“Not Forsaking...”
(A Message to the Members)
(Preached Wednesday Evening, July 29, 2020)
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”
(Hebrews 10:25)
Introduction
Is the pastor of your church a crook? No, of course not. At least we certainly hope not.
- Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary describes a crook as “a person who engages in fraudulent [crooked, deceitful, defrauding, dishonest, double-dealing, false] practices.”
Does your pastor engage in “false practices?” Do you? You see the Lord Jesus Christ states clearly what the job description of a Christian is. In fact, the name Christian, as is commonly known, means “little Christ”; that is, someone who professes to the world (before, during and from baptism on) that they live a life that is
- Like Christ,
- Following Christ, and
- Obeying the words that were given to them by Christ!
Therefore, as the Lord, Jesus Christ has commanded you, the world looks on with an understanding that you, dear Christian, are supposed to, among many other great and wonderful things,
- “Go … and teach all nations!”
- Go … baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost!”
- “Go … teaching them to observe all things whatsoever [our Lord, Jesus Christ has] commanded you!”
- “Go!” Oh, gloriously “go” – clarified, empowered, relentless, and refusing to be stopped by anyone or anything because…
- Jesus said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth!”
- Jesus said, “lo [Look! Behold! Never forget!], I am with you always, even unto the end of the world!”
- “Amen! [So be it! Done deal! Go! Go!! Go, and keep going “unto the end of the world!!!]” (See Matthew 28:18-20)
- Hallelujah! Jesus is alive! Jesus is risen! Jesus is coming again… soon!
Ah, but… we digress. We were talking about a “crook.” And, unbeknownst to you, dear listener (or reader), we had gone on a tangent excitedly down the road – of the wrong definition. Laughably… and seriously.
Yes, the definition of the word crook that we are looking for here, in order to introduce and begin this message, is the primary definition, and in fact the primary example given online, as you’ll immediately see by clicking on this link for the word crook at Merriam-Webster.com. Yes, we need to understand exactly what is… a shepherd’s crook.
- A shepherd’s crook is a long and sturdy stick with a hook at one end, often with the point flared outwards, used by a shepherd to manage and sometimes catch sheep.” Wikipedia Contributors. “Shepherd.” (Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Nov. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepherd.)
Tricky business being a shepherd. Not as easy a job as it seems. Even trickier is where that analogy of a shepherd ends. [And, yes, most of us know that the word pastor means shepherd.] Where does the analogy end?
- Shall the pastor fleece the sheep and take all he can from them to keep himself alive?
- Shall the pastor eat the sheep, protecting them from the wolf only enough so that he may eat them himself?
- Shall the pastor keep the sheep corralled and tightly huddled together for a lifetime, however brief, until the sheep grow sick from huddling in disease, weak from generations of inbreeding, and gasping for the fresh air and open fields of those sheep who were allowed to be properly sent out by their Lord – into the fields which are “white unto harvest?”
Oh, praise be to God, the fields are indeed fresh, and wide, and open, and “white unto harvest!” As our Lord said, in John 4:35,
“Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.”
Ah, glory be to God! This . . . is . . . . Christianity! And dear friend, know it or not, hear it now: This . . . is . . . only . . . the introduction to this message!
Come next week for the rest of the spiritual weaponry you need to counter your enemy the Devil’s subtle attempt to shut you down from actively waging war for “the Lord of the harvest.” (Luke 10:2)
Yes, dear soldier! Yes, never forget that in the wilderness temptation of our Lord, Satan attempted to take the very Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, out of the sheath, out of the hand of our Lord and use it against him.
Be prepared! Be back next week. Be in this fight, this life, this joy in living the way Jesus meant for you to live – be in this to win!
Here are the points that, together, we will seek to be immersed in… next week!
I. Not forsaking considering one another!
“And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:” (Hebrews 10:24)
A. Why do we not consider one another?
B. Why do we not provoke one another unto love?
C. Why do we not provoke one another unto good works?
II. Not forsaking assembling with one another!
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25)
A. Why are true Christians “forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is?”
B. Why are true Christians not “exhorting [encouraging] one another?”
C. Why are true Christians not “exhorting [encouraging] one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching?”
III. Not forsaking surrendering to Christ with one another!
“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 judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.” (Hebrews 10:26-27)
A. Why are we sinning “wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth?”
B. Why are we sinning willfully while knowing that “there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins?”
C. Why are we sinning willfully while so clearly facing the impending “certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.”
Conclusion:
Hallelujah! Christ is risen! Christ is ascended! Our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior is coming again… soon!
See you next week! Praying for you! Loving you so very much and so very sincerely in the land of the freely free in Jesus!
OUTLINE:
“Not Forsaking . . .”
Not forsaking considering one another!
Not forsaking assembling with one another!
Not forsaking surrendering to Christ with one another!
“But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” (Luke 11:42)
WORSHIP:
God Be with You Till We Meet Again (586)
Opening:
I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go (352)
Middle:
O How He Loves You and Me (277)
Message:
Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus (441)
Closing hymn: