I titled the sermon Living in the Light of the Cross because of the background of this passage today.  Hebrews portrays Christ as our Great High Priest who offered Himself as our sacrifice.  The Old Testament sacrificial system contained instructions for a sin offering brought to God in the Holy of Holies for the sins of the people on the Day of Atonement. Hebrews teaches us that this most holy act has been superseded by the offering of God’s own Son.  And we now have access into the most Holy Place.   When Christ died the veil in the temple was torn apart… that veil was the separating wall that prevented people from entering the Most Holy Place.  Only the priest could enter the Most Holy Place on the Day of Atonement to offer the sacrifice for the forgiveness of the sins of the people.  Hebrews is teaching us that access to the Most Holy Place has been granted to everyone who is “in Christ”.   Hebrews also teaches us that when Christ died and shed his blood…this was the final sacrifice for our sins…Notice what it says at the end of the v19 since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body…

The writer is teaching that Christ has totally superseded the OT sacrifice, when He died on the cross and with the shedding of his blood… the scripture teaches us that there is no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood Hebrews 9:22

Thanks be to God that Christ freely laid down His life for us and has shed His blood to forgive our sins!  As John the Baptist foretold of Jesus… Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world John 1:29.   A further point here is that this is the FINAL sacrifice.  The OT priests entered the Most Holy Place EVERY year to make an atonement for the sins of the people.  Christ’s death and sacrifice is a once and for all offering…His sacrifice was sufficient for every sin for all time.  There is no more need for a sacrifice for atonement.  Indeed, Christ is the only One who could do this because He was the only sinless man who lived.  Again, in John the Baptist words…The Lamb… the spotless, sinless Lamb of God who takes away my sin and your sin and the sins of the world.  This is why we could never bring about forgiveness for ourselves.

So, if you are a person who is claiming to trust in Christ…a true follower of Jesus…this means you are living in the light of the cross…His sacrifice now gives you access into the very Presence of God.   And here is the challenge from Hebrews and the sermon: we are to live now in light of the cross! The whole orientation of our lives is now lived with the cross of Jesus as our main reference point! Indeed, it is the central reference point, against which all other things are measured.   As Paul wrote…Galatians 4:16 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 

So, from this background the writer of Hebrews gives us 3 primary actions we are to engage.  These are couched in commands of the “let us” language.  Let’s review them quickly:

V22  Let us draw near in full assurance of faith

V23  Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope

V 24  Let us consider how to spur one another to love and good deeds

Now each of these “let us” passages could comprise a different sermon.  So with the time I have today I want to concentrate on v24 and the command for us to spur one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.

The KJV uses the word “provoke” one another to love and good deeds.

Other translations read:

to stimulate one another to love and good deeds NASB

to stir up love and good works NKJV

to rouse one another to love and good works.   NAB

The original word here is a strong word that places emphasis on deliberate action.  Now if you look at those different words there are different images created. To stimulate we might think of drinking coffee or jolt cola…something that has a caffeine agent to help keep us awake or more alert. Many of you were quick to the coffee pot this morning!

In my earlier years I would try and wake up my brother for school in the mornings.  He normally stayed up later and then it was harder for him to get up in the morning to catch the school bus.  I would wake him up and make sure he responded.  When he responded I would move forward and take a bath and get ready.  But when I didn’t see him, I realized that he had gone back to sleep.  I would move him and shake him to wake him up.  He needed a little more stimulation!

In this image Christians are like caffeine to each other…we are here to stimulate others, to help keep each other alert and awake in our faith journey.  I was reminded of Jesus calling his disciples to watch and pray.  And we know they fell asleep.  Those disciples needed someone to stimulate them to keep them awake!  I find we all need someone to help us watch and pray as Jesus told us.  Do you have anyone who is helping you stay awake in your faith journey and to watch and pray?  Or are you seeking to help someone else watch and pray?  This is a great reason Hebrews reminds us that we need each other.

One of the translations reads that we are to stir up one another to love and good deeds.  This phrase portrays the image of cheerleaders.  This is football season and part of the whole scene of football is cheerleaders who are there to stir up the crowd. Want to start a wave cheer here today?  But cheerleaders are meant to encourage the players on the field when they are tired or when momentum is lost.  They stand up and get out a megaphone and do flips and cartwheels to generate enthusiasm and spirit for their team.   I may not do flips and cartwheels today.  But I think preaching/teaching is a primary way we are stirred up in our faith journey.  As a matter of fact, the whole worship experience is meant to stir us and move us to remain faithful followers of Jesus.

So, Christians are like cheerleaders to each other…we serve to stir up each other and motivate others to keep going when they are discouraged or weary or beaten down by life experiences.

I remember when I was serving as a handler or helper at one of my wife’s triathlons in New York City.  As in most athletic competitions, people were on the side cheering on the athletes.  The athletes were in the last phase of the triathlon, which for many was the most difficult part especially when they had swum almost a mile and rode a bicycle for 26 miles and now were running a 10K race.  I was one of those cheerleaders on the side… And another guy just below me was calling out… “hey… you are almost there!  There is only one more curve to go and you are right at the finish line!  You can make it!  Don’t give up yet.  There is only one more marker to pass…. And Beth called out the guy cheering her…You said there was only one more marker to make the last time!!  Well, the guy was simply trying to motivate her to keep moving!   And thankfully, she did.  All the others were able to finish the race also.

The people reading this letter of Hebrews were undergoing hardship and persecution.  It was like being in a battle for days and there is no end in sight.  You are tired and weary and have no energy…this was the situation Hebrews was addressing.

You know anyone who needs a cheerleader right now?   Or someone you might be a cheerleader for?  I think there are seasons when we need the cheerleaders and other seasons when we are cheerleaders to help encourage others.  And we are all showing up in this place at the same time in God’s great design.  That is why worship is so important.

Jim Harnisch put it like this, “There are times when I come to church to affirm the faith I hold but there are other times when I come to worship so that the faith the church affirms can hold me.   There are times when I come to sing the songs of hope but there are other times when I need the church to sing the songs of hope for me.   There are times when I’m present for others in my small group in order to encourage someone else but there are times when I need to be present so that they can encourage me.”   We need each other and that is why Hebrews calls us to not forsake meeting together in worship!

One final note on this…

Sometimes this action can be “provocative”.  It means that it can irritate or trouble others.   Hence, the KJV uses the word provoke one another.  Now this word is associated more negatively as when we think of the scripture which instructs, Parents do not provoke your children to anger (Ephesians 6:4).  In this context it would imply that a parent is being overbearing or oppressive in their actions to try and get a child to comply or obey. The danger here is when the stimulation or motivation or stirring up goes too far and has the opposite effect or other negative effects.

But the word does mean that we are taking deliberate and decisive action to help encourage others and even at times, being almost irritating.  We have heard the expression, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease”.   It is that irritating noise that you must act to remedy.

We are using a text by Maxie Dunnam in our study group now called the Intercessory Life.  Recently, we reviewed the story of the Persistent Widow in Luke 18.  You remember her story.  She was going to a judge to get justice, and he was not paying any attention to her.  But she kept going back and keep going back and kept going back… until the judge said…This woman is relentless…she is wearing me out…I must do something to answer her…And he acted on her case because of her persistent, relentless request.  This woman was irritating in her actions…persistent and simply would not stop or quit asking the judge for justice.  She was provoking the judge until he acted on her behalf.

My wife and I were watching a movie recently.  It was a romantic comedy called “The Choice”. The story was about a guy who lived as a bachelor, kind of playing the field until this new girl shows up in town and gets his attention.  At first, they kind of clash because of their different interests and personalities…Then the focus is drawn to how their differences kind of drive each other a little crazy but at the same time complement each other.  Kind of sounds like marriage, right?  But he told her initially these words, “You bother me”.  But she bothered him in ways that he could not forget or ignore.    Folks, that is what I think this scripture is talking about…If I could summarize this instruction it would read, we are motivating, provoking or bothering people in positive ways that they cannot forget or ignore.

Can I just confess here that I have said things and performed actions for others on many occasions. But as I assess those words and actions, they were something a person might easily forget or ignore.  Sometimes it might be a cup of cold water or a phone call or a letter or a visit and sometimes it might be a more serious “come to Jesus” meeting. It is not necessarily the size or cost of the action.  But it is given at just the right time when most needed.

Let’s go back to the context of this passage.   Christ acted in such a manner for us when He died on the cross that we cannot forget or ignore.  We are redeemed and forgiven through His blood, shed for us. We must not forget or ignore His sacrifice.  We are now called the children of God and have direct access to God in the Holy of Holies. Something we must never forget or ignore.

Now I realize people can forget and people can try to ignore it.  But I really believe, in their heart of hearts, even though they may try to forget it or ignore it, they cannot. And ultimately, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.   Even the most pagan and calloused hearts like the soldier who cried out by the cross of Jesus could not ignore it.  He spoke the words…Surely this was the Son of God.  He could no longer ignore it or pass it off as just another man dying as so many others.  And 2000 years later… it is still the gospel story that we confess.  You and I are here today because our lives have been forever changed and we live in light of the cross of Jesus. This is a God who redeems us and forgives us of all our sins.  God is worthy of our worship.   This is a God who grants us eternal life through his Son Jesus Christ who loves us so much he was willing to give his only Son for us.  God is worthy of our worship.  This is a God who has planned eternity for us without sorrow or pain or worry or anxiety.  This is a God who is worthy of our worship.

Now we are called and challenged to stir up one another to provoke one another to love and good deeds.  I want to close by using a quote that is attributed to John Wesley…although it is not necessarily a direct quote of Wesley’s.

“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”