11-30-18 Today in the Word

The Church and Its Ministries
WHY WE MEET TOGETHER
Friday, November 30, 2018 | Hebrews 10:19–25

Al hadn’t attended church regularly for several years. He read his Bible avidly and liked to discuss theology, but he found church disappointing. One day he read Hebrews 10:24–25: “Not giving up meeting together . . . all the more as you see the Day approaching.” What struck him was the message that the closer it is to the day of Christ’s return, the more we need one another. He went back to church.
The original recipients of the letter to the Hebrews had experienced persecution for their faith, and many had experienced the loss of all their possessions (vv. 32–34). Whether from poverty, persecution, or internal conflict, they were in danger of abandoning their regular gatherings for prayer and worship. The author encourages them not to forsake assembling together, because Christians need one another.
Missionary advocate and the former Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple said, “The Church is the only society that exists for the benefit of those who are not its members.” It is a powerful statement—but it is not entirely true. The church does indeed exist for the benefit of those who are not yet a part of it, but in order to carry out its mission, the church must also tend to itself. We cannot be all that God intends us to be without one another.
One of the reasons we meet is to “spur one another on” (v. 24). According to New Testament scholar F. F. Bruce, this verse has the idea of provoking someone. When it is used in a negative sense it often means to irritate. Here, however, it speaks of a positive agitation. Bruce explains: “Our author exhorts his readers to continue meeting together the more earnestly because he knows of some who were withdrawing from Christian fellowship.”
APPLY THE WORD
We can easily find reasons to be irritated with one another. We need to be intentional and prayerful if we want to agitate one another in the direction of love. As we conclude our study this month, pray that God will strengthen your church and strengthen your love, commitment, and service to Him there.

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