A Sermon on Hebrews 10:19-25 has been lightly edited.
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Please take your Bibles now if you have them and turn with me to the book of Hebrews. Today we are going to look briefly at Hebrews chapter 10. We’ll look also at the passage we read earlier from Acts.
Last week, we laid the groundwork for the power and the establishment, the foundation of the church built upon that declaration that Jesus is the Messiah, the long-awaited rescuer of God’s people who is also the Son of God. We looked at the doctrinal and the biblical foundation for the church. Today we are going to consider how we live that out as brothers and sisters, as fellow saints in the family of God.
In Paul’s letters, he often addresses those letters, when he’s writing them to the church, to the saints in Ephesus or Corinth or Rome or wherever it is that he is writing. We often think of saints as these extra-holy, extra-special people. But in reality, if you are a child of God, you have been set apart as holy, as a saint before God.
When we talk about the communion of saints, we are not talking about a special group of special people. We are talking about the everyday life of the church. Today we will consider that as we look at both Hebrews chapter 10 and Acts chapter 2. So with that in mind, let us turn our attention now to these words in Hebrews chapter 10, verses 19 through 25.
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain that is his body, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the day approaching.”
Let’s pray.
Father, by the power of your Holy Spirit, may we know what you would have us know today. May I speak the words that you would have me speak today so that your people can learn more about you and learn how to live in light of what you have done for us through Jesus. Lord, may our words and may our meditations be pleasing to you, for you are our rock and our redeemer. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
INTRODUCTION
So as we brought our sermon to a close last week and talked a little bit about one of the dangers to the church, I used the illustration of an antelope surrounded by a pride of lions. You know, the safety for an antelope is the herd, is the other antelopes that they are around, that they are part of. And once the lions can separate a single antelope from the herd, that antelope is in danger.
The church today is under attack from many different angles, but one of the most dangerous that we see in our world today is the idea of rugged individualism. We live in a world where we are given permission to define our own truth, to define what is right or what is wrong for me.
That may differ from what is right and what is wrong for you. But supposedly we live in a world that has the supposed freedom to say what’s true for me is true for you. Now, of course, we know this breaks down.
R.C. Sproul was asked, “What do I do for a friend of mine or a family member of mine who believes that we all chart our own course? We all determine what is right and wrong for each and every one of us. And how do I make him see that that is not a good way to live?” And R.C. Sproul’s response was “Steal his wallet.” It breaks down, but we live by the illusion that we are the masters, the captains of our own fate, our own destiny.
Unfortunately, that pattern makes its way into the church as well. We are tempted to think of the church as a gathering of individuals, 50 or so people who give up an hour or two on a Sunday morning to just gather in a place, individuals who are together in one spot. The idea of a church as a collection of individuals would be foreign to the early church and is foreign to the teaching of the Bible.
The teaching that we are united to Christ, which we saw in the beginning portion of our passage from Hebrews today, that that we have been brought near to God by the work of Jesus leads us to understand that we are also unified to each other as the body of Christ. Paul uses that exact example in first Corinthians 12, where he says that Jesus is the head and the church is the body.
In Ephesians, chapter two and three, Paul uses the picture of the temple. We are each building blocks in the temple of God being built together in one unified dwelling place of God. And so today I want us to look briefly at our union with Christ. And see how that leads to the communion of the saints.
UNION WITH CHRIST
So first, union with Jesus. You’ll hear me say this multiple times today, sometimes word for word like this, other times in different ways, the communion of the saints, our fellowship as brothers and sisters is rooted in our union with Christ. The Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 26, on the communion of saints begins with these words,
“All saints that are united to Christ, their head by his spirit and by faith, have fellowship with him in his graces, his sufferings, his death, his resurrection and his glory.”
Where does the confession come up with this doctrine? Well, one of the places is Romans chapter six, verses five and six, where Paul is talking to the Roman Christians and he says these words to them.
“If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.”
Brothers and sisters, without Jesus, sin enslaves us. We are powerless against its dominion in our lives, but through Jesus’ death, that dominion is broken as our sinful nature is put to death in him. And as he was risen to a new and glorified life, we are risen to a new and glorified life where we are identified as holy, chosen, beloved children in the family of God.
Now, this idea of union with Jesus goes beyond our relationship to sin and salvation. It covers every aspect of our life, everywhere where we are tempted to try and do things on our own. Paul teaches us that it is our union with Christ and his finished work that assures those things.
Are you trying to earn the new creation life that is promised in the new heavens and the new earth? Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 that it is yours in your union with Christ. Are you trying to gut it out in your pursuit of holiness, in your pursuit of growing evidence of the fruit of the spirit in your life? Paul says in Galatians 5:24 that it is that it is because we have been crucified and raised again with Christ that we are able to pursue the fruit of the spirit.
Are you worried about what your role will be in the new heavens and the new earth? Paul says in Ephesians 2:5-7 that our inheritance as the sons and co rulers with Christ is rooted in our union with Christ.
Your perseverance is rooted in your union with Christ’s perseverance. Everything that we wrestle with thinking that we can do in our own power, everything that we think we can accomplish in our own power or obligate God to because of our own works has been completed and is already ours in the truth that we are united with Christ.
The good news that Jesus has died and risen again should continuously motivate you to understand that your salvation, your perseverance, your holiness, your ultimate glorification is not dependent upon you. It is dependent upon the finished work of Christ.
Twice in the book of Hebrews, Hebrews 4 and in the passage we just read, the author of Hebrews says we have the confidence to approach God’s throne, not because Ike’s a good person, not because I handed a $5 bill to a homeless person, not because I did anything, but because we have a faithful high priest who has secured our right to be in the presence of God. And as long as we are united with him, everything is ours.
Everything is yes and amen in Jesus Christ. By faith and by God’s grace, the Children of God are united to Christ. That truth has many applications throughout our life.
COMMUNION OF THE SAINTS
But today I want it to I want to apply it to the gathering to the communion of saints. The Holy Spirit unites us to Jesus, and out of this uniting to Jesus, we are knit together in a community, a communion of saints. In that same paragraph in chapter 26 of the Westminster Confession of Faith, after talking about our union with Jesus, the confession goes on to say,
“and being united to one another in love, all saints have communion with each other’s gifts and graces. And are obliged to the performance of such duties, public and private, as do conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward man.”
Your being united to Christ means that we are united to each other as well. We are not a collection of individuals who gather together on a Sunday morning. We are a family. We are a body. We are a holy temple being built together by God.
Paul uses this analogy to remind us of this in 1st Corinthians chapter 12. We read this briefly last week, but I want us to point to a portion of it again, beginning in verse 12 of 1st Corinthians 12. Paul says,
“…the body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts, and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ, for we were all baptized by one spirit into one body, whether Jew or Greek, slave or free, and we were given the one spirit to drink. Now, this body is not made up of one part, but of many. If the foot should say, because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body, it would not, for that reason, cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body, it would not, for that reason, cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact, God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.”
Paul’s context here is the exercise of the gifts of the spirit that are given to the church. And the picture is of Jesus as the head or the source of the body, the church and the church working together, being knit together, using those gifts to edify each other, to glorify God and to grow the kingdom of God. As members of the body, you and I are obligated to fellowship, to take part in each other’s life, to seek the peace, purity and prosperity of this church, so long as you are a member of it.
That is one of the membership vows that we take when we join with a local ARP congregation, that we “will seek the peace, purity and prosperity of this congregation as long as we are a member of it.”
But how do we exercise and enjoy this communion of the saints? And looking a little more deeply into Hebrews 10 and Acts chapter two, I want us to see two different ways that we do that.
In Hebrews chapter 10, verse 24, which we read earlier, I want to read once again, it says this, it says, “…and let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”
It goes on in 25 through 26 to establish the importance of gathering, reminding us that this work of communion of the saints and spurring each other on toward love and good deeds begins in this place. As God ministers his grace to us through the reading and teaching of the word, through prayer and through the celebration of the sacraments. But beyond worship, you and I are to spur each other on toward love and good works.
What does this look like? Now, remember, this is rooted in our union with Christ. We aren’t doing this to earn favor with God. We aren’t doing this to earn God’s grace in our lives.
It’s since we are united to Christ, we are united to each other. Therefore, spur one another on toward love. On the one hand, this means that some of us are to come alongside other Christians and walk with them through their Christian life.
In Titus, Paul is giving Titus instructions on how to establish churches in Crete. And in Titus chapter two, he says to have the more mature female Christians come alongside the newer, less mature female Christians and the more mature male Christians come alongside the less mature, younger male Christians. And teach them how to live godly lives, teach them how to live out the grace that is at work in their lives.
This isn’t just hanging out, drinking coffee with each other, although that is important to the life of the church. But it goes far deeper. It goes far, is far more important than this.
This is taking some of those times that we spend together in this place or together one on one and helping each other live godly and holy lives. You know, one of the things, if we look at Galatians chapter five and those fruit of the spirit, it’s tough to exhibit the fruit of the spirit. Sometimes we get hung up on the first one.
It’s hard to love our neighbor, especially when sometimes they’re not as lovable as we would like them to be. So how do we exhibit love to somebody who acts in an unlovable way? Well, I’m sure some of us in this room have done that. And so we come together and we teach each other.
How do we grow in love to somebody who is unlovable, to somebody who is antagonistic to me? Let’s talk about that. How did you do well? How did you falter? How did you stumble? How did you do poorly in trying to love that unlovable neighbor?
We walk beside each other as a group, as individuals or pairs, making sure that the things that the mature Christian has learned, either through the instruction of others or through the school of hard knocks, making sure that that information is passed down. This links to the gifts that the spirit gives us, because sometimes people are given the gift of teaching and this means that you teach a class.
But don’t let that scare you away, because sometimes it just means being willing to walk one on one with somebody as you sit down with somebody for coffee.
If you are a younger, less mature Christian, be humble enough to either ask for help or understand that if a more mature Christian comes to you and says, “Hey, let’s get coffee and talk about life,” that it is an honor, that it is them seeking to love you and to spur you on toward love and good works.
So on the one hand, this means discipleship. This means walking hand in hand toward growth and maturity. On the other hand, it also means that sometimes we have to have hard conversations with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Sometimes brothers and sisters make decisions and find themselves in patterns of sin within their life. If they’re truly converted, if they’re truly a believer, it doesn’t break their relationship with God. God is not going to send them to hell, but there are things that need to be addressed within the life of the Christian.
And you know what? We’re really nice people sometimes, and we don’t want to offend other people, and we especially don’t want to offend our brothers and sisters in Christ. So sometimes we ignore that sin, thinking that we’re being loving, thinking that we’re being kind.
In the context of this discussion, brothers and sisters, I’m talking about us as a family of God. I think when it comes to discipline, when it comes to calling out sin, one thing we do wrong in the community is we try to make people holy before we show them redemption. We need to show them redemption. And if they embrace the work that Jesus has done in their lives, then we walk with them toward holiness. Yes, we can call out sin in our culture, but we don’t make a line of holiness to allow a non-Christian through the door.
But when it comes to our brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to be willing to confront where we confront. Kurt Kruger is a Presbyterian minister. He works, he preaches at a PCA church outside of Chicago, Illinois, and recently I was listening to a sermon that he gave on Judges chapter 9. Judges chapter 9 is the story of Abimelech.
Abimelech is the son of Gideon. Remember, Gideon was the one that defeated an army of 100,000 plus soldiers with 300 men who had a torch, a trumpet, and a clay pot. God did the defeating, not Gideon.
But his son Abimelech, after Gideon died, his son Abimelech decided he wanted to be king. And so he set himself up as king. And the first thing he did was he murdered his 70 brothers, so there’d be no competition for this throne that he had set up for himself. A judgment was given against Abimelech that he would be judged for the sin that he committed against the nation of Israel.
But there was also in that prophecy of judgment, a prophecy against the city of Shechem. They would be destroyed as well for their sin. And you know what their sin was? It was nothing. Actually, it was more than nothing.
It was the type of nothing that they stood by and watched and didn’t do anything. They allowed Abimelech to murder his 70 brothers and kept their mouth shut. They allowed Abimelech to abuse the nation of Israel and they kept their mouth shut. And Shechem was judged simply for keeping their mouth shut in the face of sin.
God takes the communion of his saints seriously. We’ll talk more about this next week as we get into the forgiveness of sin and look once again at the holiness of God and how our sin deserves his wrath because of his holiness.
But we forget that he continues to call us to be holy in this room, and sometimes the communion of saints means that we have hard conversations with brothers and sisters who find themselves in patterns of sin. Now, we have to keep in mind judges one and two or excuse me, not judges one and two, we should keep that in mind as well. There’s a lot of failures in there that point us to Christ.
But Matthew seven, verses one and two, where we don’t come acting like God saying, “Brother or sister, you’re in sin and you are no longer a Christian.” But we come humbly having repented of our own sin. If it’s a conflict that needs to be addressed, we come repenting of our own contribution to that conflict.
If it’s rampant sin, we come saying, “Look, I struggle and somebody has come to me in the past and shown me where I struggle and has led me toward holiness. Let me walk with you in love and in camaraderie.”
The second passage that helps us understand the communion of saints is that passage from Acts chapter two.
We read it earlier. It also has a dedication to the public worship of God in the church, in the gathering of saints. But outside that gathered worship, it talks about the truth that no one within the church had any need.
Now, I know for most of us in this room, we don’t suffer with material poverty. We’re not struggling. Most of us in this room are not struggling to pay the bills.
But everybody in this room has needs. And you have gifts to respond to those needs. Do you know what your brothers and sisters need? Romans chapter 12, verse 15 says that part of that need, part of meeting those needs is rejoicing with those who rejoice and mourning with those who mourn.
Do you and I know who is rejoicing and who is mourning in this church? The communion of saints, the being united to Jesus, which means that we are united to each other, means that we walk with each other toward holiness. And we are willing to sacrificially give of time, of talent, of treasures to make sure that the needs of the congregation are met.
CONCLUSION
We began with our union with Christ.
And because of that union with Jesus, we are knit together into the communion of saints. Here’s a group out that I like to listen to, Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, and they have a song out. It’s called Find Your People.
And I think the song summarizes the communion of saints for us. It says:
“You’ve got to find your people, ones that make you feel all right, the kind you want to stay up with all night. You’ve got to find your people, the ones that make you feel whole, that won’t leave your side when you lose control, the ones that don’t let you lose your soul.
You’ve got to find your people, the ones that get the joke, who understand what you’re saying before a word is spoke. You’ve got to find your people that put the needle in the groove. When you’re together, you’ve got nothing to prove. When you’re together, you’ve got nothing to lose.
In a world full of strangers, you don’t know who to trust. All you see is danger trying to find what you lost. You can’t go it alone. Everybody needs help. You’ve got to find your people, then you’ll find yourself.
You’ve got to find your people that’ll call your bluff, who’ll ride along when the road is rough. You’ve got to find your people, the ones that make you feel equal. They pick you up and don’t put you down, help you find your way in the lost and found.”
Brothers and sisters, if you are united to Christ, the church is your people.
Let’s pray.
To the gracious God above, we do thank you that our union with Jesus leads us to a communion with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Lord, may we not take that for granted. And may we find comfort in this place. For those of us who are more mature, may we be willing to sacrifice the time and the words necessary to walk alongside the younger Christian. And for the younger Christian, may they be willing to seek the help of their more mature brothers and sisters. Lord, we love you. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
BENEDICTION
As you go this week, as you contemplate applying the sermon to your life, take these words of blessing with you.
“Now, I commit to you, I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”
He who testifies to these things says, yes, I am coming soon.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
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