The Bad Habit of Not Meeting Together!

Image result for a cord of three strands is not easily broken

A Call to Persevere in Faith

19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
The author has spent a lot of time on two specific messages to the Hebrew Christians.  One, that Jesus is the once and for all sacrifice and the fulfillment of the sacrificial system in God's covenant with Israel.  Two, he warned the Hebrew Christians from straying from the faith.  He warns of a coming judgment for those who having received grace only to revert back to a sinful lifestyle.  
In this chapter, the author reinforces the confidence we have because of what Jesus has done for us.  Most people have a fear of God and in some ways that is healthy.  But the writer encourages us to enter with confidence into the Most Holy place.  We don't realize how shocking that would have been to the original hearers.  The Most Holy place was where God dwelt by His Spirit.  Only one person was allowed to go into that place, the Most High priest, and only once per year. There were all kinds of regulations to come into God's presence because of his holiness and humandkind's sinful nature. But he is telling them, and by application us, that we can come into God's presence because of what Jesus did for us.  
Our assurance comes by faith and the fact that our hearts are sprinkled and our bodies washed with pure water.  This is an image of the water that the Israelites washed themselves with as they came into the tabernacle.  Through baptism we have been washed clean through Jesus.  And as we cling to these promises by faith, he reminds us that the God who has promised all of this is faithful.  We may have times where we fail to demonstrate faith in God, but God is unflinchingly faithful to us.  
Finally, he urges the Hebrews to spur each other on to good deeds.  Apparently they were neglecting getting together for worship.  He tells them not to GIVE UP meeting together as some were in the habit of doing.  One of the ways you fall away from the faith is to stop meeting and being encouraged by other believers.  You stop going to church, maybe your life group, and then you wonder why you are drifting from God.  In order to hold unswervingly to our faith, we need others to mentor us, hold us accountable, and pray for us.  Friendships in the body of Christ are different than those in the world.  They are rooted in a common love of Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.  We were meant to be in community together.  It becomes a BAD HABIT when we fail to meet or begin to isolate as a believer.  
Ecclesiasties 4:12 says, 
"A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken."

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