Consider how to provoke to love and good deeds
By Jay Wegter
“A body Thou hast prepared for Me” (Heb 10:5). What a precious and deep mystery, that Christ speaks of His coming in the flesh—of assuming our human nature. The incarnation was the effect of the mutual counsel of the Father and the Son. A body was prepared for the Son for a real sacrifice; that our Savior might suffer for sin in order to make atonement for it.
The author of the book of Hebrews begins this chapter by stating that the Levitical offerings could never pacify the conscience of the sinner. But the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ would sanctify believers for all time (v. 14). (The conscience comes to a full rest stop of peace.)
Christ’s work on our behalf in the offering of His body was by the will of God (v. 10). All good (every benefit) communicated to the church comes because of the offering of the body of Jesus. The result is that Christ’s sacrifice is the glory of God and the salvation of the church. God is absolutely pleased, satisfied and glorified in the offering of the Christ. This response of the Father is revealed in how highly Christ is exalted (vv. 12-13) (Phil 2). The outcome of Christ’s sacrifice: the Lord will slay and subdue all the enemies of the church, for in fulfilling His mission, Christ has made our enemies His enemies. He put Himself between us and our enemies. The entrance of sin raised up these enemies against us in the first place. Christ came to destroy the works of the devil (1 Jn 3:8). Now, He is expecting the final ruin of all of our spiritual adversaries, for they are all in His power. This is why true believers are overcomers. Overcoming the world, the flesh, and the devil is the condition for finishing the race (read Revelation 21).
In verses 15-18 we see that Christ has won a complete pardon for sin. The New Covenant has a boundless provision for cleansing because of Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice. Now the saint has boldness and confidence to enter into the presence of God in prayer and communion—this is the privileged state of gospel worshippers. It is our duty to come boldly (v. 19). Now the procuring cause of this boldness and liberty is the blood of Jesus. His offering took away all the causes of distance from God (depicted by the veil in the O.T. temple). Christ made reconciliation having removed the partition (veil) which shut us out from fellowship with God. Now we are to fully utilize this reconciliation by receiving the atonement in continual faith. The blood of Christ is the source of our boldness to draw near to God. Think how this perfect sacrifice addresses our natural state of defilement. When we were enemies of God our consciences due to the guilt of sin were filled with a dread of God. The last thing we wished for was nearness to God—we did not regard access to Him to be an infinite blessing. But the blood of Christ takes away this dread and craven fear. And now our access is by a new and living way—by the New Covenant (the gospel way) The veil to the Holy of Holies has been rent—torn from top to bottom. It cannot forbid entrance or close out and shut out any more (v. 20).
So glorious is Christ, so infinite His dignity, so great His honor, so perfectly efficacious His office as High Priest—that His sacrifice is of boundless worth (this is the basis of our boldness) (See Heb 7:25-27) (v. 21).
In the next verse (v. 22) we see that we are to apply ourselves to the benefits of His priesthood by drawing near to God. We are to draw near with a true and sincere heart fully assured and persuaded of the priesthood of Christ. It is faith in Christ alone—resting in His offices that gives us this bold confidence.
V. 22 -- “Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of FAITH.” A sincere (or ‘true’) heart is characterized by sincerity—or the absence of double-mindedness about sin. It is truth in the inner man (Ps 51:6—the absence of hypocrisy) (without idols of heart, without ‘well-fed’ ruling lusts—Ezekiel 14:3-7) (see Psalm 66:18).
V. 22 cont. – the cleansing of a defiled, or evil conscience (the faculty that records our sin) (it detects our sin and its danger and vileness); the body, the agent of sin. Oh how continual fresh applications of the blood of Christ are needed. Without this sincerity of heart there will neither be boldness or confidence in our access to God.
The nature of God and the nature of His worship require sincerity of heart. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Heb 11:6). The ‘assurance’ with which we draw near is an immovable persuasion concerning the Priesthood of Christ whereby we have access to God. This persuasion involves the full satisfaction of our souls and consciences of the reality of efficacy of the Priesthood of Christ which gives us acceptance with God. V. 23 – “Let us hold fast the confession of our HOPE without wavering for He who promised is faithful” (wavering: doubting, double-mindedness—without mental disputing—disputing of conscience). This involves giving ourselves up to Christ and subjecting ourselves to His gospel. Hold fast our confession: this fortifies hope; it is hope based upon the unchanging faithfulness of God. We are to feed our spiritual endurance and perseverance upon the greatness, glory and excellence of His promises.
“Holding fast our confession” is the way we guard hope; for a life characterized by inconsistency (wavering) imperils eternal inheritance. “Hold fast” in the face of opposition, trials, afflictions. Note that inconsistency withers hope. Endless wavering tends to apostasy. Inward rule governs outward rule—to be ruled by doubts is disobedience to this command. V. 24 – The three exhortations (or appeals): draw near, hold fast, consider—follow the order of faith, hope, and love. This is not an accident, for the members of the believing community (“those sanctified”); the household of God (v. 21)—are to mutually enjoy the benefits of the New Covenant. These benefits come with commensurate responsibilities. “And let us consider:” perceive, observe, understand, attend well, fix our eyes upon. This is not a trivial or casual activity. It is ongoing outgoing compassionate caring of every member of the body. It is not speaking platitudes. (EX. I asked the question Wed. night, “When was the last time you were at a church potluck, dinner, bar-b-que, etc. when a believer inquired about the welfare of your spiritual state?” Actually gave your soul a visit?)
` Consider how to provoke: incite, stimulate, even irritate to good works. Talk is not enough, there must be action, example—persistent practical active good. (This is a community activity—the very purpose of fellowship.) Love begets love, action begets action, care begets care.
Masculine spiritual influence must become the ethos of a local body if men are to obey this command. (EX. Pastor Reeder, “The church ought to be a factory of godly masculine leadership.”) This involves mutual exhortation and admonishment based upon the central pillar of the doctrine of Christ. How many men are able to speak intimately of Christ?
V. 25 -- You can exercise faith and hope alone, but not provoking to love and good works—that is a community exercise (in which men ought to take the lead). Sanctification is a group effort—impossible as a ‘pious particle’, a ‘monastic member’, or with a ‘lone wolf’ mentality. In the N.T. there is no such thing as a solitary private Christian. Mutual encouragement and exhortation is necessary for our spiritual welfare. We must not neglect this means of grace—to do so is the first step in the total decline of grace.
In 1ˢᵗ C. Rome, church historians record that the primary reason believers missed house church attendance was that they placed the urgency of business concerns above faithfulness in assembling together. Other reasons why professed believers forsake fellowship and tail off in their church attendance are: fear of accountability, laziness, sloth, wrong priorities, unbelief, and actually being on a path to falling away.
Continual exhorting and encouraging: in the NASB exhorting is rendered, “encouraging” one another. This activity is absolutely vital to prevent backsliding. This mutual exhortation preserves from apostasy. This is the duty of every man who professes the gospel—you are called to persuade, encourage, exhort, and to fortify the minds of your brothers.
The Day of Judgment is drawing near—in which we will give an account (as will our brothers and sisters in Christ). This is not merely an interesting prophetic topic; we are to live in light of this imminent day—with the earnest expectation of the Day drawing near. The fact that this Day is approaching is a powerful motive for mutual exhortation. We must stave off the danger of inward decay of our graces (we know what Christ has said about those who are lukewarm).
In that Day fire will try every man’s work—of what sort it is—and the sincerity of every man’s fruits (their genuineness, power, motivation, etc.). Therefore, as we see the Day rapidly approaching, it would be the height of folly if we did not stir ourselves to engage in our duties as God’s blood-bought servants. The Word of God warns of coming judgment. The wise will discern the Day of judgment approaching. To slack off on our duties of divine worship and service is a token of a backsliding frame—tending to final apostasy.
Bonhoeffer: But God has put his Word into the mouth of men in order that it may be communicated to other men. When one person is struck by the Word, he speaks it to others. God has willed that we should seek and find His living Word in the witness of a brother, in the mouth of a man. Therefore, the Christian needs another Christian who speaks God’s Word to him. He needs him again and again when he becomes uncertain and discouraged, for by himself he cannot help himself without belying the truth. He needs his brother man as a bearer and proclaimer of the divine word of salvation. He needs his brother solely because of Jesus Christ. The Christ in his own heart is weaker than the Christ in the word of his brother; his own heart is uncertain, his brother’s is sure (real edification takes place when we see the gospel believed by our brethren—Romans 1:11-12.).
Our identity, which we live out as Christians is defined by the gospel and the community. The number one reason truth is not applied and lived out, is because people are not sharing their lives for the purpose of mutual edification, exhortation and encouragement (Chester, Total Church, pp. 16-17).
My being in Christ means being in Christ with those who are also in Christ (shared life). This is my identity, this is our identity—our identity is lived out in our relationships. To fail to live out our corporate identity in Christ (living as real members of one another) is analogous to an act of spiritual adultery. The loyalties of a new community supersede even the loyalties of DNA (Matt 10:34-37) (Chester, Timmis, pp. 40-41).
The body of Christ is the context for transformation; it is where equipping, nurture, and edification are to take place. Sanctification and disciple-making are ‘group efforts’ within the body (J. Pieper, J. Richards, etc.)
The main business of body life/assembly life is the equipping and edification of believers. The life of the body exists to nurture disciples. When mutual ministry becomes central to the life of the body, the results are: unity, maturity, stability, and growth (Eph 4:13-15). Maturity is a mutual process in the body of Christ achieved by interdependent ministry of body life; that is Christ’s pattern, or ‘blueprint’ for His body (1 Cor 12; Eph 4).
The fellowship of the members of the body exists to nurture disciples. Mutual care (as opposed to professional care) is the catalyst for a congregation’s spiritual growth. The church’s spiritual growth catalyst is soul care. Body life is expressed through the mutual edification of the members of the body. The koinonia (fellowship) of the church exists to know each other closely enough to edify, build up, bear burdens; confess faults; rebuke; exhort; admonish; teach, minister (Col 1:28-29). Care catalyzes the church so that a caring church becomes a healthy church (1 Cor 13—a better road, ‘hodos’) (Stone, The Caring Church, p. 74).
Every believer has been equipped by Christ through regeneration and the indwelling Spirit to be a blessing to others. In that sense, none of our reception of spiritual benefits from the Lord makes us an ‘end user’—we are called by God to be a blessing to others. We love because He first loved us (1 Jn 4:19). We are to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly so that we might prayerfully speak the Word of God to our brethren (Eph 5:19; Col 3:16-17).
This should be increasingly natural for the Christian, so that it does not involve courage or risk (this is tied to your own growth as well). A huge part of embracing the biblical perspective is for each believer to see himself as truly ‘an instrument in the hands of the Redeemer’. In the family of God, I am able to care and be cared for, love and be loved, forgive and be forgiven, admonish and be admonished, encourage and be encouraged, all of which are essential to being a disciple of the risen Lord—my ‘corporate’ identity (Chester, p. 112).
Why must the members of the Body of Christ ‘excel’ at admonishment? Spiritual, mutual care involves constantly exposing the deceitfulness of sin. Sin is deceitful, that’s why it never presents itself as sin. It creeps up on us camouflaged and reasonable—disguised as fulfillment. Often we are the last to notice its deceit. But, others can and often do. That is why being part of a gospel community is so vital. So much of church ministry, especially counseling is not preventative, but reactionary (Chester, Timmis, p. 151).
Perhaps the greatest weakness in the body of Christ today is that we have relinquished and surrendered our responsibility to discipline (admonish) one another (Prov. 9:8). Pop psychology’s mantra, “I’m ok, you’re ok” has eaten up all of our courage to admonish one another. That makes for very unhealthy churches, for the Apostle Paul establishes that ongoing mutual admonishment is a mark of a healthy church body (Rom 15:14) (Hendrichsen, Disciples are Made not Born, p. 74).
OVERCOMING the BLOCKERS to mutual exhortation. In terms of speaking the truth in love to one another, there is an atmosphere of paralysis today (shallowness of relationships, hidden sin, self-protection). In part this is due to the church assimilating the world’s values: pragmatism, individualism, feminism, psychology.) Change: men need to take the lead in creating an atmosphere where mutual admonishment is valued (pays a dividend, “Thank you!”).
In order for that to happen, we need to obey Hebrews 10:24. “Consider how to. . .” means that we must think straight; stop talking ourselves out of mutual exhortation. In order to obey, you will have to lean into your fears—no longer saying to yourself, “I am not sure how this will be received, so I will say nothing.” “I am not the right person, perhaps my brother should talk to a biblical counselor, an elder, pastor, a professional. “
No! The relationships you have cultivated, and that God has given you—are the ‘bridges’ the highways for conducting spiritual truth—from brother to brother. Closeness allows you to respond properly—in those relationships you have enough mutual trust to minister mutual spiritual care with your brother. (EX. My Vietnam veteran hiking buddy.)
We are to know each other that we might excel at mutual edification. The VOCAB. of mutual edification is: encourage, exhort, admonish, implore, warn, reprove, rebuke, say the same thing, speak, edify, accept. There are appropriate times for each (but we are to do it with patience, longsuffering, gentleness, compassion).
We never are fully ‘caught up’ on encouragement—everyone needs it, and most are behind. But, it is the easiest on the vocab. list to do. There are so many ways: appreciation of service, sharing divine promises, affirmation of virtues, you are God’s unique ‘poeima’, etc.
The other, more direct penetrating applications of the Word can require a little more wisdom. You might have to be thoughtful about how you choose your instrument of illumination. It might be a flashlight to shine on something in the man’s life, it might be a cupcake, a velvet hammer, a chilidog, a trip together to the driving range.
The upshot of this is that every believing man ought to be a potential ‘spiritual paramedic’ who is growing through practice in his ability to tailor his exhortations to particular spiritual needs. “We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people” (1 Thess 5:14). (EX. Jason Hole example.)
At times our role as spiritual paramedics will call for spiritual E.R. “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts. These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh” (Jude 18-23).
If we are to obey Hebrews 10:24, we will have to deepen our commitment to help our brethren grow spiritually by opening our mouths with the truth. The Roman believers excelled at admonishing one another as a habit of fellowship. “And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another” (Rom 15:14).
That is not necessarily always looking for things to correct in our brothers. But it is talking about the essentials of faithfulness to Christ with one another. “Let’s be fervent in prayer.” “Let’s be eagerly awaiting the Lord’s return.” “I want to encourage you to abide in Christ, keep short accounts with him so that there is nothing negative between you and heaven.” “There is nothing greater than feeding your soul on the majesty of God in Christ.”
You see, because we live with our five senses dominating our perception of reality our spiritual myopia is chronic. Therefore we need to continually speak to one another of unseen spiritual realities. “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor 4:17-18).
Endurance, spiritual affections, victory in spiritual warfare, success in mortifying sin, faithfulness in service—are all tied to clarity of spiritual sight. This lucid spiritual sight is what Paul prayed for in both of his prayers in the book of Ephesians. When we mutually edify and exhort one another, we are cleaning the lenses of our brother’s spiritual sight. As Pastor Montoya says, “In the land of the blind, the man with one eye is king.”
Christ has called believing men to be game-changers, engaged in spiritually influencing those around them. But countless brothers are sitting on the bench and not really in the contest. Part of our task as exhorters is to patiently show our neutralized brethren how to reactivate their calling to exhort one another. That is love in action.
(EX. Yes, all ministry involves some risk. If you were to help a wounded dog off of a busy highway you might get honked at, and you might get nipped by the very creature you are assisting.)
Mutual edification has a masculine feel to it—it is theology in action, applied to all of life. Truth cannot thrive in a climate of theory, and surprisingly enough, it will not thrive if we content ourselves that our churches have excellent teachers—that is not enough. For truth to thrive; it must be spoken person to person. It must live dwell in relational spaces. That is where it is nurtured, fertilized so that it is transforming. Brothers, this calls for boldness. You will have to abandon your cherished comfort zones if you are to obey Hebrews 10:24.
God also wants you to grow personal you through mutual exhortation. As boldness in this area becomes your lifestyle, you will develop in your ability to know how to use the Word of God. You will care more for others, and you will deepen your capacity for spiritual discernment. And you will more fully step into your masculine role of being a spiritual influencer. (Godly men are the opposite of Christians who are ‘warehoused’ in church. Godly men have a ‘turning radar’ so to speak—able to detect spiritual needs which they deliberately seek to meet.)
“. . . and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak” (Eph 6:19-20).