The Grace of Visible Community | Hebrews 10:24-25

Intro

Imagine being imprisoned for your faith and enduring periods of solitary confinement. Open Doors International, a ministry that serves persecuted Christians worldwide, tells the story of Dok, a believer from Laos. He spent 13 years in prison, including five and a half months in solitary confinement, for sharing the gospel with others.

“The room was small, bare, cramped and smelly. ‘My hands and feet were handcuffed. Where I slept, I also went to the bathroom. The room was very, very dark. I couldn’t see anything. They didn’t let me wear anything but my underwear,’ he recalls. … ‘I lived in that small room for a long time and had nothing to do inside but pray and pray and pray that everyone would believe and accept Jesus.’”

What would that do to you—mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually? How would that affect you to be cut off from your family? … from your church?

At the beginning of his book Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes, “It is by God’s grace that a congregation is permitted to gather visibly around God’s word and sacrament in this world. Not all Christians partake of this grace. The imprisoned, the sick, the lonely who live in the diaspora, the proclaimers of the gospel in heathen lands stand alone. They know that visible community is grace.”

Visible community is grace. And who knows that best? Those who, in God’s strange providence have little-to-no access to it—the imprisoned, the sick, refugees.

Do you know that visible community is grace? And how will you avail yourself of this grace in 2023? 

Hebrews 10:24–25

“And 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.” 

—Hebrews 10:24–25

Christian Community Is Grace

It’s become a habit of ours at Emmaus Road Church to start the New Year with a brief sermon series on Habits of Grace. We get that useful phrase from David Mathis, who wrote the book Habits of Grace. 

Mathis writes, “My hope in reshifting the focus from the spiritual disciplines to the means of grace—and then the various personal habits of grace that we develop in light of them—is to keep the gospel and the energy of God at the center.”

He says this because a lot of teaching on “spiritual disciplines” over-emphasizes our initiative, effort, skill and under-emphasizes God’s grace, power, and provision. The means of grace are the channels through which God supplies his grace—his dynamic power—to his people. 

Those means of grace consist of hearing God’s voice through the Word, having God’s ear in prayer, and belonging to Christ’s Body, the Church. Habits of Grace, then, are the various practices by which we place ourselves in those pathways or channels where God promises to lavish his grace. For example, the Word of God is a channel of grace; habits would include reading, studying, memorizing, journaling, and meditating.

Fellowship, or what we call gospel community, is another one of those ways God communicates his sanctifying grace to you. That is clear here in Hebrews 10:24–25.

To begin with, Christian community is established by God’s grace in Christ. We call it “gospel community,” not only because the gospel is our focus when we gather, but also because it is the grace of God through the gospel that produces this community. 

Our text this morning is actually just the tail end of one long sentence that starts in Hebrews 10:19. Listen to how it begins: “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us …” (Hebrews 10:19–21, emphasis added).  

And then the author of Hebrews moves into three specific exhortations or commands, including the exhortation in vv. 24–25 to gather regularly to intentionally build each other up. Since we have access to God through the body and blood of Jesus, therefore, “let us consider how to stir up one another ….”

That word “therefore” in v. 19 refers back to the entire theological argument at the center of the book (Heb. 5:1–10:18). In chapter 9, the author describes in detail the earthly holy place, the Tabernacle, to show that Jesus is a better high priest who mediates a better covenant enacted on a better sacrifice. In conclusion he says, “For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf” (Hebrews 9:24). So when v. 19 says that we can confidently enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, it’s talking about those holy places—heaven itself.

So here’s the logic of the text: Through the body and blood of Jesus, you have access to God, and that glorious heavenly reality is reflected in our visible community on earth. Gospel community is a direct result of God’s grace toward us in the gospel.

Christian community is also a source of God’s grace to you. 

If you find a book on spiritual disciplines and skim through the table of contents, you’re not likely to find fellowship or community listed. Most talk of “spiritual disciplines” focuses on personal practices. But Scripture is clear that the gathered church, the Body of Christ, is one of God’s appointed means through which God supplies you with life-changing grace.

Verse 24 states one of the goals of gospel community: “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” In Greek, there is a preposition here that indicates a goal or direction. Stirring up love and good works is the aim, the goal, the target.

And “love and good works” are not two different targets: love … and good works. There’s just one thing: loving works, or working love. Love is an action, not just a feeling. Love is treating other people lawfully from the heart, as others have said. “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18). Without action there is no love.

Love is also the summary of the whole law. The one who loves fulfills the law (Rom. 13:8, 10; Gal. 5:14; Jas. 2:8). Love is the outward expression of faith according to Galatians 5:6. Sanctification, then, is the process of growing—by grace—in love for God and love for others. This is the aim of every habit of grace—not more knowledge, but more love.

Increasing and abounding in love is the evidence that God’s grace is at work in his people. In Philippians 1:9, Paul prays “that your love may abound more and more.” In 1 Thessalonians 3:12 he says, “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all.” And in 2 Thessalonians 1:3 he reflects this evidence of God’s grace, that “your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.”

Do you want to grow in love? Do you want to love your spouse more, your children, your neighbors, the lost? Belonging to visible gospel community is one of God’s appointed means to change you and transform you by his grace into a more loving person.

So, having established that the blood of Christ cleanses your conscience, washes away your sins, and secures your access to God forever, the author of Hebrews now seeks to instruct you how to grow in the grace of visible community. And there are three practices or habits related to fellowship: be intentional, be present, and be engaged.

Be Intentional

Verse 24 contains the actual exhortation: “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” In Greek it literally says, “Let us consider one another.” In other words, the object of your thinking is to be, not things, but people. 

“One another” is simply a placeholder for specific people—real people with names and faces and stories. And the fastest way to transform “one another” from the vague and abstract to the personal and specific is to fill in names. Start with the people in your Missional Community. To me, this verse says, “Consider Dan and Heather. Consider Ben and Leslie. Consider Derek and Helen, and Dan and Kari and Abigail. Consider Justin and Sarah, and David and Stephanie.

But what does it mean to consider them? To paraphrase the Puritan John Owen, to consider one another calls for diligent inspection, attentive consideration, and determined focus as opposed to distracted or careless thoughts. 

Remember the aim, according to v. 24, is to consider others in order to stir them up or provoke them to grow in grace. But how do you do that? Again, John Owen is helpful: “This consideration respects the gifts, the graces, the temptations, the dangers, the seasons and opportunities for duty, the manner of the walking of one another in the church, and in the world.”

You are in community with real people who have real stories. They are objects of God’s affection and recipients of his grace. They bear real burdens. They face real trials and challenges and temptations and doubts. Make it a habit to think about these people and those parts of their lives.

This, of course, requires getting to know one another deeply. In his book Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands, Paul Tripp suggests this exercise:

“Think of someone you believe you know well. Try to identify some of the gaps in your understanding of his or her story. How much do you know of your friend's family of origin? Do you know where he struggles in his relationship with God or in his understanding of Scripture? What do you know about the quality of her marriage or the struggles she experiences with her husband? If he is single, do you know how he spends his hours alone? If she is a mother, does she think she is a failure? Could your friend be fighting disintegrating relationships at work or long-term problems with his extended family? Perhaps his heart is driven by lust or eaten up with bitterness. Might she harbor deep regret over a past decision or jealousy over the successes of a friend? Are there financial woes or physical problems?”

Tripp goes on: 

“We tend to have permanently casual relationships that never grow into real intimacy. … Our effectiveness as ambassadors is blunted because we don't know others well enough to know where change is needed or where God is actively at work.”

As you consider the other members of your church, your MC and Discipleship Huddle, are you getting to know people well enough to know where change is needed or where God is actively at work?

This is one reason that our Missional Communities periodically set aside time for each person to share his or her life story—not just a brief testimony of conversion, but a redemptive life narrative. Why do we value that? Because Scripture calls us to consciously consider one another in order to spur each other on in works of love. And you cannot carefully and intentionally build others up if you don’t know them. Growing in the grace of visible community requires intentional thought.

Be Present

In verse 25, the author further clarifies how to stir up and provoke one another to love. First, he gives a negative: “Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some.”

That phrase “to meet together” refers to the gathering of the local church. It’s talking about in-person, face-to-face, life-on-life gatherings of believers. And the Greek stresses that the church is personal. It’s not just a meeting; it’s our meeting. The NASB captures this: “Not abandoning our own meeting together” (Hebrews 10:25). This is emphatically personal and relational. Through Christ you have access to God and a place at the table.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer beautifully articulates the goodness of in-person gathering in the Christian Life: 

“The believer need not feel any shame when yearning for the physical presence of other Christians, as if one were still living too much in the flesh. A human being is created as a body; the Son of God appeared on earth in the body for our sake and was raised in the body. In the sacrament the believer receives the Lord Christ in the body, and the resurrection of the dead will bring about the perfected community of God’s spiritual-physical creatures. Therefore, the believer praises the Creator, the Reconciler and the Redeemer, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for the bodily presence of the other Christian.”

How do you provoke others to grow in love? By your bodily presence. Or consider it from the other direction. The bodily presence of other Christians in your life is one of God’s appointed means to provoke you to grow in love for God and love for people.

This is stated in the negative for a reason: “not neglecting to meet together.” The word really is stronger than “neglect.” Neglect sounds like you weren’t paying attention, or you didn’t get around to it.

But the word translated “neglect” here echoes the language of covenant unfaithfulness. The Greek word is used over 170 times in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint). It’s the term that describes Israel’s covenantal unfaithfulness to God. 

Deuteronomy 28:20 says, “The LORD will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me.” 

And Judges 2:12 says, “And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger.”

It’s also the word used when God promises his covenant faithfulness: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5; cf. Joshua 1:5). So the word has the sense of abandoning those to whom you were committed, forsaking or deserting those to whom you bear some responsibility. It’s a strong word to convey a a strong warning not to forsake or abandon one another.

The seriousness of this exhortation is further emphasized by a sobering reality. This is not a hypothetical scenario. The author says this is “the habit of some” (v. 25). The author of Hebrews probably had names and faces in mind. His comment probably brought names and faces to mind for his audience. Perhaps you can think of people with whom you used to be in spiritual fellowship who are no longer walking with the Lord.

Immediately following this verse, the rest of Hebrews 10 urgently warns against “sinning deliberately” (v. 26), “throwing away your confidence” (v. 35), and “shrinking back” (v. 38). The bodily presence of other Christians is one of the means God uses to protect you from the deceitfulness of sin, from hardness of heart, and from unbelief. To grow in the grace of visible community, make it a habit to be present, as God allows.

Be Engaged

The last instruction for growing in grace through community is stated positively: “But encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (v. 25). Encouraging one another is another way to spur others on in works of love. To encourage means to urge strongly, to exhort. Teammates on a field exhort one another: “C’mon! Let’s go! Keep it up! Good job! Pick up the pace! Nice shot! Dig deep!” 

Exhortations can range from instruction and encouragement to reminders to warnings and rebukes. But exhortation is always communication. This is especially clear in Acts 15:32: “And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words” (emphasis added).

You will primarily experience God’s grace in visible community through the Word. It’s one thing to be together; it’s another thing to speak the truth of God’s Word. As Paul says regarding our speech in Ephesians 4:29, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Did you know that? Did you know that your speech can build others up and give grace to those around you?

The best way to edify others and provoke them to love is by talking about and applying God’s Word. The entire book of Hebrews, which is more like a sermon manuscript than a letter, is a called a “word of exhortation” at the very end: “I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly” (Hebrews 13:22). Hebrews—this word of exhortation—is packed with Scripture. There are over 3 dozen Old Testament citations here.

This doesn’t mean you have to preach a sermon every time you see someone else in church. But it does mean that caring for one another in the local church involves the Word. Here’s Paul Tripp again: “Personal ministry is not preaching to a very small congregation. It is the careful ministry of Christ and his Word to the struggles of heart that have been uncovered by good questions from a committed friend.”

We call this “Gospel Fluency”—the ability to naturally talk about the gospel as it relates to the pressures and challenges and issues of everyday life. And talking about the gospel together is what stirs us up, warms our hearts, and motivates us to love and good deeds. God has given us his very Word for this very purpose: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17).

The best way to grow in your ability to apply the Word of God to others is to saturate your own mind in the Word—read it, meditate on it, memorize it. When God speaks to you through his Word, God will speak through you by his Word.

This is what it means to be engaged in gospel community. You can be physically present but mentally and relationally absent. Being engaged means intentionally encouraging and edifying one another. When you gather with others, come with something to share. This is the pattern we see in the New Testament: “What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up” (1 Corinthians 14:26).

Being engaged in community in this way—by exhorting and encouraging one another with words—is the fruit of being intentional (i.e., consciously considering one another) and being present (i.e., regularly gathering together).

Conclusion

Visible community is grace. And God does not give this grace in the same measure to all people. Some believers are imprisoned for their faith. Some are sick and unable to gather regularly. Some sacrifice everything to bring the gospel to the unreached where no church yet exists.

But by God’s grace, you have access to one another. May your participation in community with one another at Emmaus Road Church—or whatever local church you belong to—stir up more and more works of love for your good and for the glory of God.