22 March 2009
A Glimpse of Heaven
03/27/2009 01:58 PM
And let us consider how we may spur one another on
toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up
meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing,
but let us encourage one another—and all the more as
you see the Day approaching. (Heb
10:24-25)
The writer of Hebrews stresses the importance of meeting together with the purpose of spurring each other on toward love and good deeds. This is one of the primary purposes of meeting together. It's kind of a no-brainer isn't it? But sometimes common sense can be overestimated. It's not like we are to meet together so we can assault and embarrass each other. But sometimes, in life, that happens. So the writer of Hebrews makes the point clear, by not only saying to not give up meeting together, but then takes it one step further by saying we are to encourage each other, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Encouragement is a good thing, isn't it? That's one of the things that is on the top of my list. To be a better encourager. I've never come across a situation where I've been encouraged by someone and felt put out by it. I've also never been on the giving end of encouraging someone where I've come away feeling like I wasted my time. So we're looking at an interesting situation here. We're looking at first, what not to do, by giving up meeting together. But then we're looking at the alternative, which is to meet and encourage each other and spur one another on toward love and good deeds. It's funny, because there really is so much common sense in this passage, not to beat a dead horse or anything. Usually when people are told what not to do, that's it. Don't do that. What are you doing? Stop it. Don't go there. Don't eat that. Don't say that. You can't do that. But what we're often left without is the alternative. So the fact that we see a "don't" in the form of not to give up meeting together, it great to see what we are to do instead, so there is no mistake that we are not merely avoiding something on one hand, but we're actually fulfilling God's will on the other. Though the text was written to first century believers, this principle is transferrable to modern day Christians. This is not a doctrine of works on how to get to heaven. Instead, our encouragement of fellow believers is a direct result of our salvation in Jesus Christ. Salvation in Christ is a personal experience. It is something that is between us as individuals and God. There are oftentimes many people involved along the way that pray, share what the Bible teaches, but in the end, it's between the individual and God. It is a gift of God that nobody can receive on our behalf. It's not like the Academy Awards where someone can accept the award on your behalf. You kinda have to be there. Likewise, we ourselves are unable to obtain salvation for anyone else. Once we receive that gift of salvation as individuals, we are to be with other believers so we can not only encourage but be encouraged as well. This is what keeps us and grows us in our faith, and continues when we gather to worship on Sunday morning. Worship is both a personal, as well as a congregational experience. We are personally and individually worshipping the God what has forgive our sins. Our individual sins that we alone are responsible for. My sins. But because we are meeting together, and encouraging each other, and making up many parts of the same body, that body begins to worship. When we see God for who He really is, we have no other alternative but to worship Him, alone or together. John documents his vision of heaven in Revelation of how heaven is in a constant state of worship. It's a pretty cool thing. What used to matter, is insignificant. What we worked so hard for, is meaningless. Everything is at the feet of Jesus. He replaces all of the preoccupation that dominates life from time to time. It's a place that you want to be, and we can even practice this now. When Jesus told his disciples how to pray, he included praying that "your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven," (Matt 6:10) Jesus was praying that God's will be done on earth as it would be in heaven. What's the common denominator? It's the people. Us. We are to bend ourselves to God here, in preparation of doing so there. It's a beautiful thing. When we worship together for the glory of God, we get our own glimpse of what heaven will be like. Until next time.
Grace and glory,
![thoughts[1].html-2a](page5_blog_entry9_1.png)
The writer of Hebrews stresses the importance of meeting together with the purpose of spurring each other on toward love and good deeds. This is one of the primary purposes of meeting together. It's kind of a no-brainer isn't it? But sometimes common sense can be overestimated. It's not like we are to meet together so we can assault and embarrass each other. But sometimes, in life, that happens. So the writer of Hebrews makes the point clear, by not only saying to not give up meeting together, but then takes it one step further by saying we are to encourage each other, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Encouragement is a good thing, isn't it? That's one of the things that is on the top of my list. To be a better encourager. I've never come across a situation where I've been encouraged by someone and felt put out by it. I've also never been on the giving end of encouraging someone where I've come away feeling like I wasted my time. So we're looking at an interesting situation here. We're looking at first, what not to do, by giving up meeting together. But then we're looking at the alternative, which is to meet and encourage each other and spur one another on toward love and good deeds. It's funny, because there really is so much common sense in this passage, not to beat a dead horse or anything. Usually when people are told what not to do, that's it. Don't do that. What are you doing? Stop it. Don't go there. Don't eat that. Don't say that. You can't do that. But what we're often left without is the alternative. So the fact that we see a "don't" in the form of not to give up meeting together, it great to see what we are to do instead, so there is no mistake that we are not merely avoiding something on one hand, but we're actually fulfilling God's will on the other. Though the text was written to first century believers, this principle is transferrable to modern day Christians. This is not a doctrine of works on how to get to heaven. Instead, our encouragement of fellow believers is a direct result of our salvation in Jesus Christ. Salvation in Christ is a personal experience. It is something that is between us as individuals and God. There are oftentimes many people involved along the way that pray, share what the Bible teaches, but in the end, it's between the individual and God. It is a gift of God that nobody can receive on our behalf. It's not like the Academy Awards where someone can accept the award on your behalf. You kinda have to be there. Likewise, we ourselves are unable to obtain salvation for anyone else. Once we receive that gift of salvation as individuals, we are to be with other believers so we can not only encourage but be encouraged as well. This is what keeps us and grows us in our faith, and continues when we gather to worship on Sunday morning. Worship is both a personal, as well as a congregational experience. We are personally and individually worshipping the God what has forgive our sins. Our individual sins that we alone are responsible for. My sins. But because we are meeting together, and encouraging each other, and making up many parts of the same body, that body begins to worship. When we see God for who He really is, we have no other alternative but to worship Him, alone or together. John documents his vision of heaven in Revelation of how heaven is in a constant state of worship. It's a pretty cool thing. What used to matter, is insignificant. What we worked so hard for, is meaningless. Everything is at the feet of Jesus. He replaces all of the preoccupation that dominates life from time to time. It's a place that you want to be, and we can even practice this now. When Jesus told his disciples how to pray, he included praying that "your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven," (Matt 6:10) Jesus was praying that God's will be done on earth as it would be in heaven. What's the common denominator? It's the people. Us. We are to bend ourselves to God here, in preparation of doing so there. It's a beautiful thing. When we worship together for the glory of God, we get our own glimpse of what heaven will be like. Until next time.
Grace and glory,
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