All right, hey, blessed up at this church.
Glad to be preaching to you even though it's via live streaming today.
I had recorded my, I already preached a sermon, I recorded it before and the camera failed.
So this is my second time preaching it, okay.
So if I sound a little tired, that's the reason why.
But you know, unfortunately, Brother David couldn't preach tonight and the other preachers
were unavailable.
So you know, I've worked on a sermon for you guys and I hope it's a blessing to you.
So please take your Bibles and turn to Hebrews chapter four, Hebrews chapter four.
And the title for the sermon this evening is, Let Us in the Book of Hebrews, and that
might not make a lot of sense right now, but Let Us in the Book of Hebrews, and you'll
soon understand what I'm talking about here.
So if you go to Hebrews chapter four, and verse number one, Hebrews chapter four, verse
number one, the very first word says, let us, okay, let us.
Now what I'm going to be doing is I'll be going to all the times in the book of Hebrews
that it says, let us, and we're going to look at what is it that Paul is striving that the
Hebrews do, okay.
And so there's many references to this, let us.
So that's why it's called let us in the book of Hebrews, okay.
So we're just sticking to the book of Hebrews and we're seeing what we've been called to
do by Paul the apostle here, I believe it's Paul that wrote the book of Hebrews.
And what you'll notice is we're going to look at Hebrews chapter four, verse one, then Hebrews
chapter four, verse 11, the first let us are about salvation.
So it's more about someone that is unsaved, someone that's hearing about Christ and wanting
to know his way to heaven, that's what the first two let us is about.
So if we look at verse number one, Hebrews chapter four, verse one, it says, let us,
therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should
seem to come short of it.
Okay, look at verse number two, and what is this fearing about?
Because it says in verse number two, for unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto
them, but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that
heard it, okay.
So what is this that we should fear?
Let us therefore fear.
Now this is speaking to an unsaved Hebrew, okay, there should be concern, there should
be fear for your eternal future.
What is going to happen after you live this life, when you pass away, what is going to
happen to your soul?
You know, most people in this world have some level of concern where they're going to be
after this life.
And listen, when you go door to door soul winning, you ask people, are you 100% sure
that your soul would be in heaven?
Most often than not, they will say, I'm not sure, I hope so, but I'm not sure.
They don't have that confidence, okay.
And so there ought to be a fear about this truth, right?
And it's this fear that will drive you to find out, well, what is it that I need to
do?
What is the answer?
How can I be sure of going to heaven?
Then notice when it says, in verse number one, let us therefore fear, lest a promise
being left us of entering into his rest, okay.
What is salvation?
How can we be sure of going to salvation?
It's called rest, okay.
So of course, as you know, blessed up at this church, you know this very well, that salvation
is by grace through faith and not of works, okay.
God could not call salvation rest if it was you trying to work your way to salvation,
okay.
Rest is the opposite to work, okay.
And so when the Bible says here that we enter into his rest, it's because salvation is not
of God, okay.
And as you can see very clearly, verse number two speaks about the gospel being preached.
And so therefore, the very first let us, let us therefore fear is for the unsaved person.
And it's so important that if you're somebody that does attend Blessed Hope Baptist Church
and you don't know if you're saved, if you don't know how to go to heaven, you still
have doubts, then you should have a healthy dose of fear and you should be asking, what
is it that I need to do?
And brethren, it's faith on Jesus Christ alone, it is resting in Christ, it is not of works.
Drop down to verse number 11 now, Hebrews chapter four, verse 11, let's get to the second
let us.
It says here, let us labor therefore to enter into that rest.
So the second let us is let us labor.
Once again, this is for an unsaved person, okay.
Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall under the same example
of unbelief, okay.
So what is it that causes us to not enter into the rest?
It said there the example of unbelief.
So if you don't believe the gospel, you don't believe what Jesus Christ has done for you,
his death, burial and resurrection, if you have unbelief, then you will not enter into
that rest.
We must mix faith with the gospel.
When you hear the gospel, you must place your faith on Jesus Christ.
But the question comes up and those that want to teach you a false gospel, those that want
to teach you a workspace gospel will look at verse number 11, where it says, let us
labor.
And say, well, see what's past the cabin, laboring, right?
That's doing work.
You know, you got to work your way to heaven, you've got to have a workspace gospel, let
us labor therefore to enter into that rest.
How can we rest if we're laboring though?
What is this laboring all about?
Now, I can understand how it can sound like works.
So please keep your finger there.
And actually before we turn away from there, I just want to show you that this is not works.
The laboring here cannot be working your way to heaven.
Because if you look at verse number 10, the verse before verse number 11, it says, for
he that is entered into his rest, he also have ceased from his own works, as God did
from his.
So how do we enter into the rest?
We cease from our own works.
We don't work, right?
Salvation is not a work.
If you're trusting your works to go to heaven, cease from trusting those works, stop doing
the works.
That's not going to get you to heaven, you know, enter into the rest by faith.
And so if verse number 10 is saying, cease from your works, then obviously verse number
11, when it says, let us labor, it's not saying you got to work.
Otherwise it'd be a contradiction in the Bible, okay?
So whoever's teaching you that nonsense, they're a false prophet, they're a heretic, please
don't listen to that kind of teaching.
Well, we do want to understand what we have to labor to do though, right?
In order to be saved, what kind of labor is there?
So please keep your finger there and go to Luke chapter 13, Luke chapter 13, and let's
go to verse number 23.
And I know some of these verses can be difficult to sort of process in your mind, but obviously
many of these things that seem like a workspace gospel, normally if you just read the context,
you understand what's going on in the story, it makes perfect sense, okay?
So in Luke chapter 13 verse 23, it says here, then said one unto him, so one of his disciples
comes to Jesus, Lord, are there few that be saved?
And he said unto them, before we see what Jesus says, my question to you brethren, just
think about this, is that few that are saved?
I think absolutely, I think if you're a saved person, you know the gospel, you know that
absolutely it's very few people that are saved, okay?
So then what does Jesus say in verse number 24?
Yeah, and he said unto them, verse number 24, strive to enter at that straight gate,
strive, what's strive?
To put a great effort in, okay?
Look, it's no different to let us labor, when it says strive to enter in at the straight
gate, for many I say unto you will seek to enter in and shall not be able, okay?
So laboring or striving is the seeking of the truth, right?
Once you have that fear, let us therefore fear, let us be concerned about our future,
where are we going to be?
Are we going to end up in heaven and in hell?
The next question is, well, what is the gospel?
I need to understand what is it, okay?
Now why do many people have to labor?
Why do many people have to strive?
Well first of all, when I got saved, I grew up in a Christian home, my mother gave me
the gospel at four years old, brethren, I barely had to strive for anything, right?
It was actually very easy for me, right?
Growing up, that's all I knew, Jesus died for me, it was a gospel, yes, not of works,
I understood that we're all sinners, we can't make it on our own, and it was simple childlike
faith on Jesus Christ that saved me, okay?
Now that was easy for me, I probably just, I don't know, I can't remember being four
years old, I probably heard the gospel once clearly, I understood it, going to church,
you hear all this stuff, makes a lot of sense, right?
But then, my wife, you know, when I gave the gospel to my wife, I think it took her like
two months to get saved.
It took her some time, why?
Because she had to strive, she had to labour, she was a Roman Catholic, you know, she believed
in a false gospel, she believed in another Jesus, she had a different faith, a different
religion, and so she had to labour, she had to strive, she had to put away those things
that she was taught, she had to put away her bad faith, she had to understand that the
Jesus she's been praying to, the Mary that she's been praying to, is not a biblical Jesus,
is not the biblical Mary, and so it required great effort for her to understand the truth.
It's no different to a man who's relying on his own righteousness to be saved, oh I'm
saved because I'm a good person, well that person has to labour, he has to strive to
give up those false beliefs, alright, that's not going to get them saved, and make the
effort to know the truth, learn the truth, find the truth, and be able to transfer their
faith from what was false, to their faith onto something that is true, the true gospel.
And so for many people yeah they have to strive, you know for many people they have
to hear the gospel once, twice, three times, four times before it clicks and it makes sense
and they're able to then rest in Jesus Christ.
So the striving is learning the gospel, the striving is, you know, being able to give
up the false beliefs, but once you do understand the gospel, hey, it's rest, it's faith, it's
not a work, it's easy, Jesus did all the hard work.
And so that's what it's teaching us here, the labouring is the learning of the truth,
understanding, accepting of the truth, rejecting the false beliefs that you once held.
Now if you can please go to Hebrews chapter 4 verse 14, we'll go to our third let us,
verse number 14, it says, seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed
into the heavens, Jesus the son of God, let us, there it is, hold fast our profession.
So now that you are saved, all right, now that you have entered into the rest, let
us hold fast our profession.
What are we professing?
Well what's the verse saying there right now?
That we have a great high priest, we don't need to go to some priest to get close to
God, hey God is our high priest, Jesus Christ is God, all right, and so we have Jesus Christ
as the mediator between God and man, but not only is Jesus Christ our high priest which
is passed into heaven, it says Jesus the son of God.
Listen this is part of our profession.
In order for you to be saved, you must understand that Jesus is the son of God.
Listen when the Ethiopian eunuch, you know, desired to get baptised and, which this cycle
wasn't, Philip, Philip said to him, you know, do you believe with all your heart?
You know what did the Ethiopian eunuch say?
He says I believe that Jesus is the son of God.
And salvation is believing that Jesus is not just God, but the son of God, okay, the son
of God.
And so when it's told us here, hold fast our profession, holding fast is to be stable okay,
to be strong.
Now brother Anthony on Sunday preached about the trinity and preached, you know, how oneness
is a heretical doctrine.
You know, that teaching that says well Jesus is God the Father and Jesus is the Holy Spirit.
Now that's not the profession that we've been asked to hold on to.
That's a heresy.
That's not true.
Jesus Christ is the son of God.
Let us hold fast our profession.
Once you are saved, you place your faith on the son, that is the profession that you are
to hold on to.
And brethren the reason why we've been asked to hold fast is because sometimes some Christians
can be ashamed.
They can be afraid to tell people what they believe, right?
And if you're ashamed, if you're not holding fast, you're not going to be an effective
witness for Christ.
You're not going to be able to tell other people how you entered into the rest and show
people how they can enter into that rest.
And so it's holding fast our profession, actually it's our profession of faith, okay.
Because I want to show you this again.
This let us hold fast our profession is actually mentioned twice in the book of Hebrews.
Keep your finger there but go to Hebrews chapter 10, Hebrews chapter 10 and verse number 23.
Let's have a look at this as well, Hebrews chapter 10 and verse number 23.
Now I am going in order in the book of Hebrews but because Hebrews 10 is saying the same
thing, so I'm bringing that in here in the same area.
Let us hold our fast our profession, Hebrews chapter 10 verse 23.
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith, okay.
Without wavering, okay, that's not being unsettled.
We don't have to wonder now, are we saved, am I going to heaven, you know, maybe I'm
not going to heaven.
No, once you understand the gospel, once you understand that, once you're saved, you're
always saved, Jesus paid for your sins, he paid for the sins of the day you die, they've
been done with, they've been crucified on the cross with Christ, he's done it all, you
don't have to waver because it says here, for he is faithful that promised.
God is faithful, he promised you salvation, he promised you eternal life, you don't have
to waver.
You know you can have full confidence in your salvation by your profession of faith, okay.
You call upon the Lord Jesus Christ, you've made a profession, you've caught upon him
as a son of God, you've believed on him and you can hold fast that profession.
Now what's strange about this brethren, you know, I've heard in some of my churches in
the past, and look, I'm not attacking my churches in the past because I've loved them, they've
helped me in different ways, but you can see that this is something, when you talk about
the profession of faith, it's something like a believer, and they want the believer not
to waver, they want that believer, you can see here to have that confidence, right, and
unfortunately there are many churches that if they're doubting someone's salvation, they'll
say something like this, well that person made a profession of faith, okay.
Now biblically, yeah that means they're saved, okay, biblically that means they should be
established and not wavering in their belief, they should have the confidence that they
are saved, but within those churches when they say that, yeah he's just made a profession
of faith, what they're saying is, well I don't know if he's really saved, he says he is,
he says he's placed his faith on Jesus, but I don't really know, and I'll only know if
he starts coming to church, and if he starts reading his Bible, and if he starts praying,
and if he starts to clean up his life, and he starts doing good works, they don't know,
they don't know that person is actually saved, and so many churches today use this term profession
of faith as a in between, we still don't know if he's saved or not, which is just stupidity,
you know, when we see here in the book of Hebrews, no the profession of faith is confirmation
that you are saved, it ought to give you stability, not instability, okay, so let's be true to
the word of God in how he uses this term, the profession of your faith.
Now back to Hebrews chapter four and verse number 16, Hebrews chapter four and verse
number 16, let's go to the next let us, Hebrews chapter four verse 16, it says, let us therefore
come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help
in the time of need, alright, so this is about praying, this is about, obviously we can't
approach God's throne physically, this is about going to God in prayer, and God wants
us to come boldly, okay, come boldly, and listen, if you don't pray, because look what
happens, it says that you may obtain mercy, yeah, sometimes we need God's mercy, we need
his help, and find grace, we need his grace to help in the time of need, we have needs,
we need God to answer those needs, you know what it's saying here, if we don't pray, we're
not going to obtain mercy, we're not going to find grace, and we're not going to have
our needs met, okay, and listen, praying is something that is easy to forget, it's easy
to not take seriously, but God wants us to go to his throne, you know, with boldness,
you know, and we need help, Reverend, we can't think that, you know, I'm just too good, I'm
a mature Christian, you know, look how righteous I am, and I'm doing all these things, you
know, you are a needy person, you sin, you've already sinned today, you sin every day, you
sin to the day that you die, okay, that's a reality, you're a weak, fallen human being,
you've got a sinful nature, and we need help, okay, we live in times of trouble, I'm not
even talking about the COVID-19, we think we're normal, we're still having tribulations,
difficulties, things that we need God's help with.
Now, sometimes we don't go and pray, because we're ashamed, okay, and I've had that feeling,
maybe you have to, where you have sin in your life, and you've done wrong, and you know,
God's so angry at me, and God probably can be angry at you many times, right, and you're
like, how can I face him, how can I go to his throne boldly?
Well this is why, because in the previous verse, in Hebrews 4.15, it says, for we have
not an high priest, which cannot be touched with a feeling of our infirmities, but was
in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin, okay, so Jesus Christ knows what
it's like, okay, he knows what it's like to have infirmities, he knows what it's like
to be tempted, he's been a human being, he's seen the suffering of man, he took upon his
own body the infirmities, he took upon his own body our sins, Jesus is familiar with
the struggles that we have, and then it says, because Jesus is familiar with these things,
verse number 16, let us therefore come boldly, that's why we can come boldly, because Jesus
knows what it's like, God knows what it's like, he knows that we have need of him, he
knows that we're going to come before his throne as sinful creatures, you know, asking
for his help, so don't forget your prayer life, can you please go to Hebrews chapter
6 and verse number 1, Hebrews chapter 6, let's go on to the next let us, let us, Hebrews
chapter 6 verse 1 says, therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ,
let us go on to perfection, okay, let us go on to perfection, now listen, this is not
saying let us stop sinning, let's become sinless, you know, perfected, no, that's not what perfection
is, perfection is complete, mature, okay, in the context of this, it's basically becoming
a full adult, you know, becoming mature, not being a babe in Christ, and so when he talks
about here leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, we'll soon see what some of those
are, this is basically saying, there comes a time in your Christian life that you ought
to grow, you can't remain a little babe, a little child, okay, you need to grow and develop,
a part of that growth is that you learn the principles of the doctrine of Christ, in other
words, sin is the fundamentals, the foundational things, okay, we need to make sure we understand
these things before we desire something more, what are some examples given to us here, it
says, not laying, in verse number 1, not laying, again the foundation of repentance from dead
works, alright, so will dead works ever get us saved, right, if we're trying to work our
way to heaven, okay, if we think that's part of the gospel, God calls that dead works,
and so we need to repent from those dead works, okay, we must not go back and think, well
maybe works is part of salvation, it never was, you know, that's something that we need
to settle, get it down, lock it in, nail it in, brethren, we need to nail in these fundamental
truths so we can grow, if you can't nail in the fundamental things, you're never going
to grow, alright, what else, and a faith toward God, that's salvation, repentance from trust
in the works, put your faith in the Lord, verse number 2, of the doctrine of baptism,
so as soon as you're saved, you should get baptised, that's a very fundamental thing,
and of the laying of, and of hands, that's the ordination process of pastors and deacons
and things alike, and of the resurrection of the dead, so hey, you know, I mean, I know
the timing of the rapture, you know, the end times in a very detailed way is the meat of
the word of God, but understanding that one day, these bodies will die and God will give
us a new resurrected body, that's an easy thing to understand, okay, God not only saved
our soul, not only do we have a regenerated spirit, but he's going to give us a brand
new body at the resurrection, at the rapture, okay, so that's a fundamental thing, and of
eternal judgment, okay, and of eternal judgment, so obviously those that die without Christ
have an eternity in hell, in the lake of fire, these are fundamental truths, these are things
that are basic, we need to understand these things, once we understand these things, then
we can go on to perfection, then we can continue to grow and mature, we don't always need to
go back to the basic things, brethren, if you do find yourself not knowing these truths,
you better learn them, you know, some other fundamental truths is the virgin birth, you
know, other, you know, the Trinity, Jesus, the Son of God, you know, these are fundamental
things, you know, that Christ was born 2000 years ago, you know, what else, the blood
atonement of Jesus Christ, these are all fundamental things of the faith, you know, the inerrancy
of the Bible, you know, being able to believe what the Bible says, you know, not trying
to turn the miracles into some figurative, you know, fairy tale, no, these events are
true, these things happen, these are all fundamental truths that allow us to move on and serve
the Lord.
Now, in order to understand this a little bit better, we need to go back to the previous
chapter, right at the end of the previous chapter, because then chapter 6 kind of picks
up from there, right, so let's backtrack to Hebrews chapter 5 and verse number 12, because
the Hebrews are being rebuked by Paul here, Hebrews chapter 5 and verse number 12, it
says, for when for the time you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach
you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of God, so that first principles
against those principles of Christ, those very fundamental things, and have become such
as have need of milk, and not of strong meat, okay, so the fundamental doctrines are the
milk of the Word of God, verse number 13, for everyone that use of milk is unskillful
in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe, but strong meat belongeth to them that
are of full age, full age is talking about an adult, even those who by reason of use
have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil, and so when the Bible is telling
us to go on unto perfection, it's saying, listen, stop being a child, you know, start
learning the fundamental things, don't go and just eat strong meat, get grounded in
the milk of God's Word, once you've grounded yourself, once you've nailed in those core
doctrines, then you can go on and believe those more meaty doctrines in the Bible.
This is the mistake that many cults, many false religions make, right, that they go
for the strong meats, so-called, but they haven't drunk the milk, they haven't gone
to the fundamental things.
One thing that I learned that's very important in my Christian life, learning the Bible,
is that I have to lock in those fundamental truths.
Once they're locked in, every other thing is built upon those things, okay, once you
understand salvation and you can't lose it, and you read a passage that may sound like
you can lose your salvation, well, you know what, that can't be true, the interpretation
can't be that you can lose your salvation, because I've already built the foundation
which says I cannot, it's everlasting life, and then you can say, well, what are the other
options for this verse and for this passage?
And so learning those fundamental truths will allow you to go on and be an adult.
Can you please now turn to Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 22, Hebrews chapter 10 and verse
22, we'll go to the next letters, Hebrews chapter 10 and verse number 22.
The Bible reads, let us draw near, so this is talking about going near to the Lord, coming
close to the Lord, right?
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled
from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water, okay?
So in order for us to draw near to the Lord, there's a few things we need to do, have our
hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, yeah, what is that about?
Well, obviously when you were saved, you know, spiritually speaking, you were sprinkled
by the blood of Christ, okay, it's the blood of Christ that allowed us to enter into that
new covenant, and then it says that our bodies washed with pure water.
This is not teaching, this is not teaching that you've got to have a shower or a bath
before you can fellowship with God, okay?
This is not teaching you have to be baptized, okay?
Baptism, that's not what this is referring to, okay?
This is obviously speaking about a spiritual thing, all right, being sprinkled by the blood
of Christ and having our bodies washed.
The reason it says here our bodies washed with pure water is because the Old Testament
priests, you know, before serving in the tabernacle in the temple, they had these rituals, they
had these things that they had to do, they had to wash everything, their clothes themselves,
and the purpose was that so they could serve the Lord, so they could, you know, be that
help to the nation of Israel to be able to offer their sacrifice to the Lord, and of
course, the Lord's presence was in the tabernacle, in the temple in those days, and so what that
pictured, you know, that washing that the priest did, what that pictured was of course
the, you know, the body of Jesus Christ which is without blemish, without spots, okay, that
Jesus Christ is without sin, and so that was a picture of the ultimate sacrifice which
would be the Lord Jesus Christ, but also a picture of ourselves, you know, in the New
Testament being kings and priests, and we positionally before God being without spot,
without sin because of Christ's blood atonement, and so that's what the purpose was, and so
when it talks about he let us draw near, it's speaking about, hey, let us have a fellowship
with God, let's walk with God, let's spend time with the Lord, and please keep your finger
there and go to 1 John chapter 1, 1 John chapter 1 and verse number 5, 1 John chapter 1 and
verse number 5, because brethren, as your pastor, I want you to have a close walk with
God, I really do, I really want you to know God very personally, okay, it's not just enough
to hear preaching which is wonderful, it's not just enough to be in church which is wonderful,
but you having your own time with the Lord, you know, your own quiet time with him, your
own flesh with him is so critical to your life, it will give you great joy, and I want
you to have that great joy, but in 1 John chapter 1 verse 5 it says, this then is the
message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you that God is light, and in him is
no darkness at all, okay, and so what this is teaching us for you when you go through
the rest of this chapter, it's teaching us that darkness is basically sin, okay, so God
has no sin, God cannot sin, okay, we know that already, let's go to verse number 6,
if we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the
truth, okay, so if you tell me that you're having sweet fellowship with God, but you're
in the middle of some sin, you know, you're just living a wicked sinful lifestyle, the
Bible is telling me you're lying to me, okay, you lie, okay, we cannot have fellowship with
God while we have sin, okay, you say well the sins were taken care of, yes, positionally
before God, we have the righteousness of Christ imputed upon us, praise God, but I'm talking
about our spiritual walk, our daily walk with God is what we're talking about here, and
of course, every day we go into sin to the day we die, so let's, how do we fix this up,
in verse number 7, but if we walk in the light, so that's if we walk without sin, as he is
in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his
son cleanses us from all sin, you say well hold on here, it says we've got to walk in
the light, are you saying pastor Kevin that we can have no sin, well no, let's keep going,
let's understand, now listen, in order for you to fellowship with God, you better have
no sin, that's what you have to do, but let's keep going, it says in verse number 8, if
we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us, so well that sounds
contradictive, walk in the light, but now you're saying that I have sin, well what's
going on, well look at verse number 9, verse number 9 answers it all, if we confess our
sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,
okay, so that's how we're cleansed by Jesus Christ in our spiritual walk, we confess our
sins, verse number 10, if we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word
is not in us, and so remember what this is teaching us is, in order for you to have sweet
fellowship with God, you better get down, go boldly like we saw before the throne of
grace and ask the Lord, Lord I've failed again, you know it's a sinful flesh, please
forgive me, you know, please help me have victory over these sins, and just realise
this is going to be your life to the day you die, okay, and you can ask for forgiveness,
Jesus Christ, you know he's already paid for all your sins, but hey at that moment you
confess your sins, you can have sweet fellowship with the Lord, I personally recommend even
before coming, I do this as a pastor, before I preach, I confess my sins before I preach,
because if I'm in a state of unconfessed sin in my life, how effective do you think
am I going to be really, you know, to preach God's word, having the Holy Ghost, it's going
to be interrupted, that fellowship, and so I personally believe before you come to church
you should just spend a moment, even on your drive, if that's what you've got, and just
confess your sins to the Lord, ask him to forgive you, ask him that you want to have
fellowship with you, because God, that's where God wants to meet us, at church, and so let's
look at verse number 24 now, Hebrews chapter 10, and verse number 24, we'll go to the next
letters, it says, and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works,
next one is let us consider one another, alright, so this is interesting because you know, why
do we come to church, why is it that we desire to be in the house of the Lord, and of course
look I'm not saying that me preaching to this camera on live stream is church, that's not
church, you know, unfortunately, as I said, we couldn't meet tonight, but I didn't want
you to go about a Bible sermon, okay, I wanted you to hear the word of God, and so here's
the thing though, you know, when we come to church, you know, you might say well go to
church because the Lord commands, praise God, you know, I go to church because I want to
worship and praise God, praise God for that, yeah, amen, you know, I go to church because
I want to be edified, I want to hear the preaching of God's word, I want to make changes in my
life, praise God, I want to sing his praises, praise God, but another thing that should
drive you to go to church is that you can consider another, consider your brethren,
and provoke them unto love and to good works, listen, provoke, you know, it's not about
provoking people to frustration, okay, you know, I mean what kind of brother or sister
are you in the Lord exactly, you know, when people think about you, do they think oh this
is my brother, this is my sister in the Lord who, you know, provokes me to love, you know,
I know they love me and they encourage me to love others, you know, they provoke me
to do some good works, offer my sacrifices of praise to God, to go soul winning, to serve
him or are you the person that people say man that person frustrates me, he provokes
me to frustration, he provokes me to evil works, you know, listen, we need to clean,
if that's you, you need to fix this up, right, let us consider, this is how you do it, you
know, when you're provoking others in a negative way, it's usually because you're trying to
fill yourself up with some, I don't know, pride, you know, thinking highly of yourself,
you know, no, no, we come to church to edify one another, you know, the body, we're the
body of Christ, we're there to work together, to be unified, to have one mind, to serve
one another, that's how we grow, you know, that's what we're, you know, called to do,
let us consider one another, now let's keep going, verse number 25, it says, not forsaking
the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting, exhorting
is, you know, building one another up, exhorting one another and so much the more as you see
the day approaching, so as we see, you know, the end times and Jesus Christ coming back,
more and more we should be desiring and spending time together, especially as the assembling
of ourselves together, which is the local church, alright, now, this verse, it's a great
verse, I love this verse, you know, it, anytime, you know, before I was a pastor, anytime that
I felt like, ah, just tired, a bit tired today, I don't really feel like going to church,
I would remind myself of this verse, that I'm not to forsake the assembling of ourselves,
but we must not misunderstand what this is teaching, okay, I know some pastors teach
that if you miss a service, you know, unless like you're on your death bed or something,
but if you miss a service, that you forsook the assembling, you know, you're forsaking
the assembling, you know, I've never held that view, I think that's extreme, that's
an extreme view and one thing that I've been hearing is, you know, during these COVID-19
restrictions, because there have been times, you know, that we've not been able to have
church for whatever reason, that, oh, that's forsaking the assembling, that is not, that's
not the case, right, what is forsake, what does it mean to forsake something, right,
I just did a dictionary meaning for this, there's a few words that can go with forsake,
it's to abandon, to leave, to renounce or give up, okay, if you're giving up on church,
you know, you're forsaking church, you're renouncing church, you say, well, I don't
like church anymore, that's not for me, I don't think I need to be there, you know,
it's a waste of my time, I don't like it there, I'm never going to go to church again, that's
forsaking the assembling, all right, suspending church services because of COVID-19, whether
you believe it's legitimate or not, that is not forsaken, all right, that's not forsaken,
listen, if people, we're living in strange days, brethren, okay, let's remember we're
living in some weird days, some strange days, I don't believe it's the end times, there's
been strange days in the past, okay, in history and we're just going through one of these
strange moments but, you know, if people have concerns about the virus, like if we
have people that may not attend church because they're concerned that they may catch it,
you know, they may have respiratory issues and they're concerned for their welfare and
they don't come, God bless them, you know, I have, you know, I bless them and if that's
their decision, praise God, you know, they need to do what's right for them between them
and God and their family, I know they're not forsaken, I know they're not renouncing, I
know they're not giving up, they're hoping that in due time when things return to some
normality that they'll be back in church, okay, and if some brethren are concerned about,
you know, big brother, they're concerned about what, you know, the government may do and
they decide not to be in church for that reason, well, you know what, brethren, that's your
call, that's your decision, you know, if it makes you uncomfortable, you know, recently
just this past week and I haven't done the videos yet which I'm going to do probably
tomorrow now, it's been a bit busy but, you know, in order to have church services, you've
got in down in New South Wales, it's not the same requirement here in Queensland, you've
got to register as a COVID safe business and the threat is if you don't register as a COVID
safe business that, you know, if you run your business and look, I know church is not a
business in that sense, hey, but even Jesus says that he went about his father's business
and so, you know, yes, church is us being busy, we are doing something for the Lord,
we're not being idle but anyway, you know, we were to register as a COVID safe business
and if we didn't, you know, I had to look, I thought it was 11,000, it's $55,000 fine
or even up to six months imprisonment, so either we do that, we register and we can
have church services as we have been doing or we don't register and we don't have church
services, I mean, which one do you want, you know, and so, but if you've got concerns about
that, if you've got concerns about some document, our church name being somewhere on some internet
list and you decide not to attend church, I understand where you're coming from, like
if that's a concern, we're living in strange days, don't come to church, just stay home,
you know, keep yourself safe, whatever it is that you're concerned about, you know,
I'm not going to think ill of you, I'm not going to think bad of you, alright and so,
you know, when it comes to this idea of forsaking, you know, again, we're to provoke one another
and to love and good works, okay, we're not there to criticise one another, oh, so brother
so and so, sister so and so is not doing it the way I want to do it, that's wrong, that's
a wrong attitude, okay, that's you provoking people to frustration, to anger, you know,
sowing discord amongst the brethren, we don't need that in our church, okay, there's enough
discord in this world, there's enough division in this world, you know, if you want division,
if you want to fight, go and fight in the world, in the house of God though, there ought
to be some unity, okay and so, let us consider one another and listen, if you think in your
heart that maybe pastor Kevin is starting to forsake the assembly for whatever reason,
you know, just let me remind you why I'm going down to Sydney in October, alright,
I'm going down for 12 months as you know, I don't care if it's at the height of COVID-19,
I'm going to be there, one of the key things I want to do at Blessed Up Brothers Church
as I've already preached is to go from two services to three services, right, as we see
the day approaching, we ought to be gathering ourselves together more, alright, so that
is where my heart is and I hope you guys are able to support that decision as well, alright,
Hebrews chapter 12 now, Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number 1, Hebrews chapter 12 and
verse number 1, the Bible reads, wherefore, seen we also are compassed about with so great
a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, so there's a let us and the sin which
doth easily beset us and let us run with patience, actually there's another let us, oh there
we go, let us run, I didn't notice that one, let us run with patience, the race that is
set before us, okay, run with patience, now what this is teaching, brethren, is that the
Christian life is a race, Jesus Christ has put us on the starting line when we got saved
and it's like race, alright, move forward, you know, run, it's a race, brethren, okay
and so the race though is a marathon, the race is many years, the race is till the day
you die, okay, or we see the rapture, whatever takes place first, okay, don't forget this
is not a sprint, this is a marathon, it said let us run with patience, okay, when someone's
sprinting, okay, it's not a patient race, okay, a marathon though is a patient race,
okay, you've got to time yourself, you've got to sometimes run faster, sometimes you've
got to slow down, but this is the thing that you need to understand, no matter what speed
you're running, as long as you're going forward, that's the main thing, okay, when you start
running backwards, backsliding, that's wrong, okay, that's a sin, that's not what we should
be doing, we should be running forwards, okay, and brethren, if you're running at a
sprint and you're getting exhausted, you're becoming weary, slow down, I'm just telling
you, you know, run with patience, slow down as long as you're going forward for the Lord,
as long as you're serving the Lord, that's the most important thing, okay, now when it
comes to this race though, it said let us lay aside every weight, okay, now when it
says every weight here, it's not talking about sin, okay, because then it says and the sin,
which doth easily beset us, okay, so there are sins that beset us and there are weights
that beset us, these weights are not sinful in of themselves, okay, now some people will
read this and go well let us lay aside every weight, alright, you know, in order for me
to serve God, I'm going to quit my job, you know, I'm going to stop, you know, my hobbies
and the things that interest me and the things that I'm learning, I'm just going to lay aside
everything, if it's not serving God, if it's not sowing, if it's not reading my Bible,
if it's running that race, you know, sprinting that race, I'm just going to lay it aside,
you know, my family's getting in my way, I'm going to divorce my wife and my kids because
I can do more for the Lord and I'm going to lay everything aside, that's not what it's
teaching, okay, laying aside every weight, what weight, what weight are we to lay aside,
now listen, we all have certain weights, okay, but what weight are we to lay aside, every
weight and, let's read it again, and the sin, so there are sins, which doth easily beset
us, okay, so first of all, sins will beset, what does beset mean, it's another way of
saying to be besieged, okay, so if an army were to, you know, besiege a city, you know,
in war times or something like this, the idea that that city will be surrounded, okay, and
it will prevent the citizens of that city from moving, okay, it prevents them, it prevents
movements, okay, and what is a race, is a race standing still or moving, it's moving
forward, right, and so there are certain things that will prevent us from moving forward,
okay, and of course sin is something that will stop us from moving forward, okay, but
then there are other things that will stop us from moving forward, there are certain
weights laid aside, every weight that easily beset us, those things that prevent you from
serving the Lord, those things, yes, lay them aside, you know, so for example, if you're
not faithful to church, you know, if you're someone that's not faithful to Bible reading,
not faithful to soul reading, not faithful to Christian fellowship, not faithful to prayer,
just for some examples, things that we need to do in our Christian life, and the reason
you're not faithful for those things is because something's stopping you from doing it, okay,
and that might not be a sin that's stopping you from doing it, but that weight, you need
to lay it aside, you need to say, this is not helping me in my Christian race, I need
to lay that aside, you know, if you're like, well, I can't come to church on Sunday because
I've got to go to the gym, I can't go to church because, I don't know, whatever thing might
come up, right, it might not be a sin of itself, right, nothing wrong with, you know, working
out your body and being healthy and being strong, nothing wrong with that, but if it's
stopping you from serving the Lord, from being faithful to things God wants you to be faithful
in, then that's a weight that you need to set aside, okay, so that's what it's teaching,
now, there are other hobbies, there are other things that you may have, things that you
enjoy, you know, praise God, but if you're still faithful to church and sowing and reading
your Bible and praying and what else, you know, just all those fundamental things, if
you're still faithful and you're running the race of God, but you also have some other
things that you like doing, some other activities that not be setting you in the race, well,
praise God for those things, you know, you don't need to lay those things aside, okay,
it's not laying aside everything and only, you know, giving up everything and only running
the race, okay, so let's move on now, let's go to verse number 28 in the same chapter,
Hebrews chapter 12 verse 28, it says here, wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot
be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly
fear, okay, so what is grace, you know, I've been in church most of my life and I think
the main definition given to grace is undeserved merit and I like that definition, that might
not be the first definition that you find in your dictionary but I do like that in context,
especially of salvation, for by grace are you saved, hey, it's undeserved merit, right,
I did nothing to deserve my salvation, you know, but God showed his grace toward me,
but grace also means goodwill toward others, okay, and so in many ways, yeah, why God's
showing grace toward us, he has shown goodwill toward undeserving sinners, right, and so
when it's talking about here, let us have grace, okay, this is not talking about let
us have the grace of God, I mean, that's important, right, we should have the grace
of God, but it's about us having grace toward others, okay, let us have grace, alright,
and so to really understand this a little bit further, let's stay to this in the same
chapter, let's move up a little bit further up, in verse number 14, Hebrews chapter 12
and verse number 14, Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number 14, it says this, follow peace
with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord, okay, so God's instructing
us to have peace with all men, okay, look at verse number 15, looking diligently lest
any man fail of the grace of God, so you know what, what it's saying here, that if you don't
seek peace, if you don't seek holiness, okay, if you're not looking diligently, if you're
not watching, you're not being careful about the things affecting your life, that you can
fall of the grace of God, now it's not saying that you can lose your salvation, again, many
idiots will teach you stupid things like this, right, that's not what it's teaching us, right,
because what happens if we fall or fail out of the grace of God here, it says lest any
root of bitterness spring it up, trouble you and thereby many be defiled, what it's saying
here, if we don't seek peace with men, if we don't seek holiness, if we're not being
careful and diligent, okay, we can fail in the grace of God and you're going to become
a bitter person, okay, if you're someone that struggles with bitterness about something
someone has done, well guess what, in order for you to get over that bitterness, you better
start showing some grace toward that person, you've got to move on, okay, bitterness is
such a weird sin because it makes you feel a little bit better, oh, I'm angry at this
person, I'm bitter toward this person and somehow you think that person's being affected
by your bitterness but the person you're bitter toward, like if you're bitter toward me, you
know, as your pastor, look, I'm enjoying life, I'm going back by every day, you know, I'm
really, you know, I've never had a better life to be honest with you, you know, I'm
enjoying every day of my life, I'm enjoying my family, I'm enjoying church, I'm enjoying
this live stream, you know, and someone might be bitter toward me, it doesn't affect me,
all it does is affect you, if you're bitter, because look, it says there, lest any roots
of bitterness springing up, trouble you, the bitter person is troubling himself, right,
that's what it's saying there, troubles you but not only this, especially in the context
of church, if you have bitter people, if you have frustrating bitter people, it says here,
and thereby many be defiled, okay, so we need to come to church and have grace, you know,
we need to seek to have peace amongst the brethren there, okay, you know, be gracious,
if someone says something to upset you, maybe they forgot to greet you, maybe they forgot
to say goodbye to you, you know, don't become bitter, just have a bit of grace, maybe they
forgot, alright, or you know, who am I anyway, I'm just a sinner saved by grace, alright,
I mean, you know, have some grace toward other people, don't become bitter, because if you
become bitter, especially in church, and I've seen this, I've seen this, where it starts
to affect many, it starts to defile many people in the church, and all of a sudden, church
splits, you know, church arguments, all these things happen, and so let us have grace, let's
go to chapter 13 now, Hebrews chapter 13, and verse number 13, Hebrews chapter 13 and
verse number 13, actually, you know what we'll do, we'll read verse number 12 first, and
then 13, let's read verse number 12, let's get the context here, it says, wherefore Jesus
also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate,
now let me explain that to you, I remember when I read this the first time, I didn't
understand what it was teaching, suffered without the gate is basically saying he suffered
outside of the gate, okay, and of course, you know the story of Jesus Christ, he was
arrested, brought into the city of Jerusalem, he was, false accusations were made about
him, he was beaten, he was whipped, okay, and then he was taken outside of the gate
of Jerusalem, outside of the gates, okay, Jerusalem has multiple gates, right, but he
was taken outside of the gate of Jerusalem, and then he was crucified on Calvary, okay,
so this is what he's teaching us here about the sanctification of his blood, he suffered
without the gates, he suffered outside of the gates of Jerusalem, right, and then it
says here in verse number 13, let us go, there's another, oh yeah, there it is, let
us go forth, okay, so now there's an issue to us, in light of what Christ has done, there's
a let us go, let us go forth, therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach,
so in the same way, just like Jesus was outside of the gates, it's asking let us go forth
to Christ outside of the camp, why is it saying outside of the camp now, because the old sin
offering that was made by the Old Testament Israelites, after they did the burnt offering,
they would take the fat of the animal, the dung, I think the skin as well from memory,
and they would take that outside of the camp, and they'll burn that to a crisp, okay, they'll
take it outside of the camp, outside, okay, and that was a picture of Christ being taken
outside of Jerusalem to be crucified on the cross, and Christ has done that for us, and
now it's saying, will you do that for Christ, say what, okay, let's keep reading, right,
it says there in verse number 14, for here have we no continuing city, but we seek one
to come, so let's not forget the context, right, so Jesus was a reject, it's what it's
saying, okay, he was a reject to the world, he was a reject, he was rejected by the Jews,
right, the Jews did not count him as their own, right, and so he was not of the world,
and neither should we be of the world, we should also say hey, you know what, we have
no continuing city, you know, yeah, I live in Australia, yeah, I live in the, oh, you
live in Sydney, I live on the Sunshine Coast, yeah, but this is not our continuing city,
this is not the city that we're going to live for, for all eternity, we have New Jerusalem,
that's our continuing city for all eternity, that's the city that we ought to live for,
and so, and I taught this here on Sunday, if you haven't heard the sermon, I recommend
1 Peter chapter 2, I preach this here at New Life Baptist Church, what did I call it, I
can't remember right now, but anyway, I really recommend you to listen to that, because basically
I've taken this whole point, let us go forth as a whole sermon, okay, and it'll give you
greater depth, but please now go to John chapter 17, I want you to go to John chapter 17 and
verse number 14, and John chapter 17 and verse 14 say, Pastor Kevin, why are you not overly
concerned about, you know, our rights being taken away and the virus and all this stuff,
because this is not my continuing city, I'm not living for this world, I don't care, okay,
I care for the souls, I don't care for the wickedness, I'm not worried about those things,
I understand things are going to get worse, the Bible already tells me this, I don't need
to be reminded every day on Facebook, every day on YouTube, how bad this world gets, the
Bible's already told me that, okay, in fact God does not want me to be wasting my time
on these things, he wants me to be thinking about things that are lovely, things that
are true, you know, things that are of good report, you know, but anyway, John chapter
17 and verse number 14 says, these are the words of Jesus, I have given them thy word,
and the world hath hated them, listen brethren, one thing you need to learn as a Christian,
you know, you learn this over time, is that the world hates Christians, I'm talking about
true Bible believing believers of Jesus Christ, okay, and then it says this, because they
are not of the world, even as I am not of the world, okay, so just like Jesus, the picture
of him being crucified outside of the gates, that rejection is not of the world, neither
are we, because if we're in Christ, neither are we part of this world, okay, and then
in verse number 15, I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou
shouldest keep them from the evil, so even though we're not of this world, Jesus does
not want us totally removed from this world, you know, we're called to do a work here,
you know, we're a salt and a light to this world, verse number 16, they are not of the
world, even as I am not of the world, okay, so that kind of helps us understand, illustrate,
or you know, the point there in Hebrews chapter 13, how Jesus suffered outside of the gates,
he did that for our sins, but it was a picture of his rejection of the world, he's not of
this world, neither are we, and we should be happy to not be part of this world, we
should be bearing that reproach of Christ, you know, suffer, he suffered for us, hey,
you know, he's not asking us to suffer anything near what he has suffered for us, okay, now
back to Hebrews chapter 13, Hebrews chapter 13 verse number 15, I'm up to my last let
us, okay, thank you for your patience, I hope you're patient, Hebrews chapter 13 verse
15, Hebrews 13 verse 15, it says here, by him therefore, let us, let us, there it is,
let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, okay, let us offer the sacrifice
of praise, and then it says here, that is, what is the sacrifice of our praise, that
is the fruits of our lips, giving thanks to his name, okay, this is why church is so important
because this is one of the places that many, you know, many people do not really sing praises
to God, right, at home, now you should, you know, and if you don't, I encourage you, get
a hymn book, you should have one anyway, you've all got one, I think all the families there,
please sing the praises with your family, okay, this is a sacrifice, let us offer the
sacrifice of praise, we ought to be praising God, we ought to be giving him thanks, when
he answers your prayers, give him thanks, when he gives you a blessing, give him thanks,
when you get your paycheck, give God thanks, these things have come from God, he's allowed
you to have a job and earn what you earn, okay, give God thanks, alright, give praise
to his name, but look at verse number 16, there's another sacrifice that's well pleasing
to God, it says, but to do good and to communicate, forget not, okay, for with such sacrifices,
God is well pleased, now when it says here to do good and communicate, communicate is
basically fellowship, okay, this is talking about your brothers and sisters, okay, to
do good and to communicate or fellowship, forget not, don't forget to spend time with
the brethren, alright, this is also a sacrifice that is well pleasing to God, alright, now,
you know, as I said, you know, there are different reasons why people come to church and look,
there's been times and you know, I've made this mistake in the past, I didn't fully understand
church, I didn't fully understand what it is that I'm offering there, you know, I thought
I'd just go sit down, put some money in the plate and listen to some preaching and go
home, right, what I found over time, you know, growing as a Christian is that I was enjoying
more and more the fellowship with my fellow brethren, okay, I was enjoying that more and
more, there was a time where I would just go to church, sit there, as I said, straight
out of the service, I'd be gone, you know, someone said, where's Kevin, he's gone, I
was not interested in fellowshiping with people but you know what, this is part of our sacrifice
to God, you know, when we're fellowshiping with the brother, the body of Christ, when
we serve one another, when we spend time with one another, when we care for each other,
it's as though we're doing it to the Lord Jesus Christ, okay, so it says there, but
to do good and communicate, forget not, don't forget to fellowship, you know, and if you're
someone that runs off after service as soon as you can, because you don't want to fellowship
with people, you need to fix that about yourself, okay, let us offer the sacrifice, okay, of
praise, yes praise to the Lord, but also the sacrifice of fellowship with one another.
Alright brethren, that's what I've got for you today, those are all the let us in the
book of Hebrews and hopefully, Lord willing, that, you know, services return back to normal
on Sunday, alright, God bless.