Part 12 “A Spiritual Health Check-Up”
Hebrews 10:19-25
Intro –I went to the doctor this past week for my annual physical check-up because it’s been a while and he reminded me now that 60 is rushing towards me like a freight train, I need to be more diligent in taking care of myself…it’s important to get regular health examinations…hope that’s something each of you do…
It is just as important to be diligent in taking care of our spiritual health. When’s the last time you did a spiritual health check-up? We’re given a spiritual health check-up in Heb. 10. Today we resume our series in the book of Hebrews in ch. 10, verses 19-25…open Bibles…
This passage holds great significance for me, because it was the first sermon I ever preached…40 years ago this fall I preached on this passage in my first year of Bible college…
And I remember two things about that night in my home church: first, that I was terrified!
But I also remember experiencing something supernatural…the only way I can describe it is that the HS took over…and I remember words beginning to flow out of my mouth and I began to lose my nervousness and I felt like an observer to what was going on in that moment…
-that positive experience really helped to confirm in me God’s call to communicate His word…
So you can understand why this passage holds a special meaning for me…
But I’m not going to preach that same first sermon this morning…rather I want to share a fresh, fall of 2015 version…
…so that we all can hear what God’s Spirit is saying to our church today…as God’s Spirit speaks to us about the health of our spiritual lives…and our church life…
As I dove into the passage this week, I realized that it’s a very significant text for another reason: it succinctly captures the mission and priorities that God has given our church…namely our three priorities of spiritual maturity, authentic community and missional living…
You’ll see it for yourself as we read the passage…
Prayer…read…
This passage is such a good summary of almost everything the writer of Hebrews has spent 10 chapters giving us…it is a call to remain faithfully devoted to Christ and not give up after receiving such a great salvation which is far better than any OT religious system could offer…
And the passage focuses on Jesus Christ as the Source of three great privileges…of drawing near to God; of faithfully professing our hope; and of helping one another to keep growing in love…
Jesus Christ is the source of these three Biblical relationships that God has called each of us into…and which form the priorities of our church’s ministry:
Our Three Priorities
• relationship with God (spiritual maturity) v.22
• relationship with the lost world (missional living)
v. 23
• relationship with one another (authentic community)
vv 24-25
Spiritual Check-Up
But the key thing this passage offers us is specific criteria to help us do an honest spiritual health check-up in each of these three relational priorities…
Just like doctors give us certain criteria to help us determine a range of physical health, like blood pressure numbers and a cholesterol count…
…and eating only 2 donuts a day instead of my usual half dozen…
…so God gives us criteria to determine a range for a healthy spiritual life…and we find it here in our passage…
Let’s begin with the first and most important relationship:
I our relationship with God – “draw near” v.22
The main call in our relationship with God is to draw near…to be in a forward motion in our relationship with God…to keep moving toward Him and not away from Him…
-and don’t just assume this is happening with everyone…some of you are tip-toeing around God…reluctant to draw near on your own outside of a church gathering like this…
We are given several criterion of health in this first area:
Relationship With God Health Indicators
• confidence to enter God’s presence v.19
-does confidence describe your approach to God? or is it something less? not arrogant self-confidence…rather confidence based on Jesus’ blood and righteousness…
• a new and living way v.20
-does “new and living” describe your spiritual life? for some of us it’s more like old and dead…or tired and weak…
The new and living way of Jesus provides us today with a new and living spiritual life…and if we’re not experiencing that, then we’re not healthy…and we have to find out why…
• dependence on our great High Priest v.21
-remembering it’s not on your merits that you are welcome into God’s presence, but rather on the merits of Jesus Christ, who is our great high priest…our advocate…our representative before the Father…
-and because God the Father is pleased with JC, He is pleased with you…you get a warm welcome from God because you are clothed with Christ and His righteousness…it’s entirely the merits of Jesus that qualify you to be able to draw near to God…
• sincere, clean heart v.22
-it’s spiritually unhealthy to have a hypocritical heart, a heart full of sin…a heart that wants to divide it’s love and allegiance between God and the world…
…a sincere heart, made clean through Christ’s forgiveness, is a focused heart, in which one love reigns supreme…trumping all other loves…that is, our love for Jesus.
• full assurance of faith v.22
-faith that God is there for us, is listening to us, is for us and not against us, that He has our best interests in mind and will do nothing to harm us or mistreat us…that He longs to give good gifts to us as His children and not hurtful ones…
• cleansed lives v.22
-there is nothing more healthy than knowing our sins are forgiven, that we are right with God, that there is nothing between us and our Heavenly Father…
-and finding that spiritual cleanness is only through the cleansing blood of Christ which He shed on the cross when He died…
-God wants you to be clean…you can be clean…by calling on the name of Jesus Christ…
A Loving Union With God
All of these health indicators can be summed up by one thing: a loving union with God. When you know you’re loved by God…and when you’re living in the love of God, when there’s love being shared between you and God…when there’s a loving union between you and God, then you are simply drawn toward Him in a close, personal, life-giving relationship…
This is spiritual health in our relationship with God…how healthy are you in this relationship today?
I need to say again, that acc. to v. 19, spiritual health in our relationship with God is entirely dependent on the blood of JC…v.19
-Christ’s blood that washes, cleanses, forgives, heals, restores, demonstrates His love for us…
II our relationship with the lost world – “profess hope” v.23
The main call in our relationship with a world of lost people is to “hold unswervingly to the hope we profess…”
…in other words, to keep on professing the hope of our salvation to those in the world who do not have it and need it…
-to not give up declaring our living hope through the way we live and the words we say…actions and words…
Relationship With the Lost World Health Indicator
That’s what sp. health in this area looks like…intentionally professing the hope of our salvation to those who need it…
-being vocal about our faith, offering hope to the hopeless through the gospel of JC…standing firm on godly values and convictions in a world of sin and compromise…not being afraid to be different from the crowd…not shrinking back from being faithful to Christ even if it causes us misunderstanding and suffering…
Hope is Your Loudest Gospel Message
Hope in God may be your loudest gospel message. For those of you who are struggling with illness or injury…when lost people see hope…it makes a huge impact…
…with grief from loss…with financial set-backs…with wayward kids that are breaking your heart…with your outlook for the future…when people see hope they are seeing the gospel and getting a glimpse of Christ…
The challenge is to live in such a way that your life makes no sense to the unsaved person… apart from the supernatural life of Christ living in you…
Spiritual health in our relationship with the lost world is entirely dependent on the faithfulness of God…v.23
”for He who promised is faithful”
-He who promised what? to take care of us when we take a stand for Him…
Is. 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned…
Relying on God’s faithfulness to profess your hope to a lost world is an indicator of spiritual health. How healthy are you in this relationship today?
III our relationship with one another –
“loving provocation” vv.24-25
The main call in our relationship with one another in the body of Christ is to find creative ways to spur one another on toward love and good deeds…to encourage each other not to give up staying in relationship with each other…which is so easy to do when things get tough…
I really love the KJV translation of v.24 “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works.”
eg one story that I did tell 40 years ago in my first sermon was how good I was at provoking my older brothers to anger and irritation…
-8 or 9 yrs old…unplugging the record player…
Relationship With One Another Health Indicator
The call here is to finding loving, creative and inventive ways to help each other grow, serve and stay faithfully committed to Christ and the church…
The question we usually ask within a church is, “Who is here for me? Who is going to notice me and meet my needs and be my friend and take care of me?”
And that’s a legitimate question. But let me offer you another question that leads to healthy relationships within the body of Christ:: “How can I help you become the best person Christ wants you to be?”
Can you imagine a church where people operated this way…with this kind of active, practical love?
That’s what sp. health looks like in this area…finding ways to build each other up…encourage other people…to invite others to practice good deeds as an expression of the love of Christ…
Acc to v.25, spiritual health in this area is motivated by the awareness that “the Day is approaching”v.25…in other words, the end of all things is drawing near…and is very near…which I believe it is…
-time is running out to get God’s work done on this earth…time is too short to be ignoring each other or mad at each other or harboring grudges against each other in the church…
Conclusion
So, how is your spiritual health today? Where is it healthy? Where does it need to improve? Got a great opportunity to deal with any areas of sp. health today as we move into communion…
We can find health and healing when we call on the name of the Lord and ask for His shed blood to heal and restore us…His precious blood that brings health to our spiritual lives…
Is. 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Amen.