I'll desist. We're turning this morning in
our Bibles to Hebrews chapter 10, Hebrews chapter 10, and
we're going to read from verse 19 and we'll read all the way
through to verse 31. Hebrews chapter 10 we'll read
from verse 19. Let's hear the word of God
reading, of course from the Authorised Version.
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the
holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he
has consecrated for us through the veal, that is to say, his
flesh, and having an high priest over the House of God, let us
draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.
Having our hearts sprinkle 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. Let us consider one another to
provoke unto love and to good works, not forsake in 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 wilfully, after
that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there
remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful
looking for of judgement and fiery indignation which shall
devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses law died
without mercy under two or three witnesses.
Of how much sorer punishment suppose ye, shall he be thought
worthy? He of trodden under foot the Son
of God, and have counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith
he was sanctified an unholy thing, and have done despite
unto the Spirit of grace. For we know him that have said,
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. Amen.
We know the Lord will stamp with His own approval and blessing
this reading of His own precious and infallible word.
Now this morning, as we draw to a conclusion or series of
messages that I entitled some time ago, the Christian and
today I want to deal with the vital, important subject, the
Christian and the importance of church attendance.
Or to put it simply, to give you 3 other words to remember.
Why attend church now? You got to ask yourself that
question, why attend church now My text is taken from Hebrews
chapter 10 verse 25, and it reads not for seeking 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. Now Hebrews chapter 1025 is a
call to be loyal to the local church.
Now remember why the Apostle Paul LED of the Holy Ghost wrote
this book of Hebrews. He was writing to early Jewish
Christians, believers in the Lord Jesus Christ who were being
persecuted for their faith and as a result of that persecution,
they were tempted to turn back to Judaism.
Not only were they physically being persecuted, but they're
also being verbally taunted day by day.
Where's your temple? Where's the priesthood?
Where's your high priest? Look at that wee handful of
people with you compared to the large congregation that's in the
synagogue. So Paul, inspired by the Holy
Spirit, wrote the book to encourage God's people to get
their eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul emphasised here he told them and having an high priest
over the House of Gaunt in verse 21, we have and high priest, a
great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ.
He bought under the guidance of the Holy Spirit took time to set
forth the absolute superiority of the Lord Jesus Christ in
relation to archangels, in relation to angels and Abraham
and Aaron and Melchizedek and so on and so forth.
He also set forth the absolute soul sufficiency of Jesus Christ
in his personal work. We have a better and a greater
sacrifice, the sacrifice of the blood shedding of the Lord Jesus
into Hebrews 10 and 12 But this man, after he'd offered one
sacrifice for sins forever sat down in the right hand of God.
And when we come to verse 19, we read this, 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 a high
priest over the House of God. You see, Paul is laying the
basis and the foundation of what he has to say.
He's reminding his readers that we have the great privilege of
access to the living God through the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Our access to God, our approach
is secured by the precious Blood, and He is exhorting them
and exhorting us when we come together to remember that.
We come together because Jesus Christ shed his blood on the
cross as a great high priest that gave us access to God.
He has offered that full and final sacrifice for sin.
It was once for all. The sacrifice has been accepted.
The proof is the empty tomb. Jesus Christ is ascended into
heaven as our great high Priest and presented there in the altar
the blood of sacrifice. And therefore, in light of this,
in light of this basis, having established that foundation, we
can do something. And what can we do?
Well, notice the three exhortations, verse 22.
Let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of
faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
In other words, let us draw near to God and worship, and the
blood of Jesus Christ is the basis, the only basis upon which
man can worship God properly. Then he adds in verse 23, Let us
hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering.
In other words, let us persevere.
Let us hold on. Let us hold fast and hold forth
our faith. Then he says in verse 24, here's
the third exhortation, and let us consider one another to
provoke unto love and to good works.
And then he adds this, look at verse 25 now 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. Surely it's obvious and apparent
that there were some in Paul's day who had forsook the regular
gathering of the local church for divine worship.
And that had become a real discouragement to those who
remained in the fellowship. And sadly, there were more in
the fellowship who were tempted to follow suit and out the door
and stop going. They were being persecuted and
that was hard and difficult to take.
Physical persecution, verbal persecution, emotional.
Many were losing their jobs. Many were put out of families.
Many were were were had lost their inheritance.
And yet Paul writes, he deals with a very important subject,
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 that they approach.
He is dealing with the subject of the importance of church
attendance or the why attend church.
Now this has been a burden in my heart for some time and I want
to give you some thoughts that the Lord has put in my mind.
First of all, I want you to think of the importance of
church attendance. You see, this text over all is a
call, a clear command of God to regularly attend the Bible
believing church that is faithful to the Word of God.
Now before I really get into the heart of the subject, let me
point out I believe this is a very relevant up to date
message. I believe it's a very important
message for today. Why?
Because of the state of professing Christianity in the
21st century. What are we faced with?
Well, first of all, we're faced with the evil of declension.
I think it's obvious church attendance is declining.
Many people in the United Kingdom have stopped going to
church, and that's especially so in our Protestant, unionist,
loyalist areas. And if you want proof, think of
the number of churches that have been closed over this past year
in Belfast alone and in the greater Belfast.
It was pointed out to me by a brother from Newton Ards by the
name of Jim some time ago as he sat in the Schenkel Historical
Society, that only one in 100 regularly attend any church in
the greater Schenkel area. And what is true of the great
Shankill area that's known as a bastion of the loyalist
Protestant people is also something had been repeated in
many different places throughout the United Kingdom.
Here's the importance of attending church because we're
facing the evil of declension. We're also facing the evil of
individualism. See, people tell us it's my
life, it's my business. Nobody's going to tell me what
to do. I'm the boss.
I go it alone. I don't have to go to church
unless I want to. I can meet God at home at any
time on the own if I want to. I could read a book, I could
read the Bible. I could listen to a sermon on
the Internet or on TVI don't need the church.
I don't need to be in a church meeting.
I want to tell you, you see people that talk like that.
I want to make it abundantly clear God is not speaking either
to them or through them from their own mouth and in their own
mind. It is the devil at work.
It's a true indication of the state of their heart.
For someone to say nobody will tell me how to live.
It's exactly in the time of the judges.
Every man did that which is right in his own eyes.
He's ignoring this call and this command to publicly attend the
local church. Here's another evil, the evil of
consumerism. There's many people today in the
21st century, and this is their mindset in relation to church.
I'm going to shop around for a church, one that I find that
meets my felt needs, a church that's pleasing to me.
You see, it's all about me. It's not about the master, it's
all about me. And sadly the evangelical church
today has begun for has done for many years to cater for what
people want. And we live in an age when
people have forgotten what the church is.
The church is not a club. The church is not a social
community hub. It is not merely young people
for hatching and matching and dispatching.
What does that mean? It means that some people only
use the church in the day that they're born, on the day they
get married and on the day they die.
This is how thousands of professing Christians see the
church in the United Kingdom. It's a sort of a club, it's a
social centre, it's a community hub.
And for many evangelical churches then what they get,
because that's how the church is viewed as a very soft gospel
message and they're told maybe it will, all you need is Jesus.
But it's never explained who he is or what he's like or what
he's done and what is absent. There is a clear presentation of
the whole council of God regarding the person and work of
Christ as we man on Sunday Row in the late Ernie Patterson's
day used to say this. Then he forget the church.
And I repeat that. Then he forget the church.
The church is an important institution and it's being
ignored and it's being undermined.
Now let me put in a caveat here because I've talked about the
evil of declension. We've talked about the evil of
consumerism, the evil of individualism.
But let me put in a caveat. If you're sick at home when
you've got a fever or you're disabled or you're seriously ill
and you physically can't be here or be in the House of God,
although in your heart you would love to be in attendance, but
you can't physically come, then you have a good reason to be
absent. It's perfectly understandable.
The Lord knows, the Lord cares, the Lord loves.
Let me give you another caveat here.
There's those that can't be here because of work.
It's often times the nature of work, especially legitimate jobs
when it comes to the Lord's Day. Let me give you another caveat.
Distance. We, we have people tuning in
this morning hundreds of miles away, and you're very welcome.
You join us online because physically you couldn't be here.
Maybe you're even living closer to the church, not 100 miles
away, but you don't have a car and you don't have a bus and
it's too far to walk. Or maybe you're on a family
break. The Bible says come you apart
and rest away. That was the Lord Jesus advice
to his disciples and those in holiday.
I know you do you aim to worship God where you're at in the Lords
day. You faithfully attend another
Church of you here in Northern Ireland and you have this
mindset of faithful church attendance.
So I put it in the caveat, if you're ill, if you're working,
if you're in a family break or because of distance you can't
physically get to a faithful Bible believing church, then the
Lord knows that and the Lord understands.
But faithful church attendance simply means this.
Nothing will keep those that are adherents and those that are
members of a local church from public worship in the Lord's
Day, except for these legitimate reasons that I've suggested
being sick, work distance, a family holiday.
There's another thing I want to stress is this.
Church attendance is only really beneficial if the church is
attended as being faithful to the gospel.
See, I have a burden in my heart and I'm going to tell you what
it is. There's many churches in
Northern Ireland and they're not faithful to the gospel.
And that's true in the United Kingdom.
In the pulpit, you've got false preachers who don't believe the
Bible to be the inspired and errant word of God.
Some of them don't even believe in God as he's revealed in the
Holy Scriptures. They're more atheistic.
They don't believe in Jesus Christ and his person at work.
They don't believe in the blood atonement, the bodily
resurrection. They, they don't believe in the
place called heaven. They don't believe in hell.
You see, we're we're living in a day of a great apostasy and
because these men in the pulpit are not being faithful to the
gospel and because of the spirit of the age, the spirit of
Antichrist that has kept in now a spirit of Wook ISM has come
into the church. Ministers will give a sermon or
a talk and climate change a diversity quality inclusion
programme support. Let's stop the oil, support
transgender identity, support LGBT plus support seeker
sensitive. And they're wondering why the
people won't come. And I want to tell you that this
is destroying our country and it's down grading our Christian
identity. And there has to be a call for
repentance, and repentance has to start in the church, and it
starts with me and it starts with every other church leader,
including our own. And many in Protestant,
loyalist, unionist areas won't come to church.
And here's one of the reasons, because when they come, they're
not hearing a faithful gospel message.
And I know that people can tell me demographics have changed,
and they are and have. But that's no reason to abandon
the church. We've got 4 million Muslims
living in the United Kingdom. 25% of them identify with jihad,
a holy war against the West, against Bible, believe in
Christianity, and they want to go and worship Allah.
And if a Presbyterian or a Church of Ireland or a Methodist
Church closes, or even a Free Presbyterian Church for that
matter, they would want to buy it and they would go on their
Friday and they would have their place full of young men and then
at another place, young women. You see I say to the clergy in
Northern Ireland this morning and I say in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the soul head and king of the church, you need
to repent before God and you need to restore the gospel and
you need to rediscover the doctrine of salvation, the five
solas out of the Reformation, you need to preach them in the
power of the Spirit. See the Gospels, the answers.
And that's what Paul said. Listen to Romans chapter 1.
He says, for I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it's
the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to
the Jew 1st and also to the Greek.
For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith as it is written. The just shall live by faith.
I would want to keep the church open.
I would want to keep the lights on.
I know that there's many small churches like our own, and we're
struggling, and we're seeking to be faithful in our worship, and
we're seeking to be faithful to the person and we're afraid.
We're seeking to defend the gospel.
And I know we're many older people, and I thank the Lord for
the young people that are here. And I know that some young
people want to be involved in that which is trendy and that
which is new and that which is modern.
And I understand that, and I'm not opposed to change, But one
thing that cannot change is the gospel.
The gospel transcends time. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation. And what is the church for?
It's a hospital for six souls so that souls can commend that are
dead, souls that can be resurrected.
Souls can see with the Spirit of God.
Souls can hear the word of God. Now that's the importance of
attending the local church that has taken me all that time, but
I pray the Lord will underscore that.
I want you to think secondly, as you look at our text, the
instruction for church attendance, see if you look very
carefully at Hebrews chapter 10, verse 25, you'll see that it's a
biblical command. Churches attendance is
essential. It's necessary.
Why? Because God has commanded it,
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.
Notice what we're not to do. We're not to forsake the
assembling of ourselves together.
That is, we're not to for seek the House of God and the day of
God, to worship the true and living God and hear the word of
God. We must aim to be loyal.
We must aim to be faithful. We must aim to be true and many
are not faithful like in Paul's day.
This is what Paul says, not forsaking the assembling of
herself together as the manner of some is some have already
left. They've stopped attending, and
they've stopped attending primarily in Paul's day because
of intense persecution, stopped attending perhaps for some of
the other reasons that I have given.
There could be others. Why go to church?
I appreciate you that come and you come faithfully, young and
old alike. But what is the real reason?
Why go to church? Well, well, I believe because in
the heart of the individual there's a burning desire to be
there. The heart and mind is filled
with that desire, and that desire has come out of the new
birth. 2nd Corinthians 517 of any man.
Be in Christ as your new creature.
Old things have passed away and all things have become new and
all things are of God. That desire to come to worship
on the day of God flows out of a changed heart.
That desire pushes them to crave the worship of God, to crave the
word of God. Think of a baby craving milk,
craving food. Little granddaughter was with me
on Thursday and she's saying to me, I'm hungry.
Granddad, what was she doing? She was just craving food.
And when we have a desire that craves for food, that will make
us speak out and cry out, as you, born Biebs, desire the
sincere milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby a soul
thirsting for God. And that desire for God will
lead to a devotion, And that desire and devotion together
will lead to faithful church attendance, because our aim will
be to please and glorify God. Remember what the psalmist said
there in Psalm 42. As the heart punteth after the
water brook, so punteth my soul after Thee, O God.
My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
Psalmist couldn't wait for the Sabbath day to be in the House
of God with the people of God to worship the living in the true
God. Psalm 7325 says, whom have I in
heaven but thee? Verse 25, Psalm 73, verse 25.
And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.
My flesh and my heart feeleth, but God is the strength of my
heart and my portion forever. Catechism asked the question,
what is man's chief end? And the answer of course is
man's chief end is to dorify God and enjoy him forever.
Wasn't it the apostle Paul that emphasised to the Corinthian
church in First Corinthians? In chapter 10 and verse 31, he
said this very important statement. 1st Corinthians 10
and 31 whatsoever, whether therefore you eat or drink or
whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.
And I asked the question in the instruction for church
attendance. If it's a biblical command and
we're not to forsake the assembling of ourselves
together, and this biblical command will be rooted in a
desire that will lead to devotion, that will lead to our
duty, then here's the question. If we aren't created for the
purpose of worshipping and glorifying God as Creator, have
we a desire for this command? Are we devoted to this command?
Do we see it as our duty and responsibility?
I am not going to neglect the assembling together with God's
people on the Lord's Day. Notice what we are to do
assembling of ourselves together.
That's a clear reference to the gathering of God's people
professing believers for to worship God, to gather in a
local geographical place. The word refers to the regular
scheduled meetings of the local church, the Lord's Day services.
It's wide enough to include the prayer meetings.
It's wide enough to include the Bible study.
We have three prayer meetings in the church, morning and evening
and the Lord's Day, and a Wednesday night, a Bible study
on Wednesday. And that has been the practise
of the early church. Down the ages, believers have
gathered with other believers in order to worship God, to pray
together, to read the scriptures, to sing prayers, to
hear God's word, to give their tithes and offering, and to
receive the sacraments. You see, this idea of practising
worship, I go it alone. This individualistic idea of me
and God, this idea of desertion and consumerism, it's foreign to
the Bible. The word assembly here is very
important. It means to congregate.
In fact it's been used congregation in another place in
the book of Acts and we congregate for a purpose.
God calls his people to assemble together on the House of God and
the day of God to hear the word of God and the worship of God.
And it brings glory to God. It honours him.
And for those who say well I don't need God, and for those
who say well I can worship at home, it's not scriptural.
We are to assemble together. That was the practise of the
early church. Remember in the book of Acts and
Acts chapter 2 and in the verse 42.
Remember what we read there, the 3000 that were converted on the
day of Pentecost, it says. And they continued steadfastly
in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, and the breaking of
bread and in prayers. Let me give you an illustration.
Suppose I wanted to light a fire, what would I need?
Would need paper. I would need then some
firelighters, few wee sticks, a box of matches.
I would need some coal. I would need some logs, maybe
even some peat. I would have to clean out the
grate, and I would clean out the grate first, and then I would
assemble all of that material together before I would strike
the match. All of those come together to
light a fire. And suppose after the fire's lit
and burning hot, I take a tongue and I take a piece of coal out
of the fire, set it on the hearth.
How quickly it cools down. Over time it gets cooler and
cooler. Eventually it loses heat.
It's warmth, it smokes, it's hot, and then it's cold.
And I want to tell you this morning that there are thousands
upon thousands of professing Christians who have lost their
sensible longing, lost a sense of identity, lost a sense of
community because of their neglect on the Lord's Day in
attendance, the House of God out of their soul, even though they
professed the name of Christ. The heat has evaporated, they
have grown cold there. There's a carnality is set in,
there's a carelessness is set in, there's a corruption that is
set in. They have no desire.
They have no devotion. They have no sense of duty.
The fervency and passion and vision for eternal things is
gone. They've lost their identity and
their loyalty to Christ. I urge you to show your loyalty
to Christ. Here's a clear biblical command.
Why attend church? It's essentially commanded.
I want you to see very quickly it's a beneficial command.
If you look again at our text, but exhorting one another one
another's in italics, the the word exhorting here is the word
encouragement. This was the practise of the
early church. Here was the pattern they
gathered for worship because it was essentially commanded by
God. But when they gathered for
worship, they realised that they not only had a responsibility
towards the local church, but they had a responsibility
towards one another. As they gathered together with
one another, they were exhorting and encouraging one another by
their presence and by their words and by their prayers.
Don't be inconsiderate, don't be inconsistent, don't have a
failure in her heart and mind to consider others.
Remember, he said, and let us consider one another to provoke
unto love and the good works. How do you do that?
By being present on the Lord's Day in the House of God.
And remember the context here. These dear people were facing
persecution, intense pressure from family and friends.
They they were being forced to consider a sense of
embarrassment by the smallness of numbers in the early church
in the congregation, comparison to the large numbers in the
synagogue. But I want to say numbers are
not an indication of great blessing from God.
You only have to think of the mega church.
Often times the true church can be small, and I'm aware of that
and I know that that impacts upon the heart of many.
And if that is true, then all the more so.
We need to encourage one another because it's a beneficial
command. If you faithfully attend, you
will encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ.
As I've said, the the church is a hospital for sick people.
The the church is God's chief instrument through which he
meets with and blesses his people.
Remember the Lord Jesus, Matthew chapter 18, verse 20, where two
or three are gathered together in my name.
They are my in the midst. He's in the midst.
The local church is his body. It's true of the universal
church. It's a coming together of parts
of the body of Christ and we're to strengthen and encourage and
exhort one another. And therefore each member is
essential as each member of the body is essential.
Each member has a a gift that they can contribute for, for the
well-being of others. It's an act of love not only to
God, but an act of love to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
And of course, together we hear the word of God.
And that's the main aspect of worship, isn't it?
Romans 10/17 Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word
of God. It's not a club to be
entertained. It's not a place for our we
motivational speech. It's not a place where the
community comes together and just have a yarn and a laugh.
We're commanded to preach the word.
And to those who say, but the church is small and to those who
say, well, I need a Family Day, do not put family about worship.
And for those who say I need a pleasure day, whether it's an
Enniskillen or somewhere else, well, don't put pleasure above
the worship of God. And even for those who say,
well, I have to work every Sunday, you don't.
It's not the law. You only have to work one Sunday
at a four. Do not put business or work
above the worship of God. Many have got complacent.
Many have become spiritually lazy.
We need to be distinct. We need to think about what sort
of church people want, and I believe the church that they
need is a church that is proclaiming and is faithful to
the Word of God. And if we love the Word of God
and God's Son and God's gospel, then we will not be happy until
we find a meeting place where the gospel is faithfully
preached, where they're faithful to the blood and sacrifice of
Christ, where there's a clear call for repentance and faith.
That's the primary reason. It's not only commanded by God,
it's for a beneficial purpose, exhorting one another so much in
that word. I want to tell you it's also of
as a because command. If you look again at our text,
but so much the more as you see the day approaching.
Here's another reason not only for exhorting one another, but
so much the more as you see the day approaching.
Now what day is that? Well, it's the last days.
We're living in the last days. The last day is approaching and
we're being exhorted here to think about that.
Remember, the Lord Jesus has led by example.
We follow in his steps. He went to the synagogue
faithfully in his day and generation.
The incentive for church attendance as we finish, as you
see the day approaching, the second coming of Christ, the day
of Christ's return, the day when I lush her in a day of judgement
and a day of salvation. Matthew chapter 24 says because
iniquity shall abound the love of man, he shall wax cold.
Many have become careless, complacent, cold hearted.
Many are full of complaints. Many are full of a a spurt of
bitterness. They've got many grapes and
they've forgotten that their great need is to show love and
loyalty to Christ first and foremost.
Paul didn't just mention the day.
He says much more as you see the day approaching.
The day hasn't come yet, but the day is coming.
Day of opposition, a day when things will get worse, a day
when there's an increase in wickedness.
And, and he's really saying there's an urgency here.
We need this more now than ever. The sensible longing, this
display of loyalty to to Christ out of love that this, this
sense of community, this sense of identity, we need each other
and therefore stay with Christ, stay with the gospel, stay with
God's people. That's the incentive for church
attendance. I trust this morning.
And I have to be honest, I feel I've only scratched the surface
here and what I have shared, but I pray that what I have brought
to you will help you to think of the question, why attend church?
The primary reason is because it's commanded by God.
It's beneficial for you and the well-being of your brothers and
sisters in Christ. And it's because of this day
that's approaching whenever Christ returns.
Or stand before God and give an account.
Imagine the save you're saying. Why did you not attend a
faithful Bible believing church to see if you're examining you
as a professing Christian and asking for reasons?
Your mouth is closed and you have none to say.
That's what Paul means. That day's approaching.
It's a day of opposition, but it's also a day of examination.
That's the incentive for church attendance.
The Lord bless you.