wavering. You need not waver in your faith. You need not waver in your confidence in who?

Christ because as the writer says here, for he is faithful that promised. Are you always faithful? Are you always faithful to come to church? Are you always faithful to read your Bible the way you should? Are you always faithful to never let a foul word slip out of your mouth?

Are you always faithful to show the kindness and love to your neighbor that you ought to show? Are you always faithful? The answer to that, unfortunately, is what? Probably not. But my salvation is not dependent on my faithfulness.

It's dependent on whose. It's dependent on God's faithfulness. And I can have confidence and I can hold fast to my faith and to my savior and to the knowledge that there is a place reserved in heaven for me because my savior is always faithful. And he has made me a what? He has made me a promise.

So come boldly before God through the blood of Jesus Christ in faith. Hold on to that faith. Be steadfast in the Lord. There's no reason to waver because he is faithful even when we are not. And then the third let us here in verse 24, and let us consider one another.

And let us not just think about who? Ourselves. Let us not just think about ourselves, but let us also think about other believers in Christ Jesus. Think about those behind you and in front of you and and beside you. Think about your brother or sister in Christ and and what they're going through and what they're dealing with this week or next.

Don't only think about yourself. What what did Jesus say are the two greatest commandments? Thou shalt love thy thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. These this love should be evident in the lives of God's children, particularly for our brethren in Christ. He says, let us consider one another to provoke, to challenge, to exhort, to spur on each other to love and to good works.

He continues with a negative, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together or somehow, but with a positive, exhorting one another. The word exhort means to call near or to come alongside, to console, to help. Helping, consoling, encouraging one another. Don't forsake the assembling but come together that you might what? Encourage each other because God knows that I need you.

God knows that you need me or someone else. We need each other. God knew that. Christ Christ established the church that we might encourage and help each other. And so much the more as we see the day of Christ's return approaching because it isn't going to get easier for Christians as that day approaches.

It's probably going to get much harder and we are going to need one another. Before Christ returned home to the father, he gave some instructions to his disciples. This first one is more of a a declaration that Christ gave in Matthew 16. We read, he saith unto them to his disciples, but whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ.

That is the Messiah. Christ, Messiah. Messiah is Hebrew. Christ is Greek. Thou art the Christ, the Messiah, the son of the living God.

Jesus answered and said unto him, blessed art thou, Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my father which is in heaven. And I say unto unto thee, thou art Peter and upon this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. This is Christ's declaration concerning the formation and establishment of his church. His called out assembly. Upon Peter's confession of Christ as the son of God, the promised king of Israel, the Messiah, Christ declared upon this profession, upon this truth that Jesus is the Messiah and the son of the living God that Peter said, upon this truth, he would build his what?

His church, his assembly, his congregation of the redeemed. And the gates of hell would not prevail against it. And Christ did that very thing. And the gates of hell have not prevailed and one evidence to that fact this morning is two thousand years later, we're here. We are here professing our faith in Christ.

We are here praising his name. We are here declaring our hope of eternal life in him. Christ is not speaking those of a specific local assembly or denomination, but the establishment and growth of the church, the called out assembly of the redeemed in Christ that would encircle the globe made up of born again believers from every generation and every tongue and nation. A congregation that would grow every year to the consternation of the enemy. As Satan tried to destroy Israel over and over again in the Old Testament, Satan has tried to destroy the church.

He has tried to destroy it by force. He has tried to destroy it by heresy and false teaching, and he has what? Failed. And he will not succeed. There will be millions of believers to be taken home at the rapture one day despite the best efforts of the enemy.

He has preserved us in Christ Jesus. We are sealed by the holy of spirit until the day of redemption when he comes to take us home as he has promised, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. But we're not stopping there this morning. Matthew twenty eight eighteen through 20, Jesus had something else to say concerning the church. I don't have this up on the screen.

I'll read it if you wanna turn there if you like. Matthew twenty eight eighteen through 20. Before Jesus went back to heaven, he said this, Jesus came and spake unto them and to his disciples saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, the son, and of the holy ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you all way even to the end of the world or the age. Amen.

Part of that's on those pictures, frames up there, if you haven't noticed. This is often called the great what? The great commission. And in this great commission, Christ relates to his disciples the formula for the growth of the church. They were to take the gospel message with them wherever they went, to proclaim it in every land to every person, thereby making disciples, believers, new members of God's church.

They were to baptize, immerse in water, those who put their faith and trust in Jesus, baptizing them in the name of the father, the son, and the holy ghost. A testament to a doctrine we call the what? The trinity. One God, three persons. And also to the work of each one in the salvation of lost souls for all three have a part in your salvation.

The father sent the son, the son died on the cross and rose again, and the holy spirit has come into your heart when you accepted Christ to regenerate you and give you new life and seal you until the day you stand before God in heaven. Baptism is also identifies us with the particular work of Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection as Paul tells us in Romans six. As you're baptized and taken down in the water, it pictures the death of Christ. When you come back out of the water, it pictures the resurrection of Christ, and we identify ourselves with the one who has given us new life in him. So you make converts to the preaching of the gospel, then you baptize those converts in obedience to Christ as he showed us in his life.

And then the next part is to take the things that he had revealed to his disciples that the Holy Spirit would reveal to his disciples and to teach those new converts the doctrines of the faith of Jesus Christ. That they might grow. That may might reach the point of going out and bringing others into the fold, that they in turn might teach them who would in turn do the same thing. And they did that. And that's why we're here.

Because someone told someone who told someone who told someone and many, many, many, many generations later, someone told me and someone told you. And when we receive Jesus Christ by faith as our Lord and Savior, the grace of God changed our life and our eternity forever. And we became members of the assembly of the redeemed in Christ Jesus. But these things were not to be done alone. They were to be done what?

Together. Together. Then the church, after the ascension of Christ was born on the day of Pentecost, following the ascension of Christ to heaven, obedient believers gathered together in the upper room to pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit who would unite believers in Christ in one body and empower them to fulfill that great commission that God gave to them. Jesus said as he ascended back up into heaven, he says, go back to Jerusalem and wait for the coming of the promise of the father. He was speaking to the holy spirit.

In acts one eight he said, but ye shall receive power. After that, the holy ghost has come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Jesus said, go back and wait. When the Holy Spirit comes, he will bind you together. He will empower you in my service and you will go forth and my church will grow.

And as Christ had promised, the holy spirit came and did the very thing, baptizing them spiritually into one body in Christ, filling them for his service. That day, Peter preached the gospel and 3,000 souls came to Christ. Who then they then publicly baptized as a testimony to their faith. But it didn't stop there. They continue to meet in smaller and larger groups all throughout the week.

They continue to to preach the gospel, to baptize new converts, to teach one another the doctrines of the apostles, to to praise the Lord, to fellowship. That is to to come alongside and help one another, to assist one another, pray for one another, encourage one another in their faith day by day. We read about that in Acts chapter two. If you want to turn with me to Acts chapter two, I'll be there for a minute or a few minutes, few several verses. Acts chapter two.

Luke tells us what this early congregation did. It says in verse 42 of and they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and breaking of bread and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believe were together and had all things common. Sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all men as every man had need.

And they continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house that eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. This early church, they they obeyed Christ's command and they grew. They grew in number but they grew in faith, they grew in knowledge, and they grew in love for one another and the testimony of Christ blossomed and grew. It burst forth out of the city of Jerusalem to the countryside in Judea and Samaria and then to Damascus and Antioch, Syria, and then to Ephesus in what today is Turkey, and then to Philippi and Corinth and Greece, and then to Rome, and then to the uttermost parts of the world. And we, through worldwide missions, support missionaries who are taking the gospel to places, to people that they may have never heard this day.

We as his church fulfilling his great what? His great commission. Alone or together? Together. As God so planned, as Jesus so declared, as the writer of Hebrews reminds us, to not forsake the what?

The assembling of ourselves together. To continue this work. To continue it by continuing to follow Christ in the formula he set forth today as they did then, which centered in the work and power and growth of the church. Not just an institution or a building or denomination, but the assembly of the redeemed who gather every day around the globe in numbers big and small to do exactly as the writer of Hebrews calls us to do here. It is important.

It is vital that we not shirk from our responsibility this generation, together with other believers who fulfill his commission to participate in the ministry of the church to one another in the power of Christ, to preach and to teach the word, to praise and to worship the savior, to encourage one another because we need each other, to comfort those who are mourning, to join in with those who are rejoicing, to challenge one another to greater heights in our service and our our witness and our personal growth in Christ likeness. You're not in this alone. I'm in it with you. To assist in the day to day needs of each other, whether they be financial or emotional, all of these are part of the church and what it means to be together, to assemble, to worship, to serve. You have an opportunity to do that.

To be that for the Lord, to be that one for someone else who needs encouragement, who needs exhorting. But it's hard to do that if you're not together. It's hard to do that if you're not communicating. If you don't see this as a a a a group mission and not just as individual missions. To be faithful and willing to put yourself out there in faith for Christ and one another.

What a privilege we enjoy. To abandon it or to treat it lightly is foolish and detrimental to say the least to our own fellowship with Christ, but also to the overall work of the Lord in this world today. Too many believers take this command too lightly. Too many are missing out on the help they need by being around other believers. Not just being in a building, in a pew, but taking time to get to know and communicate and fellowship with each other.

Now you do that before the service and some of you do that after the service. But just to make sure you know that that's important, we actually do that what? During the service. We have our handshakes on. Because it's important that you get to know each other.

It's important that you see this as a team effort and that every person on that team is what? Important And that you're faithful to do your part. Too many are missing out on the help they could be to others because other things are more important. The acquisition of more shinier, bigger things, climbing the the corporate ladder, fishing or golfing or worldly friendships take precedent over the fellowship of other believers. The church is important.

Not just being in it by trusting Christ, which is obviously vitally important, but also participating in it, obeying God's commands together, and encourage and exhort one another, which is only going to become more and more important as the enemy turns world opinion against us. Have you noticed that in the news, in the workplace? Didn't used to be that way a few generations ago. Not here, but it's changing. The enemy is hard at work, but you are not alone.

You may feel alone at times, but you're not alone. Christ is with you. But you also have brothers and sisters who are with you who are going through the same things, experience the same things, who have the same faith. And we need not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. We need to be thankful and see the church as the great benefit and privilege that it is to encourage and to help one another, to strengthen our faith, and to be there for each other.

Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, thank you, Lord, for this opportunity to be reminded of your creation, the church. Lord, help us to see our place in it. Lord, help us to see our need to be faithful in the ministry of it to one another, to the lost, and to Christ. Lord, I know I'm preaching to the choir this morning because they're here.

Lord, I know there's some at home watching that for physical reasons, health reasons can't be here, but are here in spirit today. Lord, we thank you for the love of each other as we are thankful for the love of Christ. And I pray, Lord, that you would knit our hearts together and, Lord, I pray that love would grow. I pray our testimony would grow, our service to Christ would grow. And as a church, we would reach more souls for the savior.

As a church, you would burden us for the lost around us. As a church, we might be burdened to bring glory and be a testimony for our Lord, not only in these walls, but outside these walls. Lord, thank you for the privilege of representing you as members of your body, the church today. Thank you for that wonderful privilege. And Lord, if there is one here today that is unsure of their place in your church, if they've been trusting in church membership or baptism or good works and not fully trusting in the work of Christ on the cross to save their soul.

I pray that they would make sure of that today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.