HEBREWS 10:19-25 LET US KEEP ON PROGRESSING2020 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Hebrews 10:19-25 Let Us Keep On Progressing

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2020. Well, as we look at Hebrews chapter 10 tonight, I've titled the message, Let Us Keep On Progressing.

And it's something, of course, that we know, but is something we also need to be reminded of continually, that God desires for us to progress and to continue to move forward, to develop and to grow in our relationship with him. And so the author of Hebrews here is calling believers to progress, to move forward and to keep going in the direction that the Lord has set them on.

If you were here with us last Wednesday, you know that we got to partake of a great Hebrews salad, right? With the lettuce instructions that were given. And tonight we get round two of the Hebrews salad. Lettuce, lettuce, lettuce. It's a healthy diet for us. As the author of Hebrews here in this portion will give a doctrinal summary of the things he's been talking about.

but then bring it right into the application of what we should do as a result. And you can see that right in the beginning in verse 19. He says, Therefore, brethren.

He's kind of making a, you know, he's not done with the letter. He's still got some more things to say, but he's kind of summing up the last few thoughts he's been writing about over the previous chapters. And now he's going to drive it to our hearts and say, here's what this means for you. And so verse 19 really gives us a summary of Hebrews chapter 9. He says,

And there he's referring back to Hebrews chapter 9, where he was talking about the tabernacle sanctuary and how that was laid out. And there was the holy place, but then there was the holy of holies, where the Ark of the Covenant was, where the high priest could only go one time a year on the Day of Atonement. And it was that special place where the presence of God was. And so as he's laying out this picture of the tabernacle, he's describing for us

the reality that by Jesus we get to enter into that holiest and experience the very presence of God by faith in Jesus Christ because of what he has done for us. In verse 20, he says, Now, this new and living way, it's through the body of Jesus. It's through the sacrifice of Jesus. And it kind of sums up Hebrews chapter 8 verse.

where we are introduced to that new covenant and this new method of approaching God, this new way into the presence of God that is provided by Jesus, that is unlike anything that came before it or anything that could ever come after it, the process

offer of Jesus, this new covenant that we have through Christ is better than anything else in giving us access to God, forgiveness. And so we enter in through the veil that is his flesh. And then verse 21, having a high priest over the house of God. And that takes us back to Hebrews chapter 7, talking about the priesthood of Jesus in the order of Melchizedek.

And so following after the pattern of a priesthood like Melchizedek had, God promised that there would be another priest like Melchizedek back in the Psalms. And now Jesus we see as the fulfillment of that promise. And he continues on forever. Hebrews 7.24 says he continues forever and he has an unchangeable priesthood. So...

These first three verses here really kind of sum up the last three chapters, Hebrews chapter 7, 8, and 9, and give us this picture of Christ and what we have in him.

And so therefore, because all of these things are true, he's going to now go on to say, here's what we need to do and give us three instructions, three applications. Maybe you want to think about it like an application salad, right? It's let us do this. Let us do that. Let us do this. And we'll see what those are as we work our way through. So the first one found in verse 22, here's point number one. Let us keep on drawing near in faith.

Let us keep on drawing near. Verse 22 says, And so the idea of the author of Hebrews here is, therefore, since this is the access we have to God, since this is the way that we have access to God by faith in Jesus Christ and what he has done for us, since he is this perpetual high priest here,

Since all of this is true, he says, let us draw near. Since the way is opened now for you to enter into the holiest of all. Since the way is open now for you to have access to God, unparalleled to any other access to God that has ever been offered before or after. Since that's true, he says, let us draw near. Now, this word to draw near is in the present tense.

And all of these commands that he'll be giving here tonight attached to the lettuce, they're all in the present tense. And that's why you see the wording in the points to keep on drawing near.

Because the present tense tells us that it is not something that is done one time, not just something that is done in the past. You can't look at this and say, all right, I've done that. I've drawn near, you know, I said the sinner's prayer. I spent time with God, you know, back then that one day or even this morning, right? This idea of presence is it's ongoing. It's repeated, right?

And so for you and I, even though we may know that these things are true, we never stop needing this exhortation. Let us draw near. We have boldness to enter the holiest, he says in verse 19. We have boldness, that is freedom to experience the presence of God. So then let's do it. See, the reality is that we have access to God, but that doesn't mean that we don't

enjoy that access to God or that we take advantage of the access that is granted. If I give you the keys to the church, you might have the keys to the church, but if you never use them to open the door, well, they don't do you much good, right? In a similar way, you have access to God. You have the keys to the holiest of all. It's found by faith in Jesus Christ. But if you don't actually draw near to

and make an effort to know God and spend time with him, you don't get to experience some of what he has for you in that time in his presence. And so the Hebrews were encouraged, you and I are encouraged to draw near, to keep on drawing near by faith. Pastor David Guzik says here that they may have thought that they had many problems, persecution, difficult relationships, hard times with culture or economy,

But the real problem was their relationship with God wasn't on track. They didn't draw near to God on the basis of what Jesus had done. The Hebrews were struggling with a lot of things at this point. There was some persecution. There were some doubts. There were some issues. And they were wrestling through those things. And they could have been focused on any of those things as the source of their problem. But the author of Hebrews is saying, look, you need to recognize that

The real source of problems is when we don't draw near to God. You know, we can complain about a lot of things in our life. We have a lot of situations going on. We can be upset with the state of our country. We can be upset with the state of our jobs. We can be upset with, you know, the pandemic and, you know, all of the issues and difficulties and challenges that presents.

But the reality is, is that God, through all of those things, still has wide open doors for you and I and is inviting us to his presence, to spend time with him, to know him, to walk with him, and to receive from him all that we need to navigate these challenges that we face. And so the challenges themselves are really not the issue. The real challenge is, are we ready?

keeping on drawing near to God? Are we continuing to push forward to know God and to walk with him? Because the way has been opened. In Mark chapter 15, it records for us there Jesus is on the cross and when he cries out and he breathes his last, the veil in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

Now that veil in the previous chapter, Hebrews chapter 9, the author of Hebrews explains that veil used to be there because the Holy Spirit was saying by that construction that the way was not open yet. But then when Jesus died upon the cross, the way was opened. And that veil was torn, it was removed, so that access to the presence of God is very real and it's for you and I today. But we must take action and draw near.

And so he says here in verse 22, let us draw near with a true heart. And so there's some important things to take care of as we desire to draw near to God. First of all, we need to have a true heart.

That means we need to be genuine in our approach to God, in our relationship with God, in our walk with God. We need to be true, not faking it, not pretending like we want to walk with God when we really don't. You know, not trying to, you know, get away with sin, but still come to God for the blessings. Not trying to live a double life, not going back and forth, but coming to God with a true heart.

saying, Lord, this is my sinful self. This is who I am. Lord, I really want to know you and I really want to change that we be honest and genuine with God about our hearts, the condition that we are in. At the same time, acknowledging the reality of our heart, he says in verse 22 that we draw near with a full assurance of faith. So in spite of the truth about my heart,

I can still have full assurance. And so I still draw near with confidence. Again, in verse 19, having boldness to enter because of the sufficiency of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And so there's no reason for any of us to hold back from the presence of God or to kind of, you know, try to draw near to God, but in fear of judgment. Now you come by faith in Jesus Christ and come in full assurance of faith.

And as you do, your hearts are sprinkled from an evil conscience. You see, there is heart issues. There's conscience issues. There is evil. The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, Jeremiah says, right? So yes, we have those issues, but that's not reason to stay away. That's reason to come to God and say, God, this is the evil conscience that I have. This is, you know, the evil that I have within. This is the things that I'm struggling with. And yet come with full assurance of faith and

that we will have access to the presence of God because that's what Jesus said. And so our hearts are cleansed. Our bodies, he says, are washed with pure water. And so we're washed and we're cleansed thoroughly by faith in Jesus Christ.

And so let us draw near. Let us keep on drawing near. Let us keep on over and over, repeatedly, continually drawing near. You have boldness to enter in to the very presence of God. So draw near. Take advantage of this offer that he extends to us. Well, secondly, as we continue to consider this application salad of Hebrews, first of all, let us keep on drawing near in faith,

Point number two, let us keep on holding fast to our hope. Let us keep on holding fast to our hope. Verse 23 says, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful.

So the second thing he calls us to do, again, going back to the first couple of verses, since all these things are true, since we have boldness to enter the presence of God, since we have this faithful and persistent high priest, since we have all of these things through Jesus Christ, therefore, let us hold fast the confession of our hope. Now, again, this word to hold fast is in the present tense.

which means that it is to be repeated continually. You and I never stop needing the exhortation to hold fast to our hope. Now, I share it often, but it's important to make sure that we understand the word hope in the Bible is not in the way that we use it today, where there's elements of doubt and uncertainty in it. Hope is a guaranteed promise of things to come.

It's guaranteed. It's just hasn't happened yet. And so this confession of our hope that he's referring to here is not something that is, you know, hold fast to your hope because, you know, then maybe it'll come true, right? He's not saying, you know, believe in it hard enough and hopefully it'll come to pass. No, what he's saying is there is this certainty, this promise, but it hasn't happened yet.

And it requires faith to believe it because, well, many times we can't see how these promises could be fulfilled. We can't see how all of these things could work together for good. We can't see how God will complete the work in us, but that's the promise. And so hold fast to that promise, even when you can't even imagine a way for it to be fulfilled. Hold fast to the hope that God has given to you.

It's something that is important for us to do. Again, it's an intentional thing to grasp hold and to hold fast because there's going to be many occasions where you're going to want to let go of that hope, where you're going to be tempted severely to let go of that hope, where it's going to seem like the only option is to let go of that hope.

Pastor Donald Guthrie says, In the world that we live, the values are constantly shifting. The situations are changing constantly.

The standards that God gives to us and the promises that he gives to us are constant. But it's like these waves of the ocean that are seeking to push us away from the anchor, the hope that God has given to us. And there is a deliberate action that must be taken. To me, this idea of holding fast always reminds me of American Samoa.

And so that's why I had Josh lead worship tonight, so that way, you know, we could be in that mindset, right? Going back to those days, and you remember sliding rock? It's this, you know, big, long, slick lava rock. And it's slick, but it's also sharp. It's kind of a weird, you know, combination in that way. But the waves crashed right on it. And so, you know, the idea is we would go out and we would like hold fast onto one of the crevices, right?

And when the wave would crash on you, then the idea is you got to hold on. And, you know, typically there's only a couple that can hold on and the rest just get swept away. And then they go, you know, scraping across all the sharp rocks that are there in the lava rock. So there's great motivation and great incentive for you to hold on because you don't want to experience all that scraping up as the wave tosses you over the rocks. Well, in a similar way, that's what life is like.

and the enemy brings storms and life itself brings storms and there is a need for us to hold fast. Don't let go. If you let go, boy, that wave is just going to toss you all over those rocks. You're going to get bumped up and scraped. And in the midst of holding fast, like you can't breathe and you don't know if you're going to make it and you don't know how much strength, you know, your little pinky has, but you just got to give it all you got and hold fast.

In a similar way, we have these promises of God, the hope of eternity, the hope of heaven, the hope of completion, the hope of all of these things that God has promised to us. And so here the author of Hebrews says, hold fast to that hope. Why? Because you have boldness to enter into the presence of God.

Because you have a high priest who is perpetually at the right hand of the Father interceding for you. Because you have access to the throne room of God by this new and living way. You have all of these privileges. So hold fast to the hope. Jesus didn't give you those promises and do the work of salvation on your behalf to leave you hanging. He is going to be faithful to his word to you. So don't give up.

Hold fast the confession of your hope. Now, this idea of the confession of our hope, it's not just like, okay, I confess that I have hope and I keep saying that even though I don't believe it or act like it. No, the confession of our hope is saying, I have hope. And being genuine and real about it, he's essentially saying, look, don't stop having hope. No matter what you face, no matter how difficult things become, don't stop having hope because you still have access to God.

God still is there for you. He's on your side. Jesus is still interceding on your behalf. So don't give up. Don't stop having hope because the Lord is still there with you and for you. And so he says, hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. Hold fast that confession and don't waver in it. Don't be wishy-washy about it. Why? Why?

Well, he goes on to say, for he who promised is faithful. The reason why we can have such great confidence in the hope that we have is because of the one who made the promise. And so we're not looking at our faithfulness, but we're looking at the faithfulness of the one who made the promises. He is faithful.

So hold fast the hope. Remind yourself of who God is. Remind yourself of how big God is. Remind yourself of the great lengths to which God brought you into salvation. Remember how much he loves you and then hold fast that hope without wavering. He's gonna finish the work.

If your hope is based on who wins the election, I can tell you right now, your hope is wavering, right? Like it's back and forth and back and forth and we still don't know and all of this up in the air. But if your hope is on the one who loves you so much that he sent his only begotten son to die upon the cross for you, who made the way into the holiest of all that you could have access to the presence of God, who gave you these incredible promises and

If your hope is on him, then you don't have to waver because he is steadfast and will not change. Let's keep on holding fast to our hope. As Josh was sharing tonight, if you're breathing, your testimony is not complete. You still have hope. God still has time to finish his work, to fulfill his promises. It's not over yet. It's not done yet. Your testimony is not complete.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope. Well, finally, verses 24 and 25 give us the third bite of this application salad. Let us keep on drawing near in faith. That's point number one. Let us keep on holding fast to our hope. That's point number two. Now for this third bite of the salad. Let us keep on loving one another.

Let us keep on loving one another. Verse 24 and 25 says this, Here in verse 24 and 25, we have some interesting thoughts to consider.

It's interesting that God has us here in this verse tonight on this very cold, much reason to shiver night, here outdoors, the faithful few sitting in service. Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. Now, as he tells us to consider one another, again, the word consider here is in the present tense.

And so this is not something that we, you know, used to do or once did or we did it for a while and, you know, all right, that phase of our Christianity is complete. This is something that God calls us to continually. This is a theme repeated throughout the book of Hebrews that we are to be exhorting one another.

and considering one another and helping each other. And if you think about it, it really makes a lot of sense because the author of Hebrews is writing to people who are shaken in their faith.

And they're questioning and some of them are leaving and going back to the old covenant. And so there's these departures that are happening. And he's saying to the Christians, he's saying, look, guys, don't just like let people fall off the map. Consider one another and rope in those people and encourage those people and stand together through the midst of this situation that you are in. Cain asked the Lord, am I my brother's keeper? And here through the book of Hebrews, the Lord says, yes.

You're your brother's keeper. Exhort one another. Encourage one another. Love one another. Consider. And this idea of considering, it's pondering, it's thinking, it's putting some deliberate effort and thought and premeditation into your interactions with somebody else. He says, consider one another in order to stir up love and good works. The idea here of stirring up

In some translations, usually the older translations, it's translated provoke. And it does have that same idea, but usually we think of provoking to anger, right? Now, if you want to provoke somebody to anger, well, you know, there's a lot of times where you know how to do that. You've figured out, you've learned how, you know, you go up to a Dodger fan and you just start talking about the angels and you can kind of stir up something, right? You can kind of provoke and stir up the fire, right?

For us as believers, the Lord is saying here, hey, you need to consider the people around you and think about in advance ways that you can stir them up, but not to anger or to a good discussion or a big debate, you know, something like that, but stir them up to the end result of love and good works. And so how can I stir up others around me to increase and develop in their love and

for God and their love for one another? How can I stir them up to increase and develop in the good works that God has set for them? And so there is to be this deliberate intention in our minds and in our hearts to care for the people around us and to help move them forward in their relationship with God.

Again, this idea of let us keep on progressing. It's not just self-centered. It's not just me and Jesus. All right, I just got to draw near to the Lord and keep on doing that. And then keep on holding fast to hope. And then I'm set. I'm all good. Me and Jesus, we're set. And the Lord says, no, wait a second. You're not just all by yourself. I made you a member of the body.

You're a member of the other people around you and you're never going to go forward far enough if the other people around you don't progress as well. That there is a need for them to progress as well as you progress and it's your responsibility to help them progress.

to consider them, to think in advance, to put some plans in motion. I'm not talking about, you know, being sneaky and manipulative, but thinking in advance of how can I help this person develop and grow and be established in what God has for them. Well, he goes on in verse 25 to say, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some. In order to stir up love and good works amongst each other,

there has to be some interaction between us. And if there's a forsaking of the assembling, well, there's going to be a neglect of the stirring up of love and good works because we're not around to build each other up, to help each other move forward. And so there is this need for us to assemble together.

In the case of the Hebrews, some of them were going back to synagogue, back to the temple, back to, you know, those practices. And so they were departing from the gathering of the church. It's the manner of some, he says. But he says, let's not do that. Let's not forsake the assembling of ourselves. Instead, let's be thinking about one another and figuring out ways that we can help each other move forward in the relationship with God.

Now this verse is important. It's also a little bit interesting because this is the verse that many people are looking at and referring to and wrestling with in the current situation that we're in where we're being instructed not to have services indoors. We're being instructed not to have, you know, times of singing indoors. And so, you know, how can we follow that

but then not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. Now, for us up to this point, you know, we've been doing our best to follow along with that. And so that's why we're doing service outside.

it comes with some challenges, right? In the middle of summer, it's, you know, 100 degrees and we're all sweating and it's challenging to endure service in that way. And now in the middle of November, you know, now you have icicles dripping off your nose and your ears and, you know, you're freezing, you know, as you try to be faithful to this. And there's definitely some things for us to wrestle with and pray about concerning these things because, yes, it's not comfortable and convenient for us to assemble together,

Now, that's true regardless of pandemic or not, right? Wednesday night services, before the pandemic, you know, we would have a small handful of people, right?

Wednesday night services in the middle of the pandemic, we'd have a parking lot full of people, right? Wednesday night services, when it gets a little bit colder, we have back to that handful of people again. It's part of what happens as different seasons happen and, you know, different motivations are challenged depending on the circumstances and situations that we're in. And so what does this mean for us as he says to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together?

Well, first of all, I would suggest that there's lots of room for the Lord to speak to you about this individually. And so I would encourage you to be praying about that, especially those of you who are watching online right now, be praying about that. You're watching online. You're not physically present, but you're digitally present. Okay, that's great. That's a great benefit of our technology. At the same time, how then are we, if we are distant...

How then are we going to stir up love and good works amongst each other? See, I think it's important to consider what it means to forsake. And sometimes we can slip into legalism in regard to church service. It's a little bit dangerous for me to talk about that because, you know, if I give you too much freedom, you'll just never show up again. And so I got to be careful that I don't throw off all legalism, but...

We got to be careful about legalism in our hearts. What does it mean to forsake the assembling of ourselves together? Does it mean you can never miss one service? Does it mean you have to attend on Sundays and Wednesdays? Is that what it means? You know, sometimes that's how we feel about it in our hearts. Like if I go on vacation, I don't go to church, man. I'm going to feel guilty because I forsook the assembling of the saints together. Is that what the Lord is saying through this? Don't ever miss service, even in a hurricane.

Don't ever miss service even in a pandemic. I would ask you to think about it even further. Is the author even talking about showing up for church services? Because assembling together isn't only happening in, you know, the formal Sunday morning service, Wednesday night service, you know, things that we do. But gathering together of believers is something that can happen in a variety of ways, right?

And in our day and age can even happen virtually and from a distance to a greater degree than it ever could before. I would suggest to you that we can be physically present while forsaking the assembly in reality. You know, just like the religious leaders were faithful to, you know, keep the letter of the law, but miss the heart entirely. I would suggest to you, we got to be careful about legalism. Showing up for service is good, but

But we can still be forsaking the assembly if we're not coming prepared to stir up love and good works. Because this is part of the reason why we're gathering together. This is connected to the previous thought. So if I show up and I haven't considered you, I haven't thought about you, I have no plan, no idea, no way, you know, no intention of stirring up love and good works in your life, then me showing up

I can check the box that I'm physically present, but at the same time, am I really here to love one another? So many times when we think about church services and gatherings, we're thinking, you know, primarily about ourselves and I need it, right? I need that time of worship. I need that time of prayer. I need to be fed. I need to hear the word. And when the Lord talks about us gathering together, he talks to the leaders about the importance of feeding, but he talks to the body about the importance of ministering to one another, right?

And we're not to just have the focus of, I'm here to receive. That when we gather together for service, it is to give as well and to stir up and to challenge and to help people move forward and develop in their relationship. And so I would suggest we can be physically present at the same time we're forsaking the assembling in reality. And the opposite of that, we can be physically absent physically

The heart of what he's saying is not so much check off the church attendance box. You know, you had perfect attendance, gold star, you're good to go. But you can see as he continues here in verse 25, but exhorting one another.

So the not forsaking is attached to but exhorting one another. Instead of forsaking the gathering, be exhorting one another. And in challenging times like this, we need to be thinking about and praying about how we can exhort one another even when we're not able to be physically present. Even when it's more challenging or more difficult or just flat out impossible.

How can we be exhorting one another, again, with the intention of stirring up love and good works? If I show up for service, but make no effort to exhort one another, essentially I'm forsaking the assembling of the brethren. Like, let that rattle around in your head a little bit and break out some of that legalism because we can easily just show up, feel like we've checked the box, feel like we, okay, I've assembled together, I've kept that law, but totally missed the heart.

God's heart is for you to be gathering together in order to exhort, encourage, and build up others around you. Pastor Warren Wiersbe says, it is interesting to note that the emphasis here is not on what a believer gets from the assembly, but rather on what he can contribute to the assembly. And so we come to service not because of what we can get. We participate in a church. We participate as the body of Christ in various ways, but

not for the sake of what we can get, but for what we can contribute to others around us. And when you and I, it's inevitable, it's going to happen, right? We're going to say, well, I have nothing to contribute. Well, that takes us back to point number one, then you're not drawing near to the Lord. You're not spending time with God in his presence. So go back there. In fact, maybe grab someone around you to help you go back and spend some time with the Lord in his presence and

so that you can develop in your relationship with him and receive from him that then you might be able to turn around and give and contribute to others around you in their relationship with God. And so today we have a multitude of ways to contribute to one another from a distance, in person. I think the important thing is for us to not get caught up in the legalism of it, but be focused on the heart. How can I be considering one another and

to exhort them to stir up love and good works. Now he finishes up in verse 25 and he's saying, do this, exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching. So keep on doing this. Keep on loving one another, even in hard times, even when it's difficult, even when it's uncomfortable. Keep on showing up. Keep on reaching out. Keep on pushing forward and developing each other. And then as you see the day approaching,

As you see, you know, time drawing to a close, then, well, increase your efforts to consider one another. Increase your efforts to exhort one another. A lot of times in challenging situations, we're drawing back. As the, you know, pandemic first hit, you know, we're kind of like all in shock and we're trying to figure out how do we deal with this new reality? As the seasons change, there's a lot of us who are like wrestling with, okay, how do we deal with this new reality?

Now it's cold and we're doing service outside. How do we deal with this, right? And I do think it's appropriate that when those kinds of changes happen, that we take a step back and reflect and allow the Lord to speak to us and lead us, you know, in that area. I do believe that in those kinds of times of crisis and shock that we have to take some time to adjust. But also I would encourage you and remind you, we take some time to adjust and then we got to get back in the race and

and keep moving forward. I've learned this, you know, several times in several ways over the past several years as I had to shift gears out of full-time, you know, being on staff here and then having freelance work and how do I balance these things? And oh man, there was times of shock and I didn't know which way was up and which way was down and had to like work through a little bit of time to kind of get my bearings. And

Okay, now I got a rhythm now. I understand what's going on. Okay, now, Lord, now how do I progress and move forward and not just survive this situation that I'm in?

And then the transition, you know, going from freelance to then working a full-time job, that's quite a different transition. It took me quite a bit of time to adjust to that schedule and that framework and that structure. And okay, I've survived that. I'm keeping my head above water. Okay, now how do I do more than just survive and how do I push forward?

In similar ways, you have challenges and things that, you know, life throws you a curveball and it's okay. It's appropriate for you to like, okay, like you just got to catch your breath. You just got to go into survival mode for a bit and make it through. But I would suggest to you, if you keep on drawing near in faith, God's going to give you what you need to more than just make it through. He's going to help you get your bearings and then enable you and equip you

to then move forward and progress and hold fast to that hope and do more than just survive, but you're actually gonna be able to give and to love others around you and contribute to their spiritual life and to develop others and make disciples in the way that the Lord has called you.

As the Hebrews were facing these challenges and these crises that they were experiencing with the persecution and the doubts and the difficulties that they were experiencing, the author of Hebrews reminds them of the doctrine. Remember who Jesus is. Remember what Jesus has done for us and let that be the foundation that keeps you progressing and moving forward. Let us keep drawing near in faith.

Keep growing closer to the Lord. Keep developing in your relationship with God. Keep spending time in his presence. If it's getting old, if it's getting, you know, boring, if it's getting, well, you need to ask the Lord to help you to freshen up your relationship with him. Because, man, a relationship with the true and living God who is, you know, from eternity past and will forever, you know, exist, like there is more to him than we could ever explore. And so if it's getting old and boring, keep growing.

If we're tired and weary, it's all on us. And we're the ones that need to be changed. Let's keep drawing near. Keep spending time with God in his presence. Holding fast to his hope. Not giving up amongst the challenges and difficulties and things that we can't see how these promises will be fulfilled. They will be fulfilled. Keep holding fast to the hope that God has given to you. And let's keep loving one another. Over the next few months, I think we have some challenges to this loving one another.

Because, well, not as many people are going to be out here. Not as many people are going to be. And, you know, the way things are, it's looking like we're going to be in this state probably for a little bit longer. So what are we going to do? Now, you might be saying, well, I don't understand, Jerry, why, you know, we don't just move inside. Well, I don't understand why you don't just hear from the Lord about what he wants for you in this time.

I do have the responsibility to hear from the Lord about what he wants for us and how he wants our services to be. And I'm thankful for our board. We'll be meeting tomorrow and talking and praying some more and continually. How do we handle these changes? But at the same time, you have a responsibility to be praying about how can you love one another in the midst of this? Yes, it's going to be challenging. It's going to be different. It's going to look different perhaps than you've ever seen before. But it doesn't change our responsibility.

because of who Christ is and what he's done for us, let's keep on loving one another, thinking about each other to stir up love and good works and keep on doing it more and more as we see the day approaching. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for all that you've done for us, the incredible promises, the incredible gifts, Lord, you've just poured out upon us abundantly, continually, over and over and over again. And so, Lord, we pray

are here as recipients of that. We are so thankful for who you are and all that you've done. I pray, God, that you would help us to draw near to you, to know you. I pray that you would stir up within us a thirst for you like never before. Lord, that we would desire to have those encounters with you in your presence. Lord, I pray that you would encourage us to hold fast to the promises that you've given to us. Lord, there's great reason to hope.

to trust, to hold fast to the things that you have declared. You are faithful, so help us not to waver. And I pray, God, that you would give us great insight, ways that we can stir up others around us to help them succeed in the challenges that they face, to be bold and to go forward in their walk and their relationship with you and steps of faith and that you have before them. Help us, Lord.

to proceed, to move forward, not to stand still, not to move backwards, but as the men and women that you've called into your presence, may we go forward, growing stronger, growing wiser, growing in love and faith and hope. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

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