Jym Shorts

Jym Shorts - October 22, 2015

by Nate Gast on October 22, 2015

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. Hebrews 3:12-14

You have heard me numerous times rail against the Lone-Ranger Christianity that plagues much of our Evangelical thinking. As we are midway through our series on discipleship, I hope that you are noticing that connecting to other believers is absolutely vital to our spiritual growth and perseverance in the faith.

In the above passage, the writer of Hebrews is encouraging these Jewish believers to “hold fast their original confidence.” They were facing persecution and doubts much like the generation of Israelites who were brought out of Egypt and faltered in the wilderness. The author of Hebrews sees the church as people in the midst of our own wilderness testings. We, like Israel, have been delivered from bondage and have passed through the Red Sea in baptism. Now, we are walking through the wilderness, led by the Holy Spirit, and quickly approaching the Jordan River of our own death before we enter the promised rest (Hebrews 4:1-13). Indeed, we are a wilderness people with the same temptation to throw away our faith because of a hard and unbelieving heart as we doubt God’s goodness, His ability to provide, and His sense of direction as He leads us to the Promised Land.

The interesting thing is the emphasis that the writer of Hebrews places on community and the value of other brothers and sisters in helping us to hold that original confidence. He writes, “But, exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” He is telling his readers that the wilderness temptations are very real and that, like Israel, we are prone to having a hard and unbelieving heart that will cause us to fall away. One of the safeguards of falling away is to entrust yourself to the community of believers who are able to exhort, encourage, correct, and remind you of your original confidence and of the truths of God.

You see, as the hymn writer tells us, “we are prone to wander,” and we need to connect ourselves to mature believers who have years of wilderness trials behind them so that they can teach us, encourage us, pray with us, and explain the meaning behind so many of the piles of rocks scattered throughout that commemorate God’s faithfulness. Our hearts are wicked, deceitful, and untrustworthy, so we need others to come to us and remind us of His faithfulness. We need others to teach us, guide us, and point us in the right direction when we are tempted to turn back because there was good food in Egypt (Exodus 16:2-3).

Friends, life is hard. The wilderness is full of trials and temptations, and many who have built their house on the sand will die in the wilderness like that first generation of Israelites. May those of you who are mature in the faith look around and exhort those who look lost or who seem to be on the verge of throwing away their confidence. At the end of the day, discipleship is nothing more than finding another pilgrim walking the same path in the same wilderness, encouraging them to hold their original confidence and then to strengthen that confidence by reminding them of God’s deliverance from sin. For Israel this confidence was rooted in God’s power seen in deliverance from Egypt and His parting of the Red Sea. For us, it is in the empty tomb! Christ lives and the Promised Land awaits those who hold fast. Let us be a church that exhorts one another to keep going.

Pastor Nate

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