It is easy to underestimate certain things that are crucial in the Christian life. For example, no one sees secret prayer and it oftentimes seems utterly unimportant, but it is crucial to living the Christian life. Therefore, we will talk about it next week. However, this week I want to talk about something similar that is utterly important to the Christian life and is as easily overlooked as inconsequential. In fact, few would probably include this in a series on worship, but as I read the Scripture, I think such a thing is demanded. This morning I want to talk about our calling to encourage one another toward lives of faithful obedience in which we treasure Christ. For I think that it should be seen as a crucial part of what we do on Sunday morning and a necessary part of any church that aims to worship God rightly.

However, before I get to this point, I want to show you why I think it is so crucial by building a foundation for such an exhortation. And I want to do it by looking at this third chapter of Hebrews.

Hebrews is an often avoided book, especially by those (like us) who love the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, because it oftentimes seems to throw us a curveball (if you will). However, when studied in context, it is extremely helpful, as I hope we will see this morning.

The setting of this book is an anonymous author writing to a group of Hebrews who have professed Christ and are yet struggling with the temptation to return to Judaism, and consequently forsake their profession. Therefore, the author of Hebrews gives them stern warnings concerning their actions. Thus, in our text, he reminds them of the superiority of Christ to Moses, showing Moses’ faithfulness but then pointing out that he himself is a creation whereas Jesus is himself God (3:1-6). He points out that Moses was faithful “in” God’s house but Christ is faithful “over” God’s house. And then he moves in verses 7-11 to reminding them of Israel’s unbelief and sin and then in verses 12-19 to warning his readers not to repeat their actions, even as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:11, “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.”

Thus, from this text we learn the following:

Continued faithful obedience to God is the manifestation of true salvation (3:6, 14)

In the midst of his argument, the author of Hebrews says in verse 6, “And we are his [Christ’s] house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.” Then again in verse 14 he writes, “For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold or original confidence firm to the end.”

Now why does he say “if” when he addresses them as “holy brothers” in verse 1? I think the answer to this seemingly complex text is easily understood. And it is built on two realizations. The first is that the author writes “holy brothers” to the corporate group. Thus it would be like me calling all in attendance today “brothers.” Am I saying by that that I know everyone here is a believer? No. Therefore, we move to the second realization, and it is that the “if” statement is a qualification for the first.

That is to say, the author is saying, You are “holy brothers” or “Christ’s house” or “sharers in Christ” if you are someone who perseveres. That is, he is saying that A is true, if B is true.¹ He is not saying you can be brothers and then mess it up by not holding fast, but rather that you are only true brothers if God’s grace is manifested in your persevering until the end.

This does not mean that perseverance gains salvation but that it demonstrates the reality that true salvation has indeed occurred. And because we have limited perspectives on the status of one another before God, all we can see is whether or not the evidence of God’s grace is being manifested in your life in faithful obedience to see whether or not your profession is true. Thus “the author of Hebrews cannot give unqualified assurance to those drifting away from God that they indeed have a part in God’s house or are sharers in Christ.”²

Therefore, we are not encouraged by Hebrews to anchor our hope of assurance by referring to a past event in which we did something but to look for the grace of God having a present effect in our lives, producing faithful obedience. Thus, we need to be careful about giving false assurance to people based on the past. And we have no ground to give assurance to those who are currently in a lifestyle of turning their backs to God. We would do better to encourage these people to examine their life to see if God’s grace is having effect. Thus, continued faithful obedience is the manifestation of true salvation in someone’s life. It is not what saves us, for that is God’s grace through faith, but saving faith is never without continued faithful obedience stemming out from it.

So now that we see how crucial it is in our lives, how does it happen? The author of Hebrews gives us three things, with which I will close today.

Faithful obedience is built upon a right view of Christ (3:1-6)

The first six verses of this text are spent articulating why Jesus is superior to Moses and should be followed as an example of faithful living. He writes in verses 1-2, “Consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession who was faithful to him who appointed him.” And then goes on to argue that he is faithful like Moses but is superior to Moses, as aforementioned.

Therefore, seeing that faithful obedience to God is the theme of this chapter, we should likewise begin by realizing that it is built upon a right view of Christ. That is why we began this morning reading Isaiah 6:1-8 and the first song we sang was a request to God to “Be Thou My Vision.” It starts with seeing Christ rightly.

Thus, we should follow the author’s example and study Scripture to see who Christ is, what he has done, and what he has promised. So we must take seriously mediation on and study of Scripture, so that we might have a right view of who Christ is.

And I would add as well that we need prayer and obedience in light of meditation on the Word. For one cannot be exposed to the Word long without realizing that Christ intercedes for us in prayer and that we are commanded to obey him. Therefore, fill your life with the Word, prayer, and obedience, as you see who Jesus is and what he has done.

A right view of Christ is crucial to faithful obedience.

Faithful obedience demands a trust in God (3:7-11, 16-19)

We cannot ever separate obedience from faith, and this text confirms this as well. First, the author shows this by recounting from Psalm 95:7-11 the Israelites disobedience and consequent shutting out from the Promised Land. Then as he is reminding his readers in verses 16-19 that God refused to let these enter his rest, he concludes, “And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief” (3:18-19).

Therefore, it is clear that he connects disobedience with unbelief. That is the Israelites were disobedient to God in the wilderness because they did not trust him to be able to bring them into the Promised Land.

In the same way, we must trust God if we are going to live a life of faithful obedience before him. This shows us that these past two points are linked: a right view of Christ and trusting in him and his promises. If the first is missed, the second will never occur.

Thus, we must see who our God is in Christ, trust him, and then live in light of that. If we read the Word and never choose life patterns of obedience to it, our professed faith is not really faith.

And this leads us to our final point today and the short but main emphasis of this morning.

Faithful obedience requires the encouragement of the people of God (3:12-15)

Just as we could say in the beginning that if God has truly saved someone it will be manifested in that person persevering in faithful obedience, so too we might say that it will be brought about as God provides encouragement through his people.

The author of Hebrews writes in 3:12-15, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.’”

It is hard to trust God and to walk in continued faithful obedience at certain times. It’s hard because we lose our focus, forget the promises from God’s Word, and/or are greeted with such a mountain in our life that it seems to be impossible to go past it. I know it and you know; some of us might even be able to say that this is a description of us today.

However, God has given us the gift of commanding us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together and to encourage one another. Now I believe this should occur daily, as the text says. And, therefore, Sunday morning worship should not be seen as an exception to this.

Just as I feel the responsibility to preach this morning, William feels the responsibility to lead us in song, and many other feel the responsibility to serving in the nursery, etc. So we should all feel the responsibility to come and encourage one another to trust and walk in continued faithful obedience to him.

Therefore, when we come in these doors let a vital part of our worship be watching one another like hawks, waiting for any opportunity to pounce upon someone with words of encouragement. For as this occurs, we will not only find ourselves worshiping but aiding our brothers and sisters in living lives of worship as well.

To him be glory forever, Amen.

¹ For further examples of this see Romans 8:9, 17; 11:22; 2 Corinthians 13:5; Colossians 1:22-23.

² George Guthrie, Hebrews: NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998), 136.

ENCOURAGEMENT LEADING TO A WORSHIPING LIFE OF FAITHFULNESS