Hebrew 10:23  Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

In verse 24 of our text we see what true love looks like. We have been taught a very distorted meaning of love over the years. Some will even abuse God’s Word and quote verses like:

I Peter 4:8  And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

What does it mean to cover sins? Does it mean to ignore them and white wash them? Does it suggest that we shurg our shoulders because we all sin and everybody has their problems?
God always answers any questions we have in a clear manner. James was directed by God to give a good answer.

James 5:20  Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

The way sins are hidden is when they are confessed, forgiven, and forsaken. God removes the sin when a repentant sinner is saved. Then when the saved person confesses any sin committed after salvation and asks forgiveness, God hears and forgives. The Bible is clear that when God removes sin, He forgets it. We have a good God.
In our text we see that true saints are commanded to provoke other believers to love and good works. We see that we are to “consider one another”. That is an impossibility through Zoom or some other live stream method. To consider is to “observe fully”. It is not walking around with a critical eye trying to find fault. That was the role of the Pharisees. To observe fully is to seek to help another person to be all that God wants them to be. It is noticing where a brother or sister is struggling and maybe even stumbling and coming alongside and encouraging that person by offering them Biblical words of counsel and to pray for them. The saved person who is struggling does not want to be there. They want the victory that is promised by God. They will seek help. Their flesh may lead them to seek help from other compromisers. However if they are truly saved the Spirit of God indwelling them will work in them to seek godly help.
The love spoken of here is that “agape’” love that God has for mankind. It is that love that is willing to step out and seek to help another person with a genuine need they have. In God’s case, He stepped in the path of ungodly mankind and offered salvation to all, even though Romans 3 tells us that “there is none that seeketh after God.” God is good and He loves us enough to put before us that which we need even when we do not seek for it.
Our text refers to people who are truly saved. True Christians have the love of God in them. This love motivates them to desire to serve God faithfully. True Christians are not going around trying to “interfere” in other Christians’ lives. They are self-imposed “police” who think it is their duty to tell others how to live. They love the Lord and thus they love other Christians and they need to be led by the Holy Spirit in seeking to help one another to be faithful to the Lord. It is possible to be in the flesh and thus be unreasonable or even a nuisance to another believer. If we are led by the Holy Spirit we will know when to speak, and when to leave the matter in God’s hands. This important work cannot be done virtually. We need to be in contact with one another for this to work. This is another reason why membership in a true local church is so important. A Christian cannot grow properly when they stay home. Most “house churches” are not true churches either. A true church needs to be led by a God-ordained pastor. In the Bible they met in houses at times because they had no church building yet. It was not another splinter group that thought they were better than all others and so they would start their little clique. Most house churches demonstrate first of all a lack of humility and a lack of a genuine love for God. As we see in our text, God is not telling us to divide into small little independent groups. He is telling us to assemble together and to provoke one another to love and to good works.
God is telling us how His children can be blessed by Him. There are many arguments out there, but God’s way is the right way.
God continued to encourage His children to provoke one another to “good works”. No one is saved by good works because no lost person can do any good works.

Ephesians 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Those who are saved are created in Christ Jesus unto good works. That is God’s design for His children. We are not saved to find a comfortable place to hide out. We are saved to serve God. That is what good works are.
In verse 25 we see that true Christians should not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. The government has no authority to tell true saints that they cannot gather together to provoke one another to love and to good works.
Back in the day when God first directed the writer to pen these words it was already a problem with believers becoming careless. There is a reason why Jesus needed to write to the seven churches in the book of the Revelation and rebuke several of them. When a Christian disobeys God’s clear commands, he or she will fall back. God provides all that is necessary for His child to grow but if His child does not avail himself of what God provides for him he will not be strong in the Lord. The disobedient child of God robs himself of God’s blessings.
It is important that we invite and implore those who claim to be saved to be faithful in a true house of God. God says this should be done more as we see the day approaching. Any true believer should be able to see the day of the Lord approaching. The unrest in our country and the alignment of Russia with some of the players of Ezekiel 38 should be a reminder that the Lord’s return is imminent and very near at hand. We are not date setters, and we know that the first century Christians expected Jesus Christ to come back in their time. We should be living with that expectation heightened in our lives today. It is sad to see that so few who profess to be saved seem to have that expectation.
We will continue to pray for those in this trucker’s freedom convoy to be saved. We will also pray for politicians and health officials as well as law enforcement people to be saved. We are also praying for others to be saved and for those who claim to be saved to see the need to be obedient to the Lord and not be stumblingblocks to others, but rather be servants of God that will glorify Him in all things.
Pastor Bartel