Let's pray. Father, we thank you for today and for the opportunity to read from and learn from your word about the importance of encouraging each other as believers, Lord, to continue in the faith. So I pray, Lord, that you would help us in this regard, that we would understand Hebrews chapter 10, verses 24 and 25. And we pray for your spirit in Jesus' name. And everyone says. Amen. Okay, so in your textbook, it says section 7.3, your local church. In the previous section, we identified who the church is, and we made a distinction between the universal church, the local church, and the mission of the church. Who'd like to? Explain for everyone what the universal church is Okay, so you're defining local, okay go ahead Yeah, all the believers but not just believers who are presently living go ahead Piper I Yeah, so the universal church are all believers everywhere at all time. And so, obviously they don't meet at the same time. We're not on the same location. So a gathered group of believers would be on earth, would be the local church. Okay, that's pretty easy. What is the mission of the church? What is the mission of the church? What is the primary responsibility of the church, Carson? Yes, yeah, to teach others about the gospel. One thing that I tried to explain last week, but I just never got around to it because we were just defining the mission of the church, is that a lot of people, and keep a bookmark on Hebrews chapter 10, and let's turn to Matthew 28. Let's turn to Matthew 28. And we call this the Great Commission. We understand, right, what we mean by commission? Commission. I'm sorry? Yeah, you could say that it's a special order. It's when someone is given a particular duty or mission. And so in the case of the apostles, their mission, or you can call it the commissioning of the apostles, is to go into all the world and make disciples. You make disciples through the preaching of the gospel. But sometimes you'll hear pastors talk about the Great Commission. That's what we call it. Great. It's really important. It's the primary task of the church. But here's what happens, guys. Sometimes pastors will speak about the Great Commission as if it were a purely evangelistic activity, which means that the Great Commission is carried out only when people leave the gathering place, which would be the assembled gathering where believers, and they go into the missionary field, okay, Blakely, and so sometimes pastors who are real big on evangelism, rightly so, sometimes they, I don't know that they do it intentionally, I think it's a matter of emphasis. So here's what happens, you have this wrong thinking because in our minds we think there are missionaries in the field and they are carrying out the Great Commission and we, well, we just go to church on Sunday where the Great Commission is not being carried out. And that's not true because even when you meet on Sunday morning, A pastor or pastors or Sunday school teachers, depending on what church you go to, they are all teaching the Bible, which includes the Great Commission. So let me read it for you. In verse 18, Jesus says, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. All nations is a reference to all people groups. baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe. So this is interesting because teaching can sometimes happen without there really being any application. But Jesus here is saying that the apostles need to teach people to observe. Okay, observe what? Look at verse 20. Teaching them to observe all, what in particular, Blakely? What do you think in verse 20? Teaching them to observe all? Yeah, so Christ gave commands. Here in this context, it's the responsibility of the apostles not only to teach others the Word of God, particularly who Christ is, the Son of God, the promised Messiah, Savior of the world, but the apostles also need to teach people how to observe the commands of Christ. Okay, so when you look at your New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, that's the teaching or the preaching of the gospel. The rest of the Bible in the New Testament, those are all books that explain the gospel and help you how to carry out the outworkings of the gospel. Like one example, here's what the gospel will teach you, Blakely. If God forgave you, Since you are the recipient of forgiveness from God, you should therefore turn and forgive your fellow brother or sister. So that's not the gospel, but that's a principle that flows out of the gospel. So the gospel really is... you can say in one sense that the gospel really is something that you obey, Okay? Because sometimes people don't like when you say that, no, the gospel is good news. Let me give you an example. Do you have any plans for any kind of outdoor activity this summer? Anyone? Or what would you like to do? Go ahead. You want to go to the river? Swim? Huh? Red River. What do you do at Red River? Fish? Okay, cool Yeah, okay now What do you need in order to enjoy those places? You need fun money Okay You need money So your parents, maybe not all of you, but your parents, you ask them, hey mom, are we going to Fiesta, Texas? Okay, you say, well, it depends on whether we have money. Because you, you know, we have bills, and they give that whole little lecture, right? So imagine, okay, your grandmother or whoever, your mom, they come up to you, and they say, hey, guess what? We got an extra check from work, a bonus, and we have plenty of money now. Okay, is that a command? What is it? Huh? Okay, excellent! Edward said no, that's a declarative statement. If your grandmother comes up to you and says, Aliyah, we have plenty of money in the bank, that's not a command, that's the announcement of what kind of news? Good news. Now, But how can we speak of it as something that we submit to or we obey? Now, if you believe, so then you ask, so that means that we can go to Red River? And your grandmother says, yes. How do you show proof that you are anticipating? How do you show your grandmother and others around you that you're planning for a trip? What are some of the things you start doing? You start packing, excellent, yeah. So you go and you run to your bedroom, and you open the suitcase, you start packing clothes, and somebody else from the family who doesn't know the news yet, they come over and say, -"Leah, what are you doing?" -"Well, it looks like you're packing summer clothes, like to go swimming." -"And where are you going?" And you say, -"We're going to Red River." Okay? Now, her grandmother, in the conversation that we just had, or your mother, or whoever makes these decisions, they didn't tell you to pack, but since they told you that you're going, you started packing on your own. So the gospel is not, in one sense, it's an announcement of good news, okay? So when the gospel says, God sent His Son into the world, who lived a perfectly sinless and righteous life, and should you be willing to believe it, If you place faith in Him and trust Him, then you'll receive forgiveness of sins. Now, what is the proof then now that you believe? What kind of actions do you take? Just like she believed the good news about Red River, and her actions lined up accordingly, what are some of the things that people should do when they believe the gospel? Be excited. That's an emotional response. I mean, that'd be appropriate. But I'm talking about lifestyle changes. Will you share? Why would you share it with others? Because you want them to be saved as well, right? So, in one sense, the gospel really isn't a command. It's an announcement of good news. But the obedience part comes when you understand that there are implications. And that's why the Bible sometimes talks about, you know, those who do not obey the gospel. And someone might sound confused. What do you mean? I thought the gospel is not an imperative. I thought it's a declaration of good news. And it is, but there is an obedience aspect to it. Now, we're not saved by our obedience. We're not saved by good works. Obedience is the fruit of having believed. Okay. So, Whenever you're in church on Sunday morning, the Great Commission is, in a sense, being carried out, because the pastor and other teachers are teaching you to observe all that Christ commanded. So we need not think about the Great Commission as being applicable only to the mission field. Okay, now let's turn to Hebrews chapter 10. Just a few more minutes, and then I'm done with this lesson. And I'm done with y'all. No, I'm just kidding. So now we're going to talk about the local church. Let me give you the context of the book of Hebrews. Okay? Why do you think it's called Hebrews? What is a Hebrew? Do you have a study Bible? Who has a study Bible? Okay, let me see yours. Alright, Skylar. Okay, I'm going to read from her Bible, the introduction. This is why study Bibles are good. This is Skylar's Bible. It's a girl's application study Bible. It says, The commandments, the rituals, and the prophets of Judaism described God's promises and revealed the way to forgiveness and salvation. Then Christ came, fulfilling the law and the prophets, conquering sin, shattering all barriers to God, and freely providing eternal life. I'm going to skip down for the sake of brevity. No, I'm going to read it all. This message was difficult for Jews to accept. Hebrews are Jews. They revered the religious tradition. First century Jewish Christians seemed to other Jews to have disregarded their heritage and scriptures. and they often experience pressure to turn away from Jesus. Hebrews is a masterful sermon written to Jewish Christians who were struggling with their new faith. The message of Hebrews is that Jesus is better. Christianity is superior and Christ is supreme and completely sufficient for salvation. I'm not going to read the last part. Let me explain it to you. In order for you to rightly understand a book of the Bible, you have to understand who it was written to initially and what the circumstances were. We don't have time to get into all that, so I'm giving you the short version. You know there are people that eventually become discouraged in their faith and sometimes they just abandon the faith altogether. They stop going to church. They no longer read their Bibles. You guys know that that happens, right? It happens. It's always happened. That's why the Bible continually tells us to persevere in the faith. But what should motivate you to keep moving forward? The book of Hebrews was written to people who were first Jewish, and they liked their temple, their priesthood, the sacrifices. But at some point, they abandoned Judaism to embrace Jesus. as their priest. But now they were having a hard time because they were being persecuted. So whoever wrote Hebrews wrote it so that they wouldn't get discouraged and turn back to their old ways. So the book of Hebrews is written to show how Jesus is better. And I'll give you one example. So I need you to understand that the book of Hebrews is written to Christians who were on the verge of abandoning their faith. They were getting, for whatever reason, they were discouraged, they were thinking about going back. And so the author here has to motivate them to not do that. And one of the ways that believers can stay motivated is do not neglect, look at verse 24, okay, and let us consider, Hebrews 10, 24, and let us consider how to stir up one another to what two things, according to the verse? to love and good works. So, you as a student, if you have any love for your fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord, you have a responsibility to stir up others to love in the way that Christ taught us to love, and to stir them to good works. You're supposed to encourage people to continue loving Jesus. Now, We talked about in the last section how there are some times when there are bad influences in your life, and that can come from other peers, friends. And friends, if they have any care or concern for you, they should not be encouraging you to do the wrong thing. Okay, now we have to think contextually here, okay? My question to you is look at 25, and what... In what context are we being told here to stir up another to love and good works? Look at verse 25. Piper, read verse 25 so that we all can hear it. You see that? In other words, One of the ways to actually get discouraged, he says, "...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." You have to be around other believers. And the primary way that that happens, it's in the context of a local church. Because when you go to church, there you're supposed to find other believers. And it's not... solely the responsibility of the pastor to preach and stir you up to believe and continue, that should come from other believers as well. So that's not the only reason why churches meet regularly on a weekly basis. It's not the only reason, but it's one of the primary reasons that we meet together is to encourage each other in the faith. It is hurtful to your faith when we don't meet regularly in church, as the Bible instructs us to do. It's a big problem in the American church right now. It's a big problem in... I was reading a survey that was published recently, and I think a few thousand pastors were asked what were some of the major issues they were facing as pastors in the church. And the two things that they all agreed on that were at the top of the list is apathy. Do you guys know what apathy means? Apathy and lack of commitment from people. Apathy is like when a person is sort of indifferent. They don't really care. Let me see if I can look up a Let me see what the Miriam Webster definition is. Yeah. A lack of interest or lack of concern. Lack of feeling or emotion. There are some things that you guys don't care about. It's not wrong. You know, maybe some of you. don't have a lot of passion for some things that don't interest you, so I guess you could say you're kind of apathetic about it. But we shouldn't be that way when it comes to God's Word and the gathering of God's people. So, that is your assignment for today, is read 7.3, and tomorrow we'll talk about church membership, and then at some point, when you start reviewing, this is probably the last section that we'll do for the year, But I do want to cover church membership, what to look for in a good church. The most obvious one is teaching the Bible, fellowship. A church will often regularly administer the ordinances and a praying church. And then some ways you can participate in church. And those are probably the last thing we'll talk about before the year is over. Any questions? No? All right. Blakely, excellent job on that test. We'll review it. Okay, let's pray. Father, thank you for this Bible lesson. We do pray that it stays in the minds of each of us and that we learn to be obedient to the command that we ought not to neglect the meeting together in church. If we have any students here who perhaps belong to a household that does not meet regularly in church, we do pray, Lord, that you would move upon the parents or whoever's usually in charge of making the decision to go to church, that you would move in their heart, Lord, so that they might be in God's house as you've commanded. And we thank you for these things in Jesus' name. And everyone says, Amen.