Title: Strive to Gather / Heb 10:22-25
Contents
Two things are certain of what is to come: death and the end of the world.
Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” There is the end of the universe and judgment just as a person must die someday after being born into the world.
In the Bible, there are many references to the last days of human history. 318 out of 216 chapters in the New Testament speak of that day. This means that it is recorded more than once in the store. This shows that the issues of the last days are as important as the forehead.
By the way, it is true that people are very interested in this world, but they are not very interested in ‘the last days, me or the afterlife’. However, believers should be more interested in the “last days” to prepare for the eternal afterlife than in this temporary life. In fact, a wise person does not live only for the present but prepares for the future.
The Bible foretells that as the last days approach, various signs will appear. Matthew 24:7-8 says, “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places, all of which are the beginning of calamities.” In other words, there will be wars, famines, and earthquakes everywhere.
In Korea, the biggest earthquakes occur frequently in Suncheon and Hongseong. And now in Seoul, it is said that an earthquake occurs about once every 5 days without realizing it. Last year's earthquake in San Francisco, USA, made the world uproar, and watching the devastating earthquake that occurred in Kobe, Japan vividly on TV this time, I realized that this was not just someone else's business.
In today's text, it says, "...and as we see that day drawing near, let's do it more and more." Those who live each day looking forward to the last days will be wise and blessed, but those who live only for the realities seem to be carefree like beasts, but on that day they will be revealed as the most foolish and the most unhappy. Therefore, I hope that our saints who are looking forward to the afterlife will become those who prepare one by one so that they can live a wise and blessed life of 'viciousness' no matter when, at any time, personal or universal end.
In particular, the text we read today emphasizes two things.
1. To encourage love and good deeds.
In Hebrews 10:24 it says, “Let us look after one another and encourage love and good deeds.”
All work and service based on the love of Christ is a good deed. No matter how wonderful a work is, it is useless to do it without love.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 says, “If I speak in the tongues of men and the words of angels, but without love, I become a sounding copper and a ringing horn, and I have the power to prophesy, to know all mysteries and all knowledge, and to know all things that are capable of moving mountains. If I have faith, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I have and give my body to be set on fire, but without love, it is of no use to me.”
Therefore, faith, hope, and love will always exist, and the greatest of them is love. Love is a blessing God gives us. However, one of the signs of the last days is that love is gradually getting colder. In Matthew 24:12, it says, “The love of many will grow cold because iniquity abounds.” That's right. It is said that the nearer the last days draw, the more lawlessness grows, while love grows colder. Even in the church. There may not have been many times when individualism and selfishness prevailed as today.
Even a church is not a church if it does not have love, and even a saint is not a saint if it does not have love. Heaven is a place full of love, and Hell is a place full of hate, envy, and jealousy. In other words, a place without love is hell. From this point of view, we do not know how many people today are living in hell even though they are called the people of heaven.
God is love. God's love for us is being shown through everything in the universe. The warm sunlight that enriches all things and the beautiful moon and stars that light the way in the dark and dark night are all aspects of God's love for us. Moreover, the great love is the love of Jesus Christ on the cross that redeemed us from eternal death in our sins. We are beings who cannot live even for a second without God's love and grace.
Those of us who have received this great love should love God for comfort, and we who are brothers in the Lord should love each other. In 1 John 4:11-12, “Beloved, because God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is ours. It is perfected in you.”
That's right. When we love one another, God dwells in us and builds the kingdom of heaven in our hearts. 1 John 4:20 says, “If anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar. He who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”
Dear saints, at this time when love is getting colder, we who have God, who is the body of love, look out for each other and encourage love and good deeds so that we not only achieve heaven in our hearts, but also heaven in our homes, heaven in the church, and furthermore, heaven. I hope that you will put more effort into evangelism and missions, which are expansion projects.
2. It is trying to get together.
Another sign of the last days is the abolition of gathering. neglect to gather. For example, there are four official worship services per week. However, the person who participated in it four times must attend three times, the person who attended three times attends twice, and the person who attended only twice must be clean to attend once a week. These phenomena appear in parallel with the fall of the church.
One of the tragedies of mankind is ‘division’. Therefore, the history of mankind can even be said to be a history of division. Theologically, “death” refers to the separation of spirit and body. Therefore, division and separation also mean ruin and death. Because man sinned against God, he was cut off from God. The result of that sin is ‘death’. That's why the Bible says, "The wages of sin is death."
A medical scientist said, “Illness is a process of physical death, and fear, envy, jealousy, and hatred are a process of spiritual death.” In fact, we humans are still dying because of our sins. Death eventually leads to separation and ruin. That is why Satan the Devil has entered the human world and continues to divide.
In this respect, the more and more neglected to gather is that we are spiritually withering and dying. On the other hand, working hard to gather together, praying together, singing together, worshiping together, and evangelizing, means that the Spirit is getting closer to the Lord, and the spirit is growing and growing stronger.
Ladies and gentlemen, why did God bring us to church?
Have you gathered to slander, envy, and fight others? no. Verse 24 is a collection of words and words to encourage each other to look out for each other and encourage love and good deeds.
The world we live in is full of tribulation, adversity, and suffering. That's why people get hurt and sometimes fall down from exhaustion. There are times when we are discouraged and disappointed. It is a difficult world to live in alone. It is indeed a dangerous and harsh world. Therefore, as brothers and sisters in Christ, the saints come together to take care of each other, to help each other in need, to love one another, to comfort one another, so that we may gain strength from one another and further devote ourselves to the good work of the Lord.
In Hebrews 10:25, it says, “Do not forsake meeting together, as is the habit of some, but encourage them, and let us do it all the more as we see the day drawing near.” They told me to try to get together. This is what the saints should strive to do in this age.
The gathering of the saints is a great blessing to each individual. Especially when the saints gather in the name of Jesus, the Lord is with them. However, the gathering of the saints that God is pleased with must become one. As we gather in the name of the Lord, when each of the saints have one heart, mind, and devotion, the Lord is with them and receives united prayer and worship. It is truly unfortunate that the saints cannot become one. There are many reasons for this, but it is because the faith is still childish, or the knowledge of the Lord is wrong. Therefore, there is no sense of membership as a member of Christ. The Bible says that the one church is like our body.
In 1 Corinthians 11:24-27 we read, “Our beautiful members have nothing to ask for; but God has made the body even and added honor to the members who lack it, so that there is no division in the body, but that the various members look after one another. When one member suffers, all the members suffer together; and when one member is glorified, all the members rejoice together. You are the body of Christ, and each part of it.” This is the characteristic of a united body.
Now, what is the secret to becoming one and forming a beautiful church member? It is only when we become one through the love of Christ, one through faith, and one through the truth, the saints can achieve one heart and one will. When we gather in one place with this kind of heart, we become a beautiful church that is pleasing to God. This is where the filling of the Holy Spirit comes, prayers are answered, the works of power appear, and the work of salvation takes place. That is why the glory of God fills the church.
And one thing we must keep in mind is that it is also important to gather in one place. But more importantly, where my old self dies, repents, confesses, and humbly repents, unity is established.
The urgent task of the church today is not to be different, but to become one through Christ, become one through the truth, and so the members become one. In order to become one of the saints, I must first stand upright in my faith. You have to stand up for the truth. You must become one with the Lord and become a member of the church first. Only then can the saints become one.
Therefore, all factors that hinder unity in the church must be removed. In other words, pride, envy, jealousy, resentment, complaints, and feelings of inferiority must be removed. All these things are worldly, they are said to be demonic. Therefore, I myself should not tolerate it. It must be completely removed. This is repentance.
Dear saints,
This year, I hope you will do your best to gather like the members of the early church and pray with longing for grace. Therefore, I hope that our church will receive all the fullness of the Holy Spirit and abundant grace and blessings that God has promised as all the members of our church come together as one, listen to the word, pray, and love each other as one with a healthy body. So, as a powerful church like the early church, I pray in the name of the Lord that it will be able to fully endure the great work of mission, education, and service that God has entrusted to us in this age.