“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIV)
This passage teaches clearly that Christians have stayed away from church since the beginning of organized church. They make it their habit to not attend church. They are Christians, they have come to Christ for the forgiveness of their sins, they have the confidence to enter God’s Presence because the blood of Jesus has been applied to their lives, and they draw near to God with a sincere heart, holding unswervingly to the hope they profess- and yet they don’t meet together with fellow Christians. Not attending church regularly will always become a habit for a Christian. It is easier not to go, then to go. It is easier to listen to our favourite preacher and our favourite music in our favourite chair, then to go to a meeting where our preferences are not on the order of service. The apostle knows this of course and so he points out that the purpose of attending church is to encourage others, to spur one another on, all the more so as we see the Day approaching. 2,000 years have passed since this was written, we are very close to the Day and you would think that Christians would be flocking together anticipating the Lord's return and yet in Canada churches are not full, and a committed church member only attends meetings two or three Sundays out of four, and those meetings can’t be very long. It is not incidental that this exhortation is followed by a warning against falling away from our faith. We were made for one another, and we need one another for our spiritual health. May we not neglect our local house of the Lord, may we be those who consider how we may spur one another on.
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