AND LET US CONSIDER HOW TO STIMULATE ONE ANOTHER TO LOVE AND GOOD DEEDS: kai katanoomen (1PPAS) allelous eis paroxusmon agapes kai kalon ergon: (Heb 13:3; Ps 41:1; Proverbs 29:7; Acts 11:29; Ro 12:15; 15:1,2; 1Corinthians 8:12,13; 9:22; 1Corinthians 10:33; Galatians 6:1; Colossians 3:16; 1Thessalonians 5:11; 2Thessalonians 3:9) (Romans 11:4; 2Corinthians 8:8; 9:2) (He 6:10,11; 13:1; Galatians 5:6,13,22; Philippians 1:9, 10, 11; 1Thessalonians 1:3; 3:12,13; 1Ti 6:18; Titus 2:4; 3:8; 1Jn 3:18)

Let us - Another exhortation. Let us - 13x in 12v - Heb 4:1, 11, 14, 16; 6:1; 10:22, 23, 24; 12:1 (2x), He 12:28; 13:13, 15

The Jewish readers were in great need of exhortation to move forward in the grace found in the New Covenant and (at least some) were having a hard time breaking with the Old Covenant, with the Temple and the sacrifices. They were continuing to hold on to legalism, ritual and ceremony, all of which represented the outward manifestation of their prior practices in Judaism. Old habits die hard, don't they.

Henry writes that here the writer gives us...

the means prescribed for preventing our apostasy, and promoting our fidelity and perseverance.

The able Lutheran commentator Lenski aptly summarizes the three let us exhortations in this section of Hebrews writing that...

The first ("let us draw near" - see note Hebrews 10:22) admonition deals with the heart, the second with the mouth ("let us hold fast the confession" - see note Hebrews 10:23), the third with conduct (Hebrews 10:24). The first with God, the second with the world, the third with the church.

Draw near in Faith
Hold fast in Hope
Stimulate to Love

Let us ever seek to be stimulators and encouragers, not irritators and fault finders for as George Adams reminds us "Encouragement is oxygen to the soul."

Consider (2657) (katanoeo from kata = down [kata can be used to intensify the meaning] + noéo = to perceive or think) means literally to put one's mind down on something and so to observe or consider carefully and attentively. It means to fix one’s eyes or mind upon and to perceive clearly, cautiously, observantly. The idea is to think about something very carefully or consider closely and includes the action of one's mind apprehending certain facts about a thing so as to give one the proper and decisive thought about the thing considered.

Notice the present tense which calls for continuous consideration of how to stir other believers - not to stir them in the sense of causing trouble, but stirring them up in the sense of motivating them to live on earth as citizens of heaven who are anticipating a better hope to be fully realized when "the day" draws nigh. The exhortation is to take careful note of each other’s spiritual welfare, for we are in fact in a very real sense "our brother's keeper" in the flock of God.

Jamieson writes that the idea of consider is...

with the mind attentively fixed on “one another", contemplating with continual consideration the characters and wants of our brethren, so as to render mutual help and counsel.

Expositor's Greek Testament writes that the author is here saying...

let us consider one another, taking into account and weighing our neighbour's circumstances and especially his risks, but this with a view not to exasperating criticism, but "with a view (eis) to incite them to love and good work," acknowledging honest endeavor and making allowance for imperfection.

This is the second use of katanoeo in this epistle, the first use being in Hebrews 3 where he commands the readers....

Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider (aorist imperative - do this now, do it effectively, it conveys a sense of urgency) Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession. (see note Hebrews 3:1)

Matthew Henry writes that...

Christians ought to have a tender consideration and concern for one another; they should affectionately consider what their several wants, weaknesses, and temptations are; and they should do this, not to reproach one another, to provoke one another not to anger, but to love and good works, calling upon themselves and one another to love God and Christ more, to love duty and holiness more, to love their brethren in Christ more, and to do all the good offices of Christian affection both to the bodies and the souls of each other. A good example given to others is the best and most effectual provocation to love and good works.

Stimulate (3948) (paroxusmos from  para = besides, near + oxuno = literally to sharpen, figuratively to incite or irritate) is a strong word which literally means to sharpen and figuratively speaks of a sharpening of one's mind or incitement to some action. Depending on the context, paroxusmos can have either a positive or negative meaning. In a positive sense (Hebrews 10:24) it refers to a rousing of one to activity by incitement or encouragement. In a negative sense (Acts 15:39, see below), paroxusmos refers to a  state of irritation, a sharp disagreement, a "bristly" argument or a provocation.

Acts 15:39 And there arose such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.

Paul uses the related verb paroxuno in his "definition" of Christian love noting that such love...

does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked (paroxuno), does not take into account a wrong suffered  (see note 1Corinthians 13:5)

There are two other related words in the NT, both used with a negative meaning - parorgizo (to make angry) in Romans 10:19 (note) and Ephesians 6:4 (note) and parorgismos (anger) in Ephesians 4:26 (note).

Expositor's Greek Testament notes that paroxusmos is frequently used by the classic Greek writers...

of stimulating to good as in Plato (Epist. iv., p. 321) and in Xenophon (Cyrop. 6, 2, 5), et al... The writer, in Hebrews 6:9-10, has set his readers a good example of this considerate excitement.

Hebrews 6:9 (note) But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. 10 For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints.

This Greek word paroxusmos is related to our English paroxysm which describes a sudden attack or violent expression of something. Although that is not exactly what the writer is saying for his readers to do, it does convey the sense that we are to be serious about spurring one another. Perhaps you have had this experience -- You were driving home late at night with someone else at the wheel and you noticed them begin to nod off. How did you stimulate them? A whisper? Hardly. Instead you would rather vigorously tried to excite them and arouse them from their stupor to prevent "the day" of your car crash from drawing near! In the same way, we believers are to consider seriously out to spur each other onward and upward and all the more as the day of His return draws nearer.

There are two uses of paroxusmos in the Septuagint...

Deuteronomy 29:28 and the LORD uprooted them from their land in anger and in fury and in great wrath (Hebrew = qetseph = anger; Lxx = paroxusmos), and cast them into another land, as it is this day.'

Jeremiah 32:37 "Behold, I will gather them (prophecy of future regathering of Israel prior to the Millennial reign) out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath, and in great indignation (Hebrew = qetseph = anger; Lxx = paroxusmos); and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety.

Matthew Poole adds that paroxusmos...

is a word borrowed from physicians, who use it to set out the violent incursion of a fever, when the fit is so strong as to make the body tremble and bed shake with the horror and rigour of it. In this place it is used to set out the vehemency  (speaks of intense emotion, feeling or conviction) of affection to which the sacrifice of Christ obligeth Christians, as those who had their whole persons acted by love to each other, with all vehemency, to the highest and fullest pitch of it; as who should exceed in benevolence, beneficence, and complacency in each other, such as is conscientious, pure, and extensive to the very end, see notes Hebrews 13:1; Romans 12:9, 12:20; 1Thessalonians 4:9; 1 Peter 1:22; and manifesting itself in good works to them, especially merciful ones, pitying, counselling, succouring, supplying, and comforting them, Jas 2:13, 15, 16 1 John 3:14, 16-18 and this freely, cheerfully, and constantly, see notes Ephesians 2:10;  4:32; 1 Ti 6:18. (Matthew Poole's Commentary)

One another (240) (allelon) is a frequent Pauline word which is found 40 times in the NAS and makes for a very interesting study (click the 40 uses).  Note that he does not say “Meet together so the pastor can stir you up to love and good works, and encourage you.” One another means that every believer can and should encourage, exhort, admonish and even rebuke other believers to press on for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, to fight the good fight of faith, to run the race with endurance. And to reiterate, the verb katanoeo does not imply we are to give this activity an occasional thought but that we are to continually be putting our mind to this task (of stimulating one another), observing and considering carefully and attentively how we can carry out this exhortation toward other believers. We need to think carefully and not casually about how to stimulate one another. The end is at hand and we are to redeem the time for the days until the end are evil. In the meantime we are to think of ways to stimulate our brethren to love and good deeds.

What can I do today to stimulate a brother or sister in Christ to Christ-like loving deeds?

As John Piper says

This is a reason for living that is focused enough to be practical and big enough to last a lifetime.

Solomon alludes to this idea of the "one another-ness" our writer is calling his readers to pursue...

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up. (Ecclesiastes 4:9, 10)

John Wesley once said

There is nothing more unchristian than a solitary Christian.

In the next verse the writer says we are to do these things "all the more and as you see the day drawing near." In other words this stirring one another up to love and good deeds ought to be motivated by a sense of our Lord's imminent return. Each day closer to His glorious Second Coming should serve to motivate us to pour ourselves into acts of love toward one another.

John Piper has an interesting comment on this section writing that stimulating one another...

...is the focus for your life. Here is what you aim at from morning till night as a Christian. Notice carefully: it is not what you might expect. It is not: consider how to love each other and do good deeds. That would be Biblical and right. But it’s different: “Consider how to stimulate each other to love and good deeds.” Focus on helping others become loving people. Aim at stirring up others to do good deeds. And of course the implication would also be that if others need help and stirring, we do too, and so we would be aiming at what sorts of ways we can think and feel and talk and act that will stir each other up to love and to do good deeds. The aim of our lives is not just loving and doing good deeds, but helping to stir up others to love and to good deeds. (See the full text of Consider Each Other How to Stir Up Love)

A B Simpson explains stimulating one another this way...

Every new experience is a preparation for a higher ministry. We can only give to others the Christ that we ourselves know. After coming closer to God we shall always find some hungry heart waiting for our message and ready for our assistance. Let us go out of ourselves as soon as we can, and find our blessings in blessing one another. There is special reference in the following verse to the approaching day of the Lord's coming, and the ministry referred to has doubtless reference to the gathering out and preparation of the Bride to meet her Lord. This, indeed, seems to be the great work which the Holy Spirit has for the disciples of Christ today, not so much the conversion of sinners, although that is not to be forgotten, but the purifying and preparing of the Lord's own people to meet Him in the air. We shall find as we endeavor to give our blessing to others that it grows in the exercise, even as the traveler who found that he had saved himself from death by the warmth that came into his freezing limbs while he rubbed and chafed the limbs of a fellow-traveler, who was dying in the snow. So let us "consider one another to provoke unto love and good works." (A. B. Simpson. Christ in the Bible - Hebrews)

Here are four ways believers can be positive "irritants" to one another to incite them to love and good deeds...

(1) Prayer - If we specifically pray for each other by name and pray for the development of volitional, selfless love (agape) and for specific good deeds, God will answer for John says...

And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.  (1 John 5:14,15) As John Calvin well said "The door is closed to prayer unless it is opened with the key of trust...The true proof of faith is the assurance when we pray that God will really perform what He has promised us." The Puritan writer Thomas Watson put it this way "Faith is to prayer what the feather is to the arrow."

Paul "shot his arrows" very specifically as he interceded and importuned for the saints at Philippi...

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (See notes Philippians 1:9; 10; 11)

(2) Example - A second powerful way to spur one another on to “love and good deeds” is by example.

"We are living a Gospel
A chapter each day,
By deed that we do,
By word that we say;

Men read what we live,
Whether faithless or true,
Say! What is the Gospel
According to you?"

Oswald Chambers said

It is a most disturbing thing to be smitten in the ribs by some provoker from God, by someone who is full of spiritual activity.

Example is the most powerful rhetoric.-Thomas Brooks

Well done is better than well said. - Benjamin Franklin

More depends on my walk than talk. - D. L. Moody

Our lives should be such as men may safely copy. - C. H. Spurgeon

Example is more forceful than precept. People look at me six days a week to see what I mean on the seventh day. - Richard Cecil

It is a fact that loving God and man and doing good deeds are more readily caught than taught. Precepts may lead, but examples draw. To provoke others onward and upward by example is the high road and one worth pursuing with earnestness as did Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman who had what he termed "My rule for Christian living"

The rule that governs my life is this: anything that dims my vision of Christ, or takes away my taste for Bible study, or cramps my prayer life, or makes Christian work difficult, is wrong for me, and I must, as a Christian, turn away from it.

This simple rule would help all of us find a safe road for our feet along life's road as we seek to encourage others to do the same.

Example is greater than precept. A gentleman was seeking the directions in a strange city, and the person of whom he inquired was vague and unsatisfactory. Another, coming up and seeing the stranger's perplexity, asked him where he wished to go. On being told, he replied, "Just come along with me, I am going that way myself." When parent and teacher can say to the child, "Come along with me, I am going that way myself," they talk in a language any child can understand (Moody Monthly)

Life's Mirror

"There are loyal hearts, there are spirits brave,
There are souls that are pure and true;
Then give to the world the best you have,
And the best will come back to you.

"Give love, and love to your life will flow,
A strength in your utmost need;
Have faith, and a score of hearts will show
Their faith in your word and deed.

"Give truth, and your gift will be paid in kind,
And honor will honor meet;
And a smile that is sweet will surely find
A smile that is just as sweet.

"Give sorrow and pity to those who mourn,
You will gather in flowers again,
The scattered seeds of your thought outborne,
Though the sowing seemed but vain.

"For life is the mirror of king and slave;
'Tis just what you ARE and DO;
Then give to the world THE BEST YOU HAVE,
And the BEST will come back to you!"
—Madeline S. Bridges

(3) God’s Word - The Word of God is our basic primer for love and good deeds. When we internalize it and allow it renew our mind and transform us, we become veritable conduits of its virtues and gentle examples and provokers of this Spirit wrought grace to our brothers and sisters in Christ.

(4) Encouragement - Lastly, there is the responsibility to verbally spur others on through words of encouragement. Always remember that "A good word costs no more than a bad one." And as someone else once said more people fail for lack of encouragement than for any other reason. Spurgeon tells the following stories...

You remember the story of the man who had a good wife, and one said to him, "Why, she is worth her weight in gold." "Yes," he said, "she is worth a Gibraltar rock in gold, but I never tell her that. You know that it is necessary to maintain discipline, and if I were to tell her how much I really value her, she would not know herself." Well, now, that is wrong. It does people good to be told how highly we value them. There is many a Christian man and woman, who would do better if now and then some one would speak a kindly word to them, and let them know they had done well. — Barbed Arrows from the Quiver of C. H. Spurgeon

There was a blacksmith once who had two pieces of iron which he wished to weld into one, and he took them just as they were, all cold and hard, and put them on the anvil, and began to hammer with all his might, but they were two pieces still, and would not unite. At last he remembered what he ought never to have forgotten; he thrust both of them into the fire, took them out red-hot, laid the one upon the other, and by one or two blows of the hammer they very soon became one. — Feathers for Arrows

Stimulation to Good Deeds - The story is told of Ludwig von Beethoven. Born into a musical family in Germany, Beethoven was compelled to spend a lonely childhood while he practiced his music for hours upon hours every day. His genius soon showed itself. At the age of eleven he was composing his own music and conducting an orchestra, and in his late teens he went to Vienna for further study. There he reached fame if not fortune. There he composed what was perhaps his most bewitching composition. Beethoven was passing a cobbler's cottage early one evening and heard someone practicing one of his compositions. As he paused to listen, he overheard the girl express the desire to hear a real musician render it properly. He entered the house and discovered that the young lady was blind. Offering to play for her, he sat at the piano and did so for an hour or more. Dusk had settled into evening. The lone candle in the room went out. But the moonlight glistened in the room and, under its inspiration and that received from the blind girl who so loved his music, Beethoven composed the "Moonlight Sonata."

Love (26) (agape) speaks of unconditional, sacrificial love and Biblically refers to a love that God is (1Jn 4:8,16), that God shows (Jn 3:16, 1Jn 4:9) and that God enables in and through His yielded, humble saints (see note on fruit of the Spirit Galatians 5:22). Biblical agape love is the love of choice, the love that serves with humility, the highest love and noblest devotion, the love of one's will (intentional, a conscious choice), a love not motivated by superficial appearance, emotional attraction, or sentimental relationship but initiated and energized by the Spirit in the obedient saint. Agape is not based on  pleasant emotions or good feelings that might result from a physical attraction or a familial bond. Agape chooses as an act of self-sacrifice to serve the recipient. From all of the descriptions of agape love, it is clear that genuine agape love is a sure mark of salvation. 

By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love (agape) for one another. (John 13:35).

Meyer in his book The Way Into the Holiest adds that agape love...

is queen of all the graces of the inner life. Love is the passion of self-giving. It never stays to ask what it can afford, or what it may expect to receive; but it is ever shedding forth its perfume, breaking its alabaster boxes, and shedding its heart's blood. It will pine to death if it cannot give. It must share its possessions. It is prodigal of costliest service.

Such love is in the heart of God, and should also be in us; and we may increase it materially by considering one another, and associating with our fellow-believers. Distance begets coldness and indifference. When we forsake the assembly of our fellow Christians we are apt to wrap ourselves in the chill mantle of indifference.

But when we see others in need, and help them; when we are willing to succor and save; when we discover that there is something attractive in the least lovable; when we feel the glowing sympathy of others-our own love grows by the demands made on it, and by the opportunities of manifestation.

Let us seek earnestly these best gifts; and that we may have them and abound, let us invoke the blessed indwelling of the Lord Jesus, whose entrance brings with it the whole train of sweet Christian graces.

Good deeds (ergon = work + agathon = good) (Click incredible example of good deeds) is a frequent Pauline phrase used 6x in the short letter to Titus (see notes Titus 1:16; 2:7; 2:14; 3:1; 3:8; 3:14). 

While we have opportunity, [we are to] do good (agathos) to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith” (Gal. 6:10).

Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Brother, you say that there is but one way to worship and serve the Great Spirit. If there is but one religion, why do you white people differ so much about it? Why not all agree, as you can all read the Book?

Believers are to spur one another on to the love and good works (contrast "dead works" see note Hebrews 9:14) that had distinguished them as a community in the past (see note Hebrews 6:10) when exemplary service of fellow believers had been the hallmark of the congregation (cf. notes Hebrews 10:33; 34)

Spurgeon has the following comments...

The Greek is, to stir each other up to a paroxysm of love. There is no fear that we shall ever go too far in our love to God; though it should cast us into a state of blessed excitement, yet would it be healthy for us so to live and so to work.

I am afraid there are some who consider one another to provoke in quite a different spirit from this,-who watch to find out a tender spot where a wound will be most felt. They observe the weakness of a brother’s constitution, and then play upon it, or make jests about it. All this is evil, so let us avoid it; let us all seek out the good points of our brethren, and consider them, that we may afterwards be the means of guiding them to those peculiar good works for which they are best adapted.

“Provoke unto love and to good works.” I do not know how we can do that better than by being very loving and very full of good works ourselves, for then will others be likely to say, “If these people are helped by God’s grace to love like this, and to labor like this, why should not we do the same” A good example is often better than a very proper precept.

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Stimulated by McGuffey Readers - William McGuffey loved to learn. Born in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1800, McGuffey learned the ""three R's"" from his mother and attended classes taught by the local minister. He began teaching other students at the age of 13, furthering his own education by borrowing books from neighbors. McGuffey became a college professor at the age of 26; but he is best remembered for his series of readers, which were used by generations of American school children. The McGuffey Readers urged (stimulated) students to adopt virtues such as truthfulness, kindness, hard work, thrift and sobriety. William McGuffey was very successful at motivating others to practice virtuous behavior. He used interesting examples to make his point, knowing how important it is for people to see virtue in action. McGuffey was not the first person to understand the value of a good example when it comes to helping people do what's right. The writer of Hebrews wanted his readers to make a deliberate effort to find ways they could spur one another forward in their Christian walk.

Our Daily Bread - The Good Sense Of The Grasshopper - One grasshopper seems insignificant as it leaps across the lawn. But when it joins forces with other grasshoppers, the resulting swarm can soon devour all the vegetation in its path. Grasshoppers demonstrate the power of community. What they cannot do by themselves, they can accomplish together. In the book of Proverbs, the wise man Agur observed,

"The locusts have no king, yet they all advance in ranks" (Pr 30:27).

We can learn a lesson from these little creatures. Believers can make far greater advances for Christ's cause when they act and pray together than they could ever make alone. When Christians are united in serving the Lord, they can become a mighty force for God. Although the New Testament urges us to possess a personal faith in Jesus Christ, it says nothing at all about a private faith. We need other believers, and other believers need us. Let's enjoy the strength and fellowship available in the unified body of Christ. An effective church will reflect "the good sense of the grasshopper" by its love and unity in the Holy Spirit. --H W Robinson (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

We all depend upon the strength
We draw from one another,
For we are one in faith and love
With every Christian brother. --Sper

Two Christians are better than one--
when they're one.

How important is our fellowship in the local church? Let me answer that question by telling a story. A minister was concerned about the absence of a man who had normally attended services. After a few weeks, he decided to visit him. When the pastor arrived at the man's home, he found him all alone, sitting in front of a fireplace. The minister pulled up a chair and sat next to him. But after his initial greeting he said nothing more. The two sat in silence for a few minutes while the minister stared at the flames in the fireplace. Then he took the tongs and carefully picked up one burning ember from the flames and placed it on the hearth. He sat back in his chair, still silent. His host watched in quiet reflection as the ember flickered and faded. Before long it was cold and dead. The minister glanced at his watch and said he had to leave, but first he picked up the cold ember and placed it back in the fire. Immediately it began to glow again with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it. As the minister rose to leave, his host stood with him and shook his hand. Then, with a smile on his face, the man said, "Thanks for the sermon, pastor. I'll see you in church on Sunday." —David Roper (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

Lord, help us see how much we need each other
As we walk along the Christian way;
In fellowship with sister and with brother,
You will keep us growing day by day. —Hess

The warm fellowship of the church
will keep your heart from growing cold

When it comes to doing things for others,
some people stop at nothing.

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Today in the Word - Many of us recall parents, teachers, pastors, coaches, Sunday school teachers, and other special people who challenged us to do our best and seemed to bring out the best in us. Dr. Howard Hendricks recalls his sixth-grade teacher, who inherited a troubled boy from a broken home whose reputation preceded him. “Howard,” she told him, “I’ve heard all about you. But I don’t believe a word of it.” Hendricks began to blossom under her loving direction, and said later, “I would have walked through a wall for that woman.”

One of the God-intended delights of marriage is that the partners can be teachers, guides, coaches, and encouragers to each other. It’s painful to admit that one of the greatest failures of Christian husbands is their failure to feed and encourage their wives’ spiritual lives. The result is marriages in which one partner is growing in Christ, while the other lags behind.

God has a better plan. Again, today’s verses have a special meaning for married people. If Christians in general are commanded to urge one another on in love and service to Christ, how much more should a husband and wife do so?

Studying God’s Word and praying together are two obvious ways that couples can fulfill this biblical command, but don’t overlook the irreplaceable value of the church in a healthy marriage. It seems obvious, but couples need to be committed to attending church together and serving the body of Christ. One spouse attending church without the other may be common in our culture, but it’s one “tradition” that needs to be discarded.

The author of Hebrews wrote with an urgency relevant to both marrieds and singles. We must encourage each other because “the Day [is] approaching” (He 10:25). That is, “the time is short” (1Cor. 7:29). Christ could return tomorrow, so it’s important that we make use of today.  (MBI - Today in the Word)

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Andrew Murray...
 

LOVE AND GOOD WORKS
Hebrews 10:24

WE have had the fulness of faith in which we are to draw nigh, and the confession of hope we are to hold fast, now follows the third of the sister graces: Let us consider one another--let us prove our love and care for each other in the effort--to provoke unto love and good works. These three thoughts form the subdivision of the practical part of the Epistle. Hebrews 11, may well be headed, The fulness of faith; Hebrews 12:1-14, The patience of hope; and Hebrews 13., Love and good work.

And let us consider one another. He that enters into the Holiest enters into the home of eternal love; the air he breathes there is love; the highest blessing he can receive there is a heart in which the love of God is shed abroad in power by the Holy Ghost, and which is on the path to be made perfect in love. That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself is the house of God--remember this, Faith and hope shall pass away, but love abideth ever. The chief of these is love.

Let as consider one another. When first we seek the entrance into the Holiest, the thought is mostly of ourselves. And when we have entered in faith, it is as if it is all we can do to stand before God, and wait on Him for what He has promised to do for us. But it is not long before we perceive that the Holiest and the Lamb are not for us alone; that there are others within with whom it is blessed to have fellowship in praising God; that there are some without who need our help to be brought in. It is into the love of God that we have had access given us; that love enters our hearts; and we see ourselves called to live like Christ in entire devotion to those around us.

Let us consider one another. All the redeemed form one body. Each one is dependent on the other, each one is for the welfare of the other. Let us beware of the self-deception that thinks it possible to enter the Holiest, into the nearest intercourse with God, in the spirit of selfishness. It cannot be. The new and living way Jesus opened up is the way of self-sacrificing love. The entrance into the Holiest is given to us as priests, there to be filled with the Spirit and the love of Christ, and to go out and bring God's blessing to others.

Let us consider one another. The same Spirit that said, Consider Christ Jesus--take time, and give attention to know Him well--says to us, Consider one another--take time, and give attention to know the needs of your brethren around you. How many are there whose circumstances are so unfavourable, whose knowledge is so limited, whose whole life is so hopeless, that there is but little prospect of their ever attaining the better life. For them there is but one thing to be done: We that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Each one who begins to see what the blessedness is of a life in the full surrender to Christ should offer himself to Christ, to be made His messenger to the feeble and the weary.

Consider one another, to provoke unto love and good works. Love rind good works: These are to be the aim of the Church in the exercise of its fellowship. Everything that can hinder love is to be sacrificed and set aside. Everything that can promote, and prove, and provoke others to, love is to be studied and performed.

And with love good works too. The Church has been redeemed by Christ, to prove to the world what power He has to cleanse from sin, to conquer evil, to restore to holiness and to goodness. Let us consider one another, in every possible way, to provoke, to stir up, to help to love and good works.

The chief thought is this: Life in the Holiest must be a life of love. As earnest as the injunction, Let us draw nigh in fulness of faith, Let us hold fast the confession of our hope, is this, Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works. God is love. And all He has done for us in His Son, as revealed in this Epistle, is love. And Christ is love. And there can be no real access to God as a union with Him in His holy will, no real communion with Him, but in the Spirit of love. Our entering into the Holiest is mere imagination, if we do not yield ourselves to the love of God in Christ, to be filled and used for the welfare and joy of our fellow-men.

O Christian! Study what love is. Study it in the word, in Christ, in God. As thou seest Him to be an ever-flowing fountain of all goodness, who has His very being and glory in this, that He lives in all that exists, and communicates to all His own blessedness and perfection as far as they are capable of it, thou wilt learn to acknowledge that he that loveth not hath not known God. And thou wilt learn, too, to admit more deeply and truly than ever before, that no effort of thy will can bring forth love; it must be given thee from above. This will become to thee one of the chief joys and beauties of the Holiest of All, that there thou canst wait on the God of love to fill thee with His love. God hath the power to shed abroad His love in our hearts, by the Holy Spirit given unto us. He has promised to give Christ, so dwelling in our heart by faith, that we shall be rooted and grounded in love, and know and have in us something of a love that passeth knowledge. The very atmosphere of the Holiest is love. Just as I breathe in the air in which I live, so the soul that abides in the presence of God breathes the air of the upper world. The promise held out to us, and the hour of its fulfilment, will come, when the love of God will be perfected in us, and we are made perfect in love- Nowhere can this be but in the Holiest; but there most surely. Let us draw nigh in the fulness of faith, and consider one another. While we are only thinking of others to bring God's love to them, we shall find God thinking of us, and filling us with it.

1. It is the very essence, the beauty, and the glory of the salvation of Christ, that it is for all. He that truly receives it, as the Holy Spirit gives it, receives it as a salvation for all, and feels himself impelled to communicate it to others. The baptism of fire is a baptism of redeeming love, but that not as a mere emotion, but a power at once to consider and to care for others.

2. How impossible to love others and give all for them in our strength! This is one of the real gifts to be waited for in the Holiest of all, to be received in the power of the pentecostal Spirit--the love of God so shed abroad in the heart, that we spontaneously, unceasingly, joyfully love because it is our very nature.

NOT FORSAKING OUR OWN ASSEMBLING TOGETHER AS IS THE HABIT OF SOME: me egkataleipontes (PAPMPN) ten episunagogen heauton kathos ethos tisin:  (Matthew 18:20; John 20:19-29; Acts 1:13,14; 2:1,42; 16:16; 20:7; 1 Corinthians 5:4; 1 Corinthians 11:17,18,20; 14:23; Jude 1:19)

"Not leaving behind, not leaving in the lurch" like DEMAS left Paul (2Ti 4:10).

Not forsaking - The present tense can be rendered not continually neglecting our meeting together.

Forsaking (1459) (egkataleipo from en = in + kataleipo [kata = down or intensify meaning + leipo = leave behind] = leave behind, abandon) means to separate connection with another, and in context to neglect or abandon something, in this case meeting together.

Poole writes that this verb speaks of...

a desertion, as leaves destitute in deep trouble or distress, when they should be helping. (Matthew Poole's Commentary)

Jamieson writes that...

the Greek, “episunagoge,” is only found here and 2Thes 2:1 (the gathering together of the elect to Christ at His coming, Mt 24:31). The assembling or gathering of ourselves for Christian communion in private and public, is an earnest of our being gathered together to Him at His appearing. Union is strength; continual assemblings together beget and foster love, and give good opportunities for “provoking to good works,” by “exhorting one another” (see note Hebrews 3:13). Ignatius says, “When ye frequently, and in numbers meet together, the powers of Satan are overthrown, and his mischief is neutralized by your likemindedness in the faith.” To neglect such assemblings together might end in apostasy at last. He avoids the Greek term “sunagoge,” as suggesting the Jewish synagogue meetings

Assembling together (1997) (episunagoge from epi = upon, unto + sunago = to cause to come together) describes a gathering together at some location. In both the NT uses, this word is used in an eschatological (study of last things, future events, prophetic) setting (but see notes below about how some interpret "the day").

Wuest explains that...

“Assembling” is the translation of episunagoge  The word is a compound of ago “to go,” sun “with,” and epi. Sun and ago come over into English in the word “synagogue,” the meeting place of the Jews other than the temple at Jerusalem.

Alford suggests two reasons for the addition of epi. It was used by the writer to take away the Judaistic sound of sunagoge. Or, it might point to the individual meeting places of the various assemblies. Some of the recipients of this letter were, under stress of persecution, absenting themselves from the Christian assemblies. (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans or Logos)

The only other NT use (none in the non-apocryphal Lxx - it is used as with an eschatological note in 2 Macc 2:7-8, where it refers to the final gathering of dispersed Israel) is in 2 Thessalonians 2:1 which describes the "rapture" (see note) of the saints (cf. Latin congregatio)...

Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him

Poole has an interesting thought on the prepositional prefix epi- attached to synagogue explaining that the compound noun episunagoge...

strictly notes an addition to this synagogue of the Jews; an accession of new members to the former church assembly, even the Gentiles, becoming Abraham’s seed by their conversion to, and confession of, the faith of Christ. This some of the Jews, from the self-conceit of their being the only people of God, disdained, and continued in a separation from them, and all communion with them. (Matthew Poole's Commentary)

TDNT writes that in the context of Hebrews 10:24-25...

The point is not leaving the community, but failing to attend its gatherings, which are so necessary in view of the approaching day. The specific reason for the warning is not given. Believers might have been taking part in other gatherings or failing to attend due to pride, fear of persecution, or flagging zeal. (Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W.  Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Eerdmans)

Some commentators suggest that the compound word episunagoge is used instead of sunagoge (synagogue) in order to avoid a word with Judaic association. Others feel that the word sunagoge might have been more suggestive to them of a building and formal meetings rather than the more generic concept of meeting together as believers in whatever venue might be appropriate. I favor the latter thoughts and certainly it has applicability to our modern world where even meeting for coffee or lunch can be time redeemed for stimulating one another. I think of men (and women) meeting in accountability groups fulfilling the aim of the proverb which declares that...

Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17, NAS)

Or as the NKJV renders it...

As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

As is the habit of some - This may indicate there had been a defection on the part of certain members.

Poole adds that ...

such desertion of those assemblies in the worshipping and serving of God, was the common custom among some of these Hebrews; a usual, frequent mode of them to do it; some idolizing their own nation; others, their own selves, thinking them holier than others, Gal 2:12-14; others, that valued honours, riches, and ease more than Christ or their souls; some for fear of persecution, as foretold, Luke 8:13, 14, fulfilled, Gal 6:12. (Ibid)

Let the words of George Atkins' 19th century hymn encourage you to assemble together if you have been "disassembling" as of late...

Brethren, We Have Met to Worship

Brethren, we have met to worship and adore the Lord our God;
Will you pray with all your power, while we try to preach the Word?
All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down;
Brethren, pray, and holy manna will be showered all around.

Brethren, see poor sinners round you slumbering on the brink of woe;
Death is coming, hell is moving, can you bear to let them go?
See our fathers and our mothers, and our children sinking down;
Brethren, pray and holy manna will be showered all around.

Sisters, will you join and help us? Moses’ sister aided him;
Will you help the trembling mourners who are struggling hard with sin?
Tell them all about the Savior, tell them that He will be found;
Sisters, pray, and holy manna will be showered all around.

Is there here a trembling jailer, seeking grace, and filled with tears?
Is there here a weeping Mary, pouring forth a flood of tears?
Brethren, join your cries to help them; sisters, let your prayers abound;
Pray, Oh pray that holy manna may be scattered all around.

Let us love our God supremely, let us love each other, too;
Let us love and pray for sinners, till our God makes all things new.
Then He’ll call us home to Heaven, at His table we’ll sit down;
Christ will gird Himself and serve us with sweet manna all around.

Matthew Henry comments that...

It is the will of Christ that his disciples should assemble together, sometimes more privately for conference and prayer, and in public for hearing and joining in all the ordinances of gospel worship. There were in the apostles' times, and should be in every age, Christian assemblies for the worship of God, and for mutual edification. And it seems even in those times there were some who forsook these assemblies, and so began to apostatize from religion itself. The communion of saints is a great help and privilege, and a good means of steadiness and perseverance; hereby their hearts and hands are mutually strengthened. To exhort one another, to exhort ourselves and each other, to warn ourselves and one another of the sin and danger of backsliding, to put ourselves and our fellow-Christians in mind of our duty, of our failures and corruptions, to watch over one another, and be jealous of ourselves and one another with a godly jealousy. This, managed with a true gospel spirit, would be the best and most cordial friendship.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said

The physical presence of other Christians is a source of incomparable joy and strength to the believer.

How else can we can stir one another to love and good deeds unless we meet together? And when we meet, it should not be for glib conversation but for godly consecration, centered around the Word of God and prayer to God.  And all the more as we see the Day of His return drawing nigh!

Spurgeon has the following comments...

For Christian fellowship is helpful to us, and we are helpful to others by it. A Christian is not meant to be a solitary being. Sheep are gregarious, and so are the sheep of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us not be solitary pilgrims along the road to heaven, but join that glorious host of God’s elect who march beneath the guidance of our great Master.

Does not every day bring us nearer to the coming of the Lord? Are there not many signs that these are the last days? Well then, so much the more let us stir each other up to love and to good works.

Yes; there are some who even make a bad use of what ought to be a great blessing, namely, the printing-press, and the printed sermon, by staying at home to read a sermon because, they say, it is better than going out to hear one. Well, dear friend, if I could not hear profitably, I would still make one of the assembly gathered together for the worship of God. It is a bad example for a professing Christian to absent himself from the assembly of the friends of Christ. There was a dear sister, whom many of you knew, who used to attend here with great regularity, although she could not hear a word that was said; but she said it did her good to join in the hymns, and to know that she was worshipping God with the rest of his people. I wish that some, who stay away for the most frivolous excuses, would think of this verse: “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is;”

---

It is not the work of the minister alone to exhort, but the brethren, and the sisters, too, should exhort one another, and seek to stir each other up in the faith and fear of God.

An example of not forsaking assembling together: Josef Gabor grew up in Czechoslovakia when it was dominated by communism, and religion was despised as weakness. His father taught communist doctrine classes. But Josef’s mother, who believed in Jesus Christ, took Josef and his brother with her to church. They got up early each Sunday morning and took a 3-hour train ride to Prague. Then they walked to the church and sat through a 2 1/2-hour service. After eating lunch in a nearby park, they returned to church for another 2 1/2-hour meeting. Then they took the 3-hour ride home. Today Josef Gabor is a missionary to his own people in Czechoslovakia. When he tells about going to church as a child, his eyes fill with tears of gratitude for a mother who cared enough about his spiritual welfare to help him come to know and serve Christ.

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Today in the Word - A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association says that people who are involved in a variety of activities such as work, church, sports, and family recreation catch fewer colds than people whose lives are only consumed by a few things--work being the most common. The article supports the idea that mental well-being affects a person's physical health. This is encouraging news for the winter season, but we don't need a study to tell us that believers who are faithful to the church are spiritually healthier than those who are not. Today's verse shows that all of us need the strength we draw from one another. That's the way Christ intended His body to work.

How does the command to continue meeting together relate to God's faithfulness? You probably saw the connection in He 10:23. God's faithfulness to His promises is the link that connects He 10:19, 20, 21, 22, in which we are urged to draw close to God, with He 10:24, 25, which command us not to forsake the church. The point is that both of these spiritually healthy activities are possible and beneficial because our God keeps His promises. (MBI - Today in the Word)

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Today in the Word -This December 31 promises to be one of the noisiest New Year's Eves many people have spent in their lifetime. Entertainment providers have been busy planning the 'party of the century' on land, on sea, and in the air as the supersonic Concorde takes a group of revelers around the world. Even the traditional New Year's eve celebration in New York's Times Square is going to begin twenty-four hours earlier than usual.

Getting together with people is a good way to multiply our enjoyment and divide our anxieties. Close fellowship with others is important on the spiritual level too. It helps us keep our equilibrium and focus on what is eternally important.

Since that's our goal, look at four powerful ways we can accomplish it. The writer of Hebrews tells us first to draw near to God (Heb. 10:19, 20, 21, 22). We can do this because the blood of Jesus Christ has opened the way into God's presence, and Jesus Himself is there to minister on our behalf as our great High Priest.

Second, when our relationship with God is solid we can hold to the hope we have in Him without wavering (He 10:23).

The Hebrews themselves were wavering between their faith in Christ and their former lives in Judaism. There are plenty of believers today wavering in doubt every time they hear some doomsayer predict the terrible things that could happen at the end of the millennium. That kind of fear does not produce steady faith. God's faithfulness is not limited by events.

He 10:24 describes a third way we can keep an eternal perspective. When we come together as believers, our objective is not just to have a social or mark a date on the calendar. We should be urging each other on toward love and Christian service.

The best context for this ministry is the fourth 'Let us' in today's reading (He 10:25). We need to stay in contact with our fellow believers on a regular basis. We have a 'Day' approaching the return of Christ. We need to stay close to God and one another to be ready when this day comes. (MBI - Today in the Word)

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Grouped For Strength - Several years ago, former American prisoners of war were interviewed to determine what methods used by the enemy had been most effective in breaking their spirit. Researchers learned that the prisoners didn't break down from physical deprivation and torture as quickly as they did from solitary confinement or from being frequently moved around and separated from friends. It was further learned that the soldiers drew their greatest strength from the close attachments they had formed to the small military units to which they belonged. These observations give us insight into why Christians need the group experience of fellowship with other believers to help them remain loyal to the Lord. Our own personal relationship to God, vital as that is, is not sufficient to produce spiritual maturity and endurance. Relationships within a unified, Spirit-filled body of believers are essential for growth and for maintaining our individual faithfulness to the Savior (Hebrews 10:23-25). Sometimes we would rather not be involved in church life, thinking it's easier just to go it alone. But Christians who do that miss out on all the benefits. Let's remember that God in His wisdom has grouped us for strength. —M R De Haan II  (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

Fellowship with other Christians
Strengthens us when we are weak,
Comforts us when we are hurting,
Helps us when God's will we seek. —Sper

Believers stand strong
when they don't stand alone.

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Some people don’t need much of an excuse to stay home from church. If it even looks like it might rain, they don’t want to risk getting a little wet.

The hymn writer Frances Havergal (bio) gave several reasons for attending church—especially on rainy days. She enumerates these as follows:

1. God has blessed the Lord’s Day, making no exceptions for stormy days.

2. I expect my minister to be there. I would be surprised if he stayed at home because of the weather.

3. I might lose out on the prayers and the sermon that would have done me great good.

4. For important business, rain doesn’t keep me home; and church is, in God’s sight, very important.

5. Bad weather will prove how much I love Christ. True love rarely fails to keep an appointment.

6. Those who stay home from church because it’s rainy frequently miss on fair Sundays, too. I mustn’t take one step in that direction.

7. I don’t know how many more Sundays God may give me. It would be poor preparation for my first Sunday in heaven to have slighted my last one on earth."

The Man Who Refused to Attend Church - A book in my library includes a humorous tale about a man who refused to attend church. When a pastor asked him why, he answered, “I don’t go to church because every time I do they throw something at me.” “What do you mean?” the preacher inquired. The man went on to explain. “When I was just a baby and my parents took me to church, the minister threw water on me. When I got married, the wedding ceremony took place in a church, and they threw rice at me.” Hearing this the pastor quickly responded, “And if you don’t start going to church soon, the next time you do I’m afraid they’ll throw DIRT on you!”

Sadly, this describes the situation for many people. As far as church attendance is concerned, it’s “three times and out.” They go to church to be baptized, married, and buried—and that’s about all. For an obedient child of God, however, that will never do. He does not forsake “the assembling together commanded in Hebrews 10:25. Rather, thanking God for the church, the dedicated believer takes advantage of the opportunities his local assembly offers for fellowship, for the ministry of God’s Word, for the observance of the ordinances, and for service. The church is a special blessing that God Himself has provided for believers. - R. W. De Haan (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

The "habit" of old Bill was not to go to church. He had never gone to church in his life. No matter how much he was coaxed, he couldn't be persuaded to attend even on a special day such as Christmas or Easter. "When it freezes in June," he would say, "then I will go to church." One year there was an unusually cold spring, and it stayed that way into June. The first part of the month the temperature dipped to freezing for several nights. Everyone thought about Bill and what he had said. Perhaps this spell of cold weather would finally get him to attend church. It did! One Sunday, Bill made his first appearance in the church building--while the organ played softly. Six men carried him in! Bill finally made it, but he was lying in a casket instead of sitting in a pew. Don't be like old Bill! Those who think they don't need church don't think much of the one who founded it.

BUT ENCOURAGING ONE ANOTHER: alla parakalountes (PAPMPN):  (24; 3:13; Romans 12:8; 1 Corinthians 14:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:18; 5:11)

But (alla) introduces the attitude and action that stands in contrast to their forsaking assembling together.

Encourage (3870) (parakaleo [word study] from para = side of, alongside, beside + kaleo [word study] = call) means literally to call one alongside, to call someone to oneself, to call for, to summon. Parakaleo can include the idea of giving help or aid but the primary sense in the NT is to urge someone to take some action, especially some ethical course of action. Sometimes the word means convey the idea of comfort, sometimes of exhortation but always at the root there is the idea of enabling a person to meet some difficult situation with confidence and with gallantry.

Related Resource: More Discussion of encouragement w/ illustrations, devotionals, etc

I see this exemplified every time my church has a roller skating party, and the parents put their little ones on skates for the first time. Mom and Dad skate with their child, holding on to his or her hands, sometimes with the child’s feet on the ground and sometimes in the air. But all the time the parents are alongside encouraging....[exhortation] is a wonderful gift, and we are to place it at Christ’s feet and be willing to be worn out in its use.

One Greek historian used parakaleo to describe a military regiment which had lost heart and was utterly dejected. The general sent a leader to talk to the disheartened ranks and he so enlivened them that their courage was reborn and a body of dispirited men became fit again for heroic action.

Let no unwholesome (sapros [English saprophytic - living on decaying matter] = words that cause decay, putrefaction, rotting, corruption) word proceed (present imperative + negative = stop an action that is in progress!) from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification (building up, not tearing down) according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear. (see note Ephesians 4:29)

The writer has a parallel passage in chapter 3 warning them that instead of falling away from the living God they were to...

encourage (present imperative  = command to make this their habitual practice) one another (how often?) day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," lest any one of you be hardened (What does hardening of the arteries of the heart do to our physical bodies and physical health? Get the point?) by the deceitfulness of sin (What is one of the deadly characteristics of sin? When a person is deceived, do they even know it?).  (See note Hebrews 3:13) (See Related Discussion: The Deceitfulness of Sin)

The Hebrew recipients are exhorted by the writer to exhort one another not to harden their hearts by renouncing their professed faith in Messiah and going back to the Levitical system and sacrifices but to press on in faith in the better covenant, better ministry, better promises and better sacrifice of the better Priesthood of the Messiah.

The writer's exhortations in this section remind us that Christians are a lot like coals of fire -- together they glow hot but apart, they grow cold. Lord, stir us and provoke us to "burn hot" (root for zealous in Gk is zeo = be hot, boil, fervent) for the Gospel of the Kingdom and for the glory of Thy Name. Amen.

Martin Luther spoke of the stimulatory effect of rubbing shoulders with the brethren confiding that when he was...

At home in my own house there is no warmth or vigor in me, but in the church when the multitude is gathered together, a fire is kindled in my heart and it breaks its way through.

GROW IN GROVES

If we are going to be spiritually healthy, we need all the encouragement and support we can get. And in this section our "trainer" is telling us that spiritual fitness calls for team effort. Yes, we are to be oaks of righteousness, but God desires us not to be isolated oaks but growing "groves" of oaks, as is so well illustrated in nature by the giant sequoia trees of California that tower up to 300 feet. These beautiful behemoths belie their unusually shallow root systems that reach out in all directions to capture the greatest amount of surface moisture. As their roots extend horizontally, the intertwining roots of the juxtaposed trees weave a network of support which provides stability against violent storms (think "storms of life"). In short, these gentle giants are so constructed by their Creator that they need each other, which explains why you virtually always see them growing assembled together in clusters ("not forsaking their assembling together"). Seldom do you see a giant redwood standing alone, because the high winds would quickly uproot the shallow root system of these "loners". The Hebrew believers of the first century desperately needed to grow in groves and we of the 21st century are no different!

Christian fellowship provides us
With encouragement and love;
It will help us in our journey,
Till we reach our home above. --Sper

AND ALL THE MORE, AS YOU SEE THE DAY DRAWING NEAR: kai tosouto mallon oso blepete (2PPAI) eggizousan (PAPFSA) ten hemeran: (Matthew 24:33,34; Mark 13:29,30; Romans 13:11, 12, 13; Philippians 4:5; James 5:8; 1Peter 4:7; 2Peter 3:9,11,14)

The day - The Greek includes the article ("the") which identifies this as a very specific day. What day? There are two possibilities.

One (favored by J Vernon McGee, Dwight Pentecost) is the fact that the day of destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem was soon to come to pass in 70AD. The point of the writer's argument is clear -- encourage one another. Why would that be necessary? As the day of the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem approached, the true believers would need to "hang together" in order to hang on.

The Expositor's Greek Testament that...

"The day" is of course the day of the Lord's return (He 9:28-note), the day of days. The Epistle being written in all probability a year or two before the destruction of Jerusalem, the signs of the coming day which could be "seen" were probably the restlessness, forebodings of coming disaster, and initial collisions with the Romans which heralded the great war. (Nicoll, W Robertson, Editor: Expositors Greek Testament: 5 Volumes. Out of print. See Google Books)

The other possibility (favored by John MacArthur, Charles Ryrie, W A Criswell, William Hendriksen, Simon J. Kistemaker, Life Application Bible Commentary - Bruce Barton, Reformation Study Bible, Nelson Study Bible, NIV Study Bible) is the day of the return of the Lord, but admittedly it is difficult to prove this from the text or context. There is however no question that a sense of Christ's imminent return is used throughout the New Testament as a truth to spur believers toward an upward look and a willingness to hold loosely the things of this world which is passing away, even it's lusts.

And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming....3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (1John 2:28, 1Jn 3:2-note ,1Jn 3:3-note)

There is a third possibility or application for the day would also be relevant to a time yet future, when the Jewish Temple is rebuilt and the Jews pick up the book of Hebrews and realize that the warnings are for them...because the true Day of the Lord is imminent, beginning with the unveiling of the Antichrist in the Temple in Jerusalem.

Matthew Henry (and Adam Clarke) adds yet another day writing that...

There is a trying day coming on all men, the day of our death.

John Calvin (who favors the day as the day of the Lord's return) comments that...

How could the (writer) say that those who were as yet afar off from the manifestation of Christ, saw the day near and just at hand? I would answer, that from the beginning of the kingdom of Christ the Church was so constituted that the faithful ought to have considered the Judge as coming soon; nor were they indeed deceived by a false notion, when they were prepared to receive Christ almost every moment; for such was the condition of the Church from the time the Gospel was promulgated, that the whole of that period might truly and properly be called the last. (ED: cp "the last days") They then who have been dead many ages ago lived in the last days no less than we. Laughed at is our simplicity in this respect by the worldly-wise and scoffers, who deem as fabulous (ED: literally meant resembling a fable!) all that we believe respecting the resurrection of the flesh and the last judgment; but that our faith may not fail through their mockery, the Holy Spirit reminds us that a thousand years are before God as one day, (see note 2 Peter 3:8) so that whenever we think of the eternity of the celestial kingdom no time ought to appear long to us (ED: "Amen!"). And further, since Christ, after having completed all things necessary for our salvation, has ascended into heaven, it is but reasonable that we who are continually looking for His second manifestation should regard every day as though it were the last. (ED: What a great perspective to aspire to beloved.)

The crux of this exhortation is to hold fast to the end, because holding fast will show you are of the elect. (see notes Hebrews 3:6; 3:14)

Jamieson comments on the day drawing near writing that...

The Church being in all ages kept uncertain how soon Christ is coming, the day is, and has been, in each age, practically always near; whence, believers have been called on always to be watching for it as nigh at hand. The Hebrews were now living close upon One of those great types and foretastes of it, the destruction of Jerusalem (Mt 24:1, 2), “the bloody and fiery dawn of the great day; that day is the day of days, the ending day of all days, the settling day of all days, the day of the promotion of time into eternity, the day which, for the Church, breaks through and breaks off the night of the present world” [Delitzsch in Alford].

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In the devotional, Our Daily Bread, there was a wonderful illustration of the power of encouragement --

"It wasn’t like Scott Kregel to give up. He was a battler, a dedicated athlete who spent hour after hour perfecting his three throw and jump shot during the hot summer months of 1987. But just before fall practice everything changed. A serious car accident left Scott in a coma for several days. When he awoke, a long rehabilitation process lay ahead. Like most patients with closed head injuries, Scott balked at doing the slow, tedious work that was required to get him back to normal—things such as stringing beads. What high school junior would enjoy that? Tom Martin, Scott’s basketball coach at the Christian school he attended, had an idea. Coach Martin told Scott that he would reserve a spot on the varsity for him—if he would cooperate with his therapist and show progress in the tasks he was asked to do. And Tom’s wife Cindy spent many hours with Scott, encouraging him to keep going. Within 2 months, Scott was riding off the basketball court on his teammates’ shoulders. He had made nine straight free throws to clinch a triple-overtime league victory. It was a remarkable testimony of the power of encouragement.' (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

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Journalist Robert Maynard related the following story from his childhood in The New York Daily News...

As a young boy Maynard was walking to school one day when he came upon an irresistible temptation. In front of him was a fresh piece of gray cement—a piece that had replaced a broken piece of sidewalk. He immediately stopped and began to scratch his name in it. Suddenly he became aware that standing over him with a garbage can lid was the biggest stone mason he had ever seen!

Maynard tried to run, but the big man grabbed him and shouted,

“Why are you trying to spoil my work?”

Maynard remembers babbling something about just wanting to put his name on the ground. A remarkable thing happened just then. The mason released the boy’s arms, his voice softened, and his eyes lost their fire. Instead there was now a touch of warmth about the man.

“What’s your name, son?”

“Robert Maynard”

“Well, Robert Maynard, the sidewalk is no place for your name. If you want your name on something, you go into that school. You work hard and you become a lawyer and you hang your shingle out for all the world to see.”

Tears came to Maynard’s eyes, but the mason was not finished yet.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

“A writer, I think.”

Now the mason’s voice burst forth in tones that could be heard all over the schoolyard.

“A writer! A writer! Be a writer. Be a real writer! Have your name on books, not on this sidewalk”

Robert Maynard continued to cross the street, paused, and looked back. The mason was on his knees repairing the damage that Maynard’s scratching had done. He looked up and saw the young boy watching and repeated,

“Be a writer.”

There is amazing power in an encouraging word. You and I can change a life with a kind word. Encouragement is a Christian duty. Lives of provocation through prayer, example, Scripture and encouragement are gifts the church needs desperately.

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WHY GO TO CHURCH - William Willimon, chaplain at Duke University, was invited to preach in an inner-city church. The service, with its long preliminaries, lasted 2 1/2 hours. When it was finally over, Willimon was exhausted and asked the pastor, "Why do these people stay in church so long?"

His friend replied,

"Unemployment runs nearly 50 percent here. This means that when our people go about during the week, everything they see, everything they hear tells them: 'You are a failure. You are nothing because you do not have a good job, you do not have a nice car, you have no money.' So I must get their eyes focused on Christ. Through the hymns, the prayers, the preaching I say to them, 'That is a lie! You are royalty! You are citizens of the kingdom of God!' It takes me a long time to get them straight because the world perverts them so terribly."

The world is constantly pressuring Christians to conform to its values. We need to read God's Word and encourage one another so that we will be able to keep alive a strong sense of who we are in Christ.

Why go to church? Because God uses the exhortation and love of fellow believers to reassure us that the world's message is a lie and that God's good news is true. - D J De Haan  (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

The world will try to pressure us
To fit into its godless mold;
That's why we need encouragement
To keep our hearts from growing cold. -Sper

Seven days without church makes one weak.

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Why Go To Church? - In a letter to the editor of a British newspaper, a man complained that he saw no sense in going to church every Sunday.

 "I have been attending services quite regularly for the past 30 years," he wrote, "and during that time...I have listened to no less than 3,000 sermons. But, to my consternation, I discover I cannot remember a single one of them. I wonder if a minister's time might be more profitably spent on something else."

That letter sparked many responses. One, however, was the clincher:

"I have been married for 30 years. During that time I have eaten 32,850 meals -- mostly of my wife's cooking. Suddenly I have discovered that I cannot remember the menu of a single meal. And yet, I received nourishment from every one of them. I have the distinct impression that without them I would have starved to death long ago."

The Bible assumes the importance of going to church, and the only admonition to do so appears in the context of the danger of forsaking the practice (Hebrews 10:25). We need help to keep our faith and hope from wavering (v.23), and to love and do good works (v.24). Just as physical food keeps us alive and strong, so also the spiritual nourishment of teaching and fellowship are necessary for our survival. -- Dennis De Haan (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

I love to worship with others,
To read the Bible and pray.
To sing the songs about Jesus,
And learn to walk in His way. -- Hess

To keep growing in Christ, keep going to church.

DON'T MISS IT! - At the time these words were written, Jewish believers were experiencing great persecution. They were being watched, beaten, and some were even killed. Any defection from their profession of faith was a source of great satisfaction to the enemies of Christ. One way which demonstrated to the world that they were hold­ing "fast the profession of . . . [their] faith" (Heb 10:23) was their assembling together. Matthew Henry wrote, "Forced absence from God's ordinances and forced presence with wicked 'people are great afflictions; but when the force ceases and such a situa­tion is continued of choice, then it becomes a great sin." Some are unavoidably detained from meeting with other believers. Pro-longed illness, an unalterable work schedule, residence in a re-mote area — these could be legitimate reasons why one could not gather with other Christians, for fellowship and instruction. To such comes the encouragement of His Word, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matt. 18:20).

Every Christian should desire to be with God's people when they assemble. The church service is where the power of the Word is brought to bear upon the hearts and lives of those who profess to be children of God. I remember well the little widow in our home church who with her eight children walked nearly two miles summer and winter in order to meet with other Chris­tians. She has seen the influence of that training multiplied in the lives of her son and daughters.

Christ's promise to be "in the midst" should be sufficient in­centive for every believer to be present. (Ibid)

I love Thy church, 0 God!
I prize her heavenly ways;
Her sweet communion, solemn vows,
Her hymns of love and praise. — Dwight

CH _ _ CH means nothing unless UR in it!

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Should You Be "Court Martialed?" - A minister once asked a G.I. to give a few words of testimony. The congregation had just sung, "Like a mighty army moves the Church of God," so when the young soldier arose he said, "You might have been able to sing that hymn some years ago without anyone challenging you, but now millions of men know exactly how an army does move. And it doesn't operate the way a lot of you do. Suppose the military accepted the lame excuses you present as an alibi for not attending services. Imagine this if you can. Reveille sounds, and the squads form on parade ground. The Sergeant barks out, `Count off! One, two, three .. . say, number four is missing. Where's Private Smith?' `Oh,' says a chap nearby, `Mr. Smith was too sleepy to get up this morning. He was out late last night and needed the rest. He said to tell you he would be with you in spirit.' `That's fine,' says the ser­geant, `remember me to him. But where is Brown?' `Oh, he's playing golf. He gets only one day a week for recreation, and you know how important that is.' `Sure, sure,' says the sergeant cheerfully, `I hope he has a good game. Where's Robinson?' `Robinson,' explains the buddy, `is sorry not to greet you in per-son but he is entertaining guests today. Besides, he was at drill last week.' 'Thank you,' says the sergeant smiling. `Tell him he is welcome any time he finds it convenient to drop in for drill.' Honestly, folks, did a conversation like that ever happen in any army? Why, if any G.I. tried to pull that stuff, he would get twenty days in the brig! Yet you hear things like that every week in church. `Like a mighty army!' Why, if this church really moved like a mighty army, a lot of folks would be court-martialed within the hour!"

Christian, read Hebrews 10:25 again and then ask yourself, "Should I be court-martialed?"

Suppose you had to "run" for church membership each year on the basis of what you had done for Christ during that period, would you be "re-elected"? (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

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Andrew Murray...

THE ASSEMBLING TOGETHER
Hebrews 10:25

THE inward and the outward must ever go together. As there is in every man a hidden inner life of the soul, along with the outer life of the body, so too in the Church of Christ. All its members are one body; the inward unity must be proved in active exercise, it must be seen in the assembling together. The assembling of His saints has its ground in a divine appointment as well as in the very nature of things; all who have entered into the Holiest to meet their God must turn to the meeting of His people. The tabernacle of old was the tent of meeting; to meet God and to meet our fellow-men are equally needful. Among the Hebrews it was already the custom with some to forsake the assembling together; it was one of the dangerous symptoms of backsliding. They are reminded, not only of the personal duty of each to be faithful, but also to care for others, and to exhort one another. For exercise and strengthening of the faith and hope and love, to which we have just been urged; for the full development of the life in the Holiest of All; for the helping and comforting of all who are feeble; for the cultivation of the fellowship of the Spirit and the Word--the assembling of ourselves together has unspeakable value. Let us listen to the exhortation, in connection with our entrance into the Holiest. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the custom of some is.

If we would rightly apprehend the import of this word let us not forget the link to its context. Our section has been teaching us what life in the Holiest is to be. As those who have drawn near to God we are to draw near to our fellow-men. Meeting God is a thing of infinite blessedness and peace and power. Meeting our fellow-men is often accompanied with so much of weakness, distraction, and failure that some have thought it indeed better to forsake the assembling together. Let us see how life in the Holiest of All points to both the duty and the power of our assemblies.

It suggests the duty. The Holiest of All is the home of eternal love. It is love dwells there. It is love that came forth from there to seek me and bring me in. It is into the everlasting love I have been welcomed and taken in. It is love that has been shed abroad in my heart. My entrance in was only in the path of self-sacrifice; my abiding there can only be as one dead to self and filled with love. And love seeketh not its own; it gives itself away, and only lives to make others partakers of its happiness. And it loves the assembly of God's people, not only for what it needs and hopes to receive, but for the communion of saints, and the help it can give in helping and encouraging others.

It not only does this, but obeys the added injunction--Exhorting one another. It seeks to watch over those who are in danger of becoming unfaithful. It cares for those who have grown careless in their neglect. True love is quick of invention; it devises means for making smaller or nearer or more attractive assemblies for those who have become estranged. It counts nothing too humble or too difficult if it may but win back to the gathering of God's children those who may there be blessed and saved. It lives in the Holiest of God's love; it gives itself up to the one work of winning others to know that love.

The life in the Holiest is thus not only the motive but the power for doing the work aright. Yes, it is as those who profess to have entered the Holiest of All truly draw near to God, and prove the power of fellowship with Him, that they will have power in prayer and speech and service among their fellow-Christians. The Holiest of All is the place for daily worship and consecration and intercession; even a little band in the assembly will have power to make the divine presence felt. The worship in the place of prayer may become so linked to the secret worship of the Holiest of All that its blessing may come to those who have never known of it. God is willing so to bless the fellowship of His redeemed that the assembly shall be crowned with a fuller sense of His love and presence than ever can be found in the solitary approach to Him. Wherefore, brethren, having boldness to enter into the Holiest, let us draw near; not forsaking the assembly of ourselves together, but exhorting one another.

And so much the more as ye see the day approaching. The writer has doubtless in view the then approaching day of judgment on Jerusalem. We know not in how far the perspective of prophecy was clearly revealed, and that day was connected with the coming of the Lord Himself. It is enough for us to know that the fear of an approaching day of judgment was the motive to which appeal is made; and that, not only to move the indifferent, but specially to urge the earnest to exhort others. Christians need to be reminded of the terrible doom hanging over the world, and of all the solemn eternal realities connected with our Lord's coming in their bearing upon our daily life. So will our efforts for helping and saving others all be under the power of the thought of how short the time is, how terrible the fate of those who perish, and how urgent the call for everyone who knows redeeming love to do its work with all his might. In the Holiest of All we hear the voice of warning, and come out to save ere it be too late.

1. Note the intensely practical character of the gospel. Our section (Hebrews 10:19-25) is only one sentence. It begins with spiritual, heavenly mysteries; it ends in the plainest rules for our conduct to our fellow-men. Let us be sure that the deeper we enter into the perfection-teaching of Hebrews 10:7-10, the fitter we shall be to be a blessing in the world.

2. When Christ spoke His farewell discourse to His disciples one of the things He pressed most urgently was that they should love one another. He loves all His redeemed ones, however feeble or perverse they be, so intently, that He tells us that we cannot prove our real love to Him in any other way than by loving them; the proof of a real entrance into the Holiest of All, the humility and gentleness and self-sacrifice with which we speak and think and prove our care of one another.