“Exhort One Another Daily”

All right, well good morning again My sermon today is titled exhort one another daily and It focuses on Hebrews 3 12 through 15

Recently, I listened to a podcast that had Paul trip as a guest

And he told a story of when he was a young pastor. I Guess early on in his ministry.

He had a real problem with anger and And his wife would try and tell him about it, but over time he just grew more and more arrogant and In fact one point he says that he told his wife that 95 % of the women in his church would love to be married to someone like him

To which he retorted I must be in the 5 % Well, he ended up during his doctoral program going to a pastor's conference with his brother on pastoral living

And on the way home his brother Ted said to him well, we've learned some things about Pastoral living.

Let's let's start applying them right now. We'll start with you and he started questioning him and examining him and Paul says that during this the

Holy Spirit moved and he was convicted of his sin He said it was like the

Lord was removing curtains of blindness that I had up He went home and confessed to his wife

He asked her to Talk to him about What she had been seeing in him.

She talked to him for two hours about his sin And then he said for the next six months was one of the most challenging parts of his

Christian walk Because the Lord revealed to him how much damage his sin had done

Not just in his family, but in his church and in his ministry and to his friends and family and now he says

When he stands up to speak, it's as if there's a hundred people standing behind him and he says their handprints are all over me

He said my walk with God is a community project Paul's story highlights a few things that we need to be aware of as Christians We can be blind to our own sin.

We need each other We need encouragement We need rebuke

We need exhortation We need to be in relationship and community and the primary way is through the local church

Our walk with God is a community project Our text today will touch on many of these things

So, let's read Hebrews 3 12 through 15 Beware brethren lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the

Living God But exhort one another daily while it is called today lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin

For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end while it is said

Today if you will hear his voice do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.

So let's zoom out for a minute Take a quick look at the book of Hebrews.

What is the book of Hebrews all about? Well, we don't know its author some have believed

Paul in the past although it's unlikely some Luke some Apollo Ultimately, it really doesn't matter

We have a lot of clues about who it's written to however, which is most likely Jewish Christians facing or beginning to face persecution and They're being tempted to compromise their faith or to outright abandon their faith because of this persecution

The time frame is likely between 60 and 70 AD and many commentators believe that because With the themes in Hebrews of the sacrificial system and the temple

It's unlikely that if it was after 70 AD that the writer wouldn't have mentioned the destruction of the temple in 70

AD so most think it was 60 and 70 AD and some believe that it could have been

Christians in Rome at the time because we know during that decade that Christian persecution was increasing and The topics covered in Hebrews include the superiority of Christ and we'll look at that Persevering in the

Christian life the new covenant glory in comparison to the old The essence and essentialness of faith.

We have chapter 11 the hall of faith and Then a number of exhortations and warnings as we will see now if we zoom in a little further to chapter 3

Chapter 3 starts with a comparison of Jesus to Moses in relation to faithfulness to God one commentator says of this section

And this is the first six verses in the span of two chapters The author of Hebrews has demonstrated from the pages of the

Old Testament that Jesus is superior to angels Someone among the Hebrews who received the epistle might ask whether Jesus is greater than Moses The Jews thought that no one was greater than Moses for he gave the people of Israel two tablets of stone on which

God had written the law Jesus is said to be counted worthy of more glory as the builder of the house has more glory than the house

It then talks of how God builds all things implying that God builds all things through Jesus The author then calls

Moses a servant, but Jesus a son again showing the greatness of Jesus And finally, it says that we are

Jesus's house if we hold fast to our confession of him The chapter continues with the author quoting from Psalm 95

Which ultimately is a psalm of worship as we saw from our? Responsive reading the first half of the psalm extols the

Lord and praise Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving

Oh come let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker for he is our God and then the psalm takes a turn and Talks about the wilderness generation of Israel that came out of Egypt God speaks of how they went astray in their hearts and that he was grieved by them

Ultimately, he swore they will not enter his rest This is the part that is quoted in Hebrews 3 and a part of it in Hebrews 4

Matthew Henry speaks concerning the second half This was in the wilderness where they could not help themselves but lay at God's mercy and where God Wonderfully helped them and gave them such sensible proofs of his power and tokens of his favor as never any people had before or since Days of temptation are days of provocation

Nothing is more offensive to God than disbelief of his promise in despair of the performance of it

Because of some difficulties that seem to lie in the way The more experience we have of the power and goodness of God the greater is our sin if we distrust him

What to tempt him in the wilderness where we live upon him? This is as ungrateful as it is absurd and unreasonable

Hardness of heart is at the bottom of all our distrusts of God and quarrels with him That is a hard heart which receives not the impressions of design divine discoveries and Conforms not to the intentions of the divine will which will not melt which will not bend these verses start with therefore as the

Holy Spirit says as An aside, this is a great verse to argue for divine inspiration of Scripture We here have

Scripture declaring that the psalm was written by the Holy Spirit. Just saying The therefore is pointing back at the last section about the supremacy of Christ's and the need to persevere

We then have the quote from Psalm 95, but it's not introduced Ultimately the explanation of what we are to take from these verses is in verse 12 through 15, which is our text today

So let's look at that Verse 12 says beware brethren lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the

Living God If you have your Bibles follow along with me in these verses The author starts with beware brethren

Which is in relation to what he just wrote the example of Israel's rebellion in the wilderness The verses from Psalm 95 act as a summary of the wilderness wanderings

They tested the Lord by not trusting him to provide things like water and food and shelter The constant refrain from Israel was did

God lead us into the wilderness to kill us without with starvation with thirst at the hands of the Canaanites Yet what we see is he sent manna from heaven and when they complained about that he sent them meat

He provided water multiple times from a rock He led them by day in a pillar of cloud and provided light at night by a pillar of fire

Ultimately it led God to swear that they will not enter his rest in the promised land The author is saying don't harden your hearts like Israel and depart from God The wilderness generation as Matthew Henry pointed out had more witness about God's goodness greatness and provision

Than any other and still hardened their hearts. So be careful that you don't do the same The unbelieving heart is here called evil and is something all

Christians should take very seriously the logic is Hardening our hearts leads to disobedience which leads to unbelief

Which if not repented of will ultimately lead to apostasy Now verse 12 presents us reformed folks with a couple of challenges which for the new believers among us.

I think we should address Do our works play a part in our salvation Verse 6 says hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end in Verse 12.

We have this beware brethren. He is telling us to take care of something Can we lose our salvation?

At first glance it appears. The answer is yes These are questions that people have asked of this verse

It would appear that we need to do something in order to ensure we become saved and stay saved

Let us look at other verses from Hebrews These challenges are all over this particular book 411 says let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience in Chapter 6 4 through 6 it says for it isn't possible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and have become partakers of the

Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come if they fall away to renew them again to repentance since they crucify again for themselves a son of God and put him to an open shame in 11 and 12 of that same chapter says and we desire that each of you show the same

Diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end that you do not become sluggish But imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises and then finally in chapter 10

It says for if we sin willfully after we receive the knowledge of the truth There no longer remains a sacrifice for sins

But a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries

So what are we to think at first glance? It appears that the author of Hebrews is making an argument against the perseverance of the

Saints Which is the pea and tulip and maybe taking a shot at irresistible grace Our Calvin's five points in jeopardy here

No, of course not We are all strong reformed folks here. So let's jump to verse 14 and resolve this dilemma

Often for verse verses like this if we stop at the problem verse we get ourselves into trouble

But if we keep reading the problem resolves itself If we go to verse 14 and look at it closely for we have become partakers of Christ if We hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end

So the verse starts with four Meaning that we're about to get the punchline from verses 12 and 13, which is all one sentence

Verse 14 is then a conditional clause and in my notes. I capitalize the word if because it is very important and Then additionally if you look at the tense of the verb become this is very critical

It is past tense and this is clear in the Greek. It is a past tense verb Meaning if the condition is satisfied then the result is already achieved

You could rewrite the verse as for partakers of Christ are those who hold the beginning of their confidence steadfast to the end

This same situation exists in verse 6 but Christ as a son over his own house

Whose house we are right? So if we are Christ's house, that means we're

Christians, right? Christ doesn't dwell with unbelievers if We hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of hope firm to the end

Finally to summarize that point and make sure I'm crystal clear Those who are saved are those who persevere until the end and we persevere because we are saved a

Wise brother said so salvation is not the reward you earn after a life of rugged perseverance

But rather a gift of God's grace that shows itself To have been received in the life of one who perseveres as a result of that grace

Let me say that one more time So salvation is not the reward you receive after a life of rugged perseverance

But rather a gift salvation is the gift of God's grace That shows itself to have been received in the life of one who perseveres as a result of that grace

Now sometimes people look at this and they make the opposite argument, all right, so James Boyce addresses that Some people talk as though it is not necessary for a

Christian to persevere in this hope On the grounds that since God perseveres with us our perseverance is unnecessary

We are saved and we will be saved regardless of what we do This is not taught in the bible

It is true that God perseveres. It is true that once he has begun a good work in us He will keep on performing it until the day of Jesus Christ philippians 1 6

But simply because he perseveres we too will persevere Those who are saved will persevere and we persevere because we are saved

And if you look at each verse in hebrews that I reviewed earlier That at first glance appears to present a problem.

They can be all resolved in similar ways So hopefully my reformed credentials remain intact

As I can see tony was getting nervous there for a moment Now, let's go to verse 13

Now, let's move I'm, sorry, I just Stepped on that But exhort one another daily while it is called today

Lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin I skipped this verse because I want to camp out on it for a while This is ultimately how we hold our confidence steadfast to the end

So we can ask the question What causes an evil heart of unbelief in verse 12?

The answer is sin And this sin can deceive us Wayne mack tells a story to illustrate the deceitfulness of sin

In 1902 A volcano, excuse me a volcano on the island of martinique began to concern the residents of saint pierre

The volcano was heating up in an election year And the governor of martinique was concerned that worry over the volcano could cost his party the election

He went to work minimizing the danger of the volcano Limiting coverage limiting people sending telegrams about it and even visiting the city of saint pierre a few days before the election

To reassure everyone that everything was safe Unfortunately, the volcano erupted the day after he arrived and killed him and 30 000 people in two minutes

Wayne says of this story satan the world and our own flesh

Often downplay the seriousness of sin in the same way that the governor tried to downplace the seriousness of the volcano

Let us not fool ourselves sin is our enemy and it wants to destroy us mark jones in the pilgrim's regress says

Living by faith keeps us from being hardened by sin's deceitfulness Sin deceives us though that when we begin to slide from god

We are sometimes betrayed into thinking that we are not slipping The laodiceans were deceived about their spiritual state

Stephen charnock wisely stated that nothing is so natural as heart deceit and presumptuous confidence

Self -flattery is one of the strongest branches which grows upon the pride of nature How vain is it to fancy to yourselves a fitness for heaven while there are only preparations for hell?

And many of you I know are familiar with john owen's famous saying be killing sin or it will be killing you

Sin deceives us and as we submit to it Then we are hardened And then we can return then it can return us to verse 12 where the hardening of our heart

Leads to a heart of unbelief and we fall away The sin of unbelief is what caused adam and eve to fall

It is what caused the israelites to die in the wilderness as we saw It is what jesus rebukes the disciples for after his resurrection

And if we continue in it, then it will lead us away from god as well So how do we avoid this?

In this section the author of hebrews ultimately gives us two things to help us richard phillips says

Surely israel's example alone is enough to alarm us with regard to the matter of unbelief It is with this in mind that with perhaps a new earnestness and sense of urgency

We turn to the remedy for unbelief contained in this passage This remedy comes in the form of two exhortations

One that relates to ourselves and one that relates to others First the writer warns beware brethren a command that is rightly taken as watch out

And to this he adds exhort one another daily First we must take the warning for ourselves and take it seriously beware brethren

Examine yourself often Make a serious search for sin in your life Use the scriptures as your aid as it is a two -edged sword and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart

We ought often to pray lord reveal to me my sin and give me the grace to overcome it Each of us that names the name of christ has a responsibility to take sin seriously in ourselves

And root it out wherever we find it But once again, we have to remember that sin is deceitful

So although we should always be examining ourselves. There's going to be times when we cannot see our sin

Remember paul tripp's story So we need to consider the second remedy contained in this passage

Calvin says As by nature, we are prone to fall into evil We have need of various helps to help us in the fear of god

Unless our faith is repeatedly encouraged it lies dormant Unless it is warmed it grows cold

Unless it is aroused it gets numb The writer of hebrews therefore wishes them to stimulate one another by mutual encouragement

So that satan will not steal into their hearts and by his falsehoods lead them away from god

So we must exhort one another One commentator mentions the greek word for exhort is para kaleo

The prefix para means to come alongside and the verb kaleo means to call out The picture then is that we are to come alongside one another daily exhorting one another in the practice of the christian faith

Additionally, it says Exhort one another daily while it is called today Which basically means this should be what we do every day until christ returns

I decided to look through the book of hebrews and see what the author of hebrews Exhorts his audience to in order to draw application for us

In many ways the primary theme of hebrews is perseverance and so he will exhort us to Meditate on christ

The whole book talks about how jesus is superior superior to the prophets God who at various times and in various ways spoke in time paths to the fathers by the prophets

Has in these last days spoken to us by his son superior to angels

Let all the angels of god worship him superior to moses For this one has been counted worthy of more glory than moses superior to the levitical priesthood

For the law appoints as high priest men who have weakness But the word of the oath which came after the law appoints the son who has been perfected forever

He instituted a superior covenant For if that first covenant had been falseless faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second

And then he is a superior sacrifice So christ was offered once to bear the sins of many to those who eagerly wait for him

He will appear a second time apart from sin for salvation Again, the author is exhorting his readers to look at christ why

The more we look at christ and what he did for us the more we love him The more we look to christ the more we hate sin

The more we look to christ the more we desire righteousness And the more we look to christ the more we long to be with him and daydream of eternity

So, how do we do this How do we exhort one another to look to christ? Well, there are many ways we can do this

We can study the scriptures together. Peter and I have actually been studying hebrews on tuesday mornings, right?

Let's just get in the scriptures together go through a book together The ladies bible study went through the lord of psalm 23 where they spent the whole time looking at their their lord

We do this every sunday with communion where our elders remind us of another aspect of our savior's sacrifice for us

But the point is we need to be intentional We need to be regularly meditating on our lord and encouraging one another to do it

Christ should often be on the lips of his people But just saying it sometimes doesn't actually cause that to happen

So we should be thinking to ourselves. How do I do this in my life? How do I make sure my family is doing this?

We are to exhort one another to give earnest heed In hebrews 2 1 it says therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard lest we drift away

Let me ask you how do you prepare for the sermon? Do you ever review the topic with your family beforehand?

Now this this week I didn't send out my topic for which I beg your forgiveness, but normally we know what ross is preaching on And how do we prepare for that?

How do we get ourselves ready to receive what the lord would have us to hear? And then afterwards, how do we digest the sermon?

I have heard that some people take notes and then they pray through those notes the next day Some people discuss the sermon in fellowship or have people over for hospitality and talk about the sermon which are wonderful things

Some review it in family worship later in the week But are we doing something to be purposeful in taking heed to what we've learned?

How do we put the things we have heard into practice? Do you ever take a point of conviction and consider how you might put it into action?

Whether it's from reading a book or hearing a sermon on the radio or whatever How do we honor the responsibility of knowledge that god has given you

As we've often said we have more bibles. We have more sermons We have more resources and books than any other generation in history

Which means we have more responsibility to know and walk with god. We are without excuse

So, how are you giving the more earnest heed to the things you hear so you don't drift away? We are to exhort one another in relation to putting all things under him

For in that he put all in subjection under him he left nothing that is not put under him

But now we do not yet see all things put under him. Hebrews 2 8 What does this mean for you?

If you have anything in your life that is not put under christ, it's an idol. Amen Do you have someone in your life that asks you about your idols?

If they did would you be annoyed Have you ever given someone permission to examine you in this area?

Our elders make this part of their practice This is part of their elders meetings is making sure they're in each other's lives making sure they're asking questions about their sin

Because we know the damage an elder can do if he's in sin, right? They have a responsibility to know what's going on in each other's lives and they are example

So if they're doing it, we should be doing it I I was thinking about steve lawson when

I was writing this this part, right? I would imagine he didn't have this going on very much in his life

All right, very often with these dynamic personalities eventually those people who are supposed to be keeping you accountable are really just becoming yes men and You know fawning fans that don't ever say anything hard to you, right?

And it's it sets somebody like a steve lawson up for a big fall because he doesn't have anyone that's pointing at his sin

And then we need to exhort one another in temptations For in that he himself has suffered being tempted.

He is able to aid those who are tempted hebrews 2 18 So do we have accountability partners?

again Going off of this last one One way to guard against the deceitfulness of sin is to have someone you share

Life with that can hold you accountable For those who have a spouse your spouse will likely be someone who fills that role but there should be others too

Right all of our marriages are in different stages and in different places And so there's sometimes in us in a marriage relationship a certain area that just because of relational baggage

You're not you don't talk about you don't go there And then I think one of the things that might be even more prevalent

Is one of the wonderful things about the marriage relationship is that over time as you're seeking the lord you grow in unity

You go unity in all things, right? I know melanie and I are more similar today Than we've ever been at any other time in our life together because we've lived together for a long time now but sometimes

Married people grow in unity in their sin And so you could have a couple that has the same sin and they're both blind to it

And so that's why we should make sure that we have others who speak into our lives others That we allow to come alongside us and say hey,

I see this in you All right, so I ask again Have you ever given anyone permission to examine you and to be really honest with what they see?

And this requires great humility Because you have to take whatever they say without arguing right

If they're telling you hey, listen, I I see a manipulative spirit in you You know, I I see that you have bitterness towards that person and all you're doing is arguing with them

It'll be the last time that they give you any feedback Right, you have to take it You have to say thank you

Even if you disagree and you got to take it to the lord and say lord are they right? And if they're right forgive me and help me

We need to exhort one another in faith For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them

But the word which they heard did not profit them not being mixed with faith in those who hear it heard it hebrews 4 2

How do we encourage one another in faith? Well, we share our lives together We have each other over we practice hospitality

This section of hebrews goes on to talk about our ultimate rest But when we are fellowshipping with one another it is a heavenly rest on earth

We must exhort one another in faith through sharing the stories of our lives and how we persevere in faith

Which then acts as a grace to our brethren to help them persevere well, jeez if If this person can go through what they went through and trust god then

I can too I always say I learn more about each one of you and grow in faith and love by hearing your stories when we're one -on -one

I'm making nothing away from our fellowship meal, but we need to be practicing hospitality and having each other over one -on -one

We often say one of the greatest blessings of the church retreat is living together and fellowshipping together for those three days

And I say amen to that to me. It is what I remember most about the church retreats We need to exhort one another by the word of god

For the word of god is living and powerful and sharper than any two -edged sword Piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow

And is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart hebrews 4 12 We must exhort each other with the word of god

And all these things we must bring it to bear for it is not just a weapon against our enemy But it is a tool brethren can use to help each other

How do we talk about the scriptures with each other and do we? Our fellowship is filled with talk about life our jobs our kids

But let us always be making time for the word of god Let us remember to exhort one another in family worship

And what I mean by that is doing it in our families and including others when they visit us I know the testimony of many who have visited families in this church is that they love doing family worship with them

So let's make it a point to do that. It's a wonderful witness We need to exhort one another in prayer

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need hebrews 4 16

We must exhort each other in prayer and to pray Again do you ask each other how our prayer lives have been?

It can be an uncomfortable question can't it? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I prayed for 10 minutes last saturday right

Ross has often told us the first thing to go when we are drifting from god is prayer So we should be asking each other about it

If you make it a point to ask someone weekly about their prayer life And for weeks on end they get uncomfortable and try to change the subject that would be a red flag that something is off with them

We should be exhorting one another to prayer corporately within our families with our spouses and individually

We can also exhort one another with the promises of god And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end

That you do not become sluggish but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises hebrews 6 11 and 12

We should exhort each other with the promises of god When we grow weary in this life, we must look to the promises of god, which we know from hebrews are sure

God has promised us life goodness daily food and clothing wisdom and inheritance

Eternity with him a spiritual family Protection strength the words to speak and I could go on and on If we listed all the promises of scriptures our list would be almost as long as the scriptures

And so do we exhort each other with them? Do we help each other when we're feeling down when we're feeling overwhelmed to remember the promises that god has made to us?

And then we need to exhort each other with church attendance And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some But exhorting one another and so much the more as we see the day approaching hebrews 10 24 and 25

How excuse me, how seriously do you take the gathering of the church? We are all in different places in different seasons and we must be careful not to judge one another unjustly or hypocritically but ask yourself

Do I love the church? And by that I mean this church This local body as imperfect as we are

We can say amen. I love the bride of christ, but I mean do you love grbc and the people who attend her?

This is an area where we need to encourage each other This exhortation comes in hebrews as the result of our high priest by whose blood we can enter into the presence of god

The verse after this goes into another warning about falling away because of sin Our gathering together is one of the primary ways.

We make our walk a community project of paul's trip as paul trips said When we are present at worship it unites our hearts together to love one another as we love our god

When we gather in prayer we pray for each other and learn how to pray for each other When we gather in studies together we learn about god together and can exhort each other in the things we are learning

Even when we gather for a business meeting we work out differences and learn how to give grace to one another

After your spouse and children for those who have them This body is the greatest means of grace that god gives you

Do you believe that? Do you live in light of that? Finally, let's exhort each other in times of chastening

And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons My son do not despise the chastening of the lord nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him

For whom the lord loves he chastens and he scourges every son whom he receives hebrews 12 5 and 6

The final reason to exhort one another is because we often forget in times of difficulty When I read this

I was surprised that it said and you have forgotten In my mind, I always remember it as and you have not forgotten

As if he is telling them something they already know But he is reminding them of something they have forgotten in the midst of their trials

We need to be exhorting one another because we often forget in the middle of a trial That god deals with us as with sons and chastens us

So we must be faithful to bring this Exhortation when we see our brethren forgetting it and being tempted to pull away from god in the middle of a trial

Some of you younger christians will do well to remember this Trials will come It is not an if but a when

I often I often I'm, sorry. I have often thought that a mark of a mature christian is how quickly they recover and endure the trial when it comes

Do they get thrown for a loop or does it drive them to seek god? Trust me.

He'll keep giving you trials until it drives you to seek god Beloved we must exhort one another at all times and in various ways

We are our brother's keeper and we cannot do this christian walk alone We truly need one another

For all the ways we just rehearsed and those were just found in one book of the bible Paul says it like this

Finally then brethren We urge and exhort in the lord. Jesus that you should abound more and more

Just as you receive from us how you ought to walk and to please god For you know what commandments he gave you through the lord.

Jesus For this is the will of god your sanctification first thessalonians 4

Now, let's go to verse 15 Finally, we come to the last verse of our text which brings us back full circle

While it is said Today, if you will hear his voice do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion

Christian is your heart hard this morning? Have you been backsliding? Don't delay in getting help from your brethren a hard heart is often an arrogant unfeeling heart

But you must humble yourself and look to christ Don't be like the israelites who complained against god when things didn't go as they thought it should

If things are not going as you think they should look to this redeemer who has done all for you If you are a christian and are concerned that one of your brethren are hard Are hard go to them

Win your brother Call them back to christ Come alongside them and exhort them

What about you unbeliever? We have talked much about professing christians and what they must do to continue in faith

And prove that they are calling that prove their calling an election is sure But what about you unbeliever?

Do you hear his voice? Jesus Is to the believer an elder brother a king a high priest a great prophet a redeemer a propitiation a captain

The one who our souls love a man of sorrows the bearer of our sins and our great hope

But to you unbeliever he holds two offices whether you believe in him or not the first is your creator

Jesus is your creator He made you and he has provided for you during your whole life

For he sends his reign on the just and the unjust You are in rebellion to the one who gives you every good thing you have ever experienced love family daily food

The ability to earn a living friends a place to live

Your spouse if you have one your children if you have them And even the very breath in your lungs all come from your creator as his common grace to you

He has allowed you to enjoy his world A world that even under the curse of sin is full of beauty and wonder if you ever open your eyes to see it

If today you hear his voice speaking to you and you rebel against him and harden your heart

Who can you then go to? And then there is a second office that jesus holds

Whether you want him to or not Jesus is your judge Since he created you

He has the right to judge you and in a world that constantly says you have no right to judge me

Jesus is the only one who truly possesses that right As creator he gets to define right and wrong and decide what is good and bad

He sets the standard And a day is rapidly approaching when he will judge you.

No sinner by that standard Whether you believe in him or not The day is rapidly approaching where every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that jesus is lord to the glory of god the father

So I ask you unbeliever What will you answer your creator on that day? The bible says that your righteous deeds are as filthy rags in his sight

And even if you possess the ability to perform one righteous deed, he's not judging you for the good you have done

But for the sin and rebellion that you have committed against him He is your judge unbeliever and how will you stand on that great and terrible day

When he turns his fiery eyes upon you the good news is

Today, if you hear his voice You can go to him He says those who seek me will find me when they seek me with all their heart

He says knock And he will open to you And bring you into his fold second corinthians 6 2 says

For he says in an acceptable time I have heard you and in the day of salvation I have helped you

Behold now is the acceptable time behold now is the day of salvation Humble yourself oh sinner

Soften your heart And face him today as a loving creator with arms of mercy See what he has done for you upon his bloody cross

The hymn alas and did my savior bleed sums it sums all of this up Alas and did my savior bleed and did my sovereign die

Would he devote that sacred head? for sinners such as I Was it for crimes that I have done he groaned upon the tree amazing pity grace unknown

And love beyond degree Well might the sun and darkness hide and shut its glories in when god the mighty maker

Died for his own creature's sin Thus might I hide my blushing face while his dear cross appears

Dissolve my heart and thankfulness and melt mine eyes with tears But drops of tears can never pay the debt of love

I owe Here lord I give myself away it is all that I can do

While it is said today if you will hear his voice do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion

Brethren, beware and exhort one another daily to love Jesus and to follow him and to persevere through every trial until he comes, until we come to him.

And unbeliever, if today God has softened your heart to hear his voice, don't harden it again, but come to him, submit to him, become our brother and sister.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you,

O God, for your goodness. We thank you for your grace. We thank you, Lord, for the exhortation that you give to us through your word.

Father, that you give us all things that we need for life and godliness. Lord, you have done all things well.

You have opened our eyes. You have softened our hearts. You have drawn us to you by your love.

You have given us an incredible hope. You have given us your son to be our savior, to be our king and lord.

You have done all these things for us who are so unworthy. Lord, we praise you.

All we can do is praise you. All we can do is ask you to help us to see our sin and to turn from it, not because it gets us anything, but because it pleases you.

And Lord, if there be one here today who hears my words and is convicted, if there be one here today,

Lord, that your spirit is softening, I pray, O God, that truly you would complete your work, that you would do your good work in them, turn them from their sins, turn them from the hardness of their hearts to the living and loving savior, in whose name