Encouraging Each Other at the End of the Age

Scripture: Hebrews 10:19–25 Topic: Encouragement

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the
new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we
have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith,
with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let
us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us
consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is
the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
I want to try in this message to awaken in you a deep, joyful, confident sense that being in a small group
of Christians for prayer and ministry to each other would be one of the best things you could do for your
own soul and for the good of those around you and for the glory of Christ. Hundreds of you know this
already. So just enjoy being affirmed in the path you have chosen. But others of you have perhaps
grown up in homes or in churches where this simply was not part of what it meant to be a Christian—to
meet regularly with a small group of believers to pray for each other and strengthen each other and help
each other grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. So my aim for you is to introduce you to this
normal Christian practice and awaken a deep, joyful, confident sense that this would be a really good
and helpful thing to do.

Now what Hebrews 10:23-25 adds is that this care that the elders give happens in part through the small
gatherings of believers where they can help each other hold fast to their hope and stay strong in the
Lord. Verse 24-25, “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to
meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the
Day drawing near.”

1) We Encourage One Another

Notice four things in verses 24-25. First, God calls us to encourage one another. Verse 24b: “encouraging
one another.” God’s plan for our good is that much of our encouragement come from other Christians
speaking the word of God into our lives and praying for us.

2) We Stir Up One Another to Love and Good Works

Second, God’s purpose is that this mutual encouragement functions to stir us up to love and good
works. Verse 24: “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” In other words,
the aim of the mutual encouragement is not just for the good of the members of the group but for the
world. And that too is good for us, because Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts
20:35). It’s like the widow’s jar of flour and jug of oil in the story of Elijah: The more she gave, the more
God gave. They never ran out (1 Kings 17:16). So we encourage each other, and we stir each other up to
love.

3) We Gather

And third, we gather to do this encouraging and this stirring up to love and good works. Verse 25: “. . .
not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some.” This meeting together is not merely the big
gathering for corporate worship, as we do on Sunday mornings; it is the kind of gathering where the
pattern of ministry is each person ministering to the others. Notice how verse 25 continues: “. . . not
neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another.” The meeting, in this
case, is the kind of meeting that necessarily implies encouraging one another. So God is telling us that it
is good for us to gather in smaller groups and minister to each other. This is his way of caring for us. He
calls elders to oversee this, but it is the smaller, one-another ministry of all the members that completes
the shepherding work.

4) Especially as the End Approaches

Fourth, notice that this kind of gathering in smaller groups to encourage each other is increasingly
urgent as the end of the times draws near. Verse 25 once more: “. . . not neglecting to meet together, as
is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:1, “In the last days there will come times of difficulty.” Times of stress and
tremendous pressure and hardship and darkness and evil. It will not get easier to be a Christian. And
God is telling us what we will need to do to hold fast to our confession of hope (v. 23): Meet. Meet.
Meet. And encourage one another. And stir each other up to love. Lone-ranger Christians will drop like
flies in those days.

God’s Will: Greater Joy

So in summary, God’s commandments are always good for us. His purpose for us, even in our troubles
and our sorrows, is joy in him. One of his commandments is that his people be cared for by pastors—
elders, shepherds, overseers—and these men will give an account for how they cared for the sheep. This
is good for the elders and good for the sheep. God’s ways are the ways of greatest joy. Another of his
commandments is that the elder equip the members to do the work of the ministry to each other and
that they meet in smaller groups to encourage each other and stir each other up to love and good
works. This is God’s good plan for you. Not to be a part of such a smaller ministering group is self-
defeating. That is not God’s will for your life. His will is your greater joy. And that comes from the
benefits of mutual ministry in smaller settings.

Esther Moments
Or think of it the other way around. When I met with the small group leaders last Sunday night and
asked them for ideas for this sermon, one of them said that people need to know that there are often
“Esther moments” in small groups, and that they may be the missing Esther. Remember Esther became
queen at a time when Haman was trying to kill all the Jews. Her relative Mordecai said to her, “Who
knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” And indeed she had. She
said to Mordecai, “If I perish, I perish.” And she approached the king at the risk of her life. The Jews
were delivered.
That is a picture of what can happen in small groups. Salvation, rescue, healing, guidance, comfort,
provisions—they may depend on the Esther moments in the small group. Or the Mordecai moments.
And you may be the Esther or the Mordecai—or the missing Esther or the missing Mordecai.

Don’t Miss the Joy

God loves his church. All his commands are for our good and our joy. God’s will for our church is that
elders oversee the care of the flock. And his will for our church is that members be equipped to minister
to each other in small groups. And his will is that tremendous blessings flow through the saints to the
saints and to the world because we do not neglect this ministry. There are Esther moments and
Mordecai moments waiting to happen this year. I pray you will not miss being on the receiving and the
giving end of these moments.