Alright, our Scripture reading today is found in the book of Hebrews chapter 10, starting in verse 19 through verse 25. 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 draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 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. This is the Word of the Lord. Amen. You may be seated. Let's pray together, shall we? Father, the Word says, Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children What a privilege it is, our Father, to address You as that indeed, our Father. And we're so thankful, Father, for all that You've done to make it possible for us to do that. We thank You, our Father, that You were willing to send Your Son to become sin for us who knew no sin so we might become the righteous of God. So our conscience could be cleared and we could come to You share our heart and our problems and ask for your help. Father, right now we ask for your help as we look into your Word. Father, we're your children and we want to live in such a way that you are pleased with us. Father, you've loved us enough to give us a Bible, a Word that we could learn from so we might do just that. So Father, through your Spirit now, speak to our hearts. Draw us close to you. For that, we'll give you the thanks and praise because we ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, this message is kind of a tough message to do on Saturday. Listen to the question I'm going to begin with. What does God intend to happen when we come together for our Sunday morning worship? Now the Bible teaches us that we are to regularly and consistently gather together, not to neglect it, not to be lax in this, and not to be cavalier. In fact, this is an imperative. This is a commandment that God gives to all of his children. And so we have to ask the question, why? Why is God so pointed, so emphatic here in this passage of Scripture? The reason is this. Because it's absolutely necessary for our life, for our health, and for the spiritual growth of our church. On Sunday morning, there are things that God intends to happen. Forgive me for my colloquialism. God's got something for us on Sunday morning. Now, if you're kind of cavalier, kind of casual about the gathering of the church Sunday by Sunday, if you kind of, well, I'll be there if I can, I'm not going to feel obligated. It's pretty easy for you to justify missing this gathering. Now, you're not getting something that God speaks directly about, though, when you're not here. And you're missing in the clear teaching of God. And more importantly, you're missing something that God is doing, that God is giving. God intends for you, and He intends for me, His best. And that's something that we need to remember. When God gives a command, He's not doing it to make us miserable. No, He commands things for our good. He knows what is good for you. Because left to ourselves, we are always going to get it wrong. So God, for our good, for our joy, gives us fatherly instruction. And here is the imperative. He read it right in the text. do not neglect to meet together as a church. Now, let me mention another danger. That is being here physically, but not being engaged. See what I'm saying? Alright, you're here, but you're really not here. Alright? There's more than one way to neglect the meeting that God gives us to do in the church. Remember, God has something that He intends to happen. And it's also very likely just to let this gathering become routine. We're here, but not really. We are not ready and we are not prepared. You know, when you have kids, if you do not prepare for church on Saturday evening, Sunday morning is a mess, is it not? So if you get the kids' clothes out and you have them bathed and they're all ready to go, it's going to be a lot easier. In fact, I remember in my early days that I probably had more fights with my wife on the way to church than any other pastor. Alright, because of the pressure of trying to get everything put together. Now listen, there's something that God intends to happen when we gather. So, what is it? Why are we gathering? Well, that is what I want to answer this morning from our text. I want you to notice three things, but as I say three things, you also know there are more than three things. But here in this passage, there are three purposeful things. Number one, we speak to God. Number two, we hear from God. And number three, we impart God's grace to each other. Well, first of all, we speak to God. God intends for this to happen when we gather together. Again, in Hebrews chapter 10, in verse 22, it says, Let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us draw near. Now, what are we to do? Alright, we're to speak our worship to Him, we're to speak our gratitude to Him, We're to speak our praise to Him. We're to bless God with our words. Now, we have to be very careful about this. All right? And here's the reason. Speaking to God in worship is something that we're not independently capable of doing. Remember, apart from God, we would have nothing to say unless He shared with us what we were to say. And so without Him, our mouths would be full of things not pleasing to God. Now with that said, I want to draw your attention to this glorious passage of Scripture before us. And I want to start reading in verse 19. Would you look there with me? It says, 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 flag, And since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith. For with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, in our bodies washed with pure water. Listen, if the seed of the gospel has been planted in your heart, that seed will begin to sprout. and you'll become a glad-hearted witness. Now folks, listen to what he says there. We have confidence to enter the holy place, enter the very presence of God. Why? Because of the blood of Christ. The new and living way that He opened us through the curtain when He was on the cross, His flesh. And he says, because of that, we can go to God with full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience in our body's water. If you listen to the song we just sang, it is well with my soul. Because of the ministry of Christ, because of the gospel, indeed it is well with our soul. Not my sin in part, but the whole is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord. Nobody sings, folks, like the people who get the gospel. Have you ever noticed that? That seed will start to sprout, and the glad-hearted wisps will come around, and the people will sing like there's no tomorrow. In fact, the psalmist says, come before the Lord with singing. It's a chance for all of us to do something at the same time and to say the same thing. So when we come together, the most important instruction is to sing praise to God. Let me start in Psalm chapter 47 and verse 6. Sing praises to God. Sing praises. Sing praises to our King. Sing praises. Psalm 146, 1 and 2. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God while I have my breath. As long as I have breath, I'm going to live. My wife told me today, one of the members of the church that I just loved to death and my home church passed away. And I got to telling my wife, I said, man, what a hard life. He was a farmer and God called him into the ministry and he had a couple of churches and he did well with those. But on top of that, they still had that farm. And one day his daughter went in there and they were baling some hay. that had been loose on the floor and her ponytail got caught in the PTO's hat right before her children. Then he buried that girl. And then my good friend that I went to high school with, always felt called to the ministry, got called to a church, and about three months later has a heart attack and passes. He lost his wife. Listen, that man threw it all. He never took his eyes off God's grace. And when we got to church, he'd be the guy that would sing to us. Listen to Psalm 95, verse 1. O come, let us sing to the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Psalm 98, verse 1. O sing to the Lord a new song. for he has done marvelous things. But you know, we don't just see that in the Old Testament, do we? Listen to what the Apostle Paul tells us in Colossians 3 and verse 16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs thankfulness in your heart. Why do we do all this? Because the Bible tells us that we're to sing. One more, listen to what James says in chapter 5 and verse 13. Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Listen, there is something that God intends to happen when we get together. God's got something for us. So what is it? Well, while we are gathering, we are to sing His praises. And that's what I want you to understand from our text this morning. God is good and glorious and wonderful. So let us, as a congregation, speak to our great God. Forgive me, but let me just read verses 19 through 22 again. 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 draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith. with our hearts sprinkled clean in an evil conscience, and our bodies warped. Ladies and gentlemen, what is it that makes us right with the Lord Jesus Christ? Now, if you're sitting here and thinking, oh, all the things that I do for Him, you're wrong. What makes us right with the Lord Jesus Christ is His ministry of His Son, the Lord Jesus. And if we are in Him, We are His child in everything that we are supposed to be. So we can, at any time with a clear conscience, go to our Father and have a conversation. So are you coming on Sunday morning ready to speak to God? Do you have anything to say to Him? Words of confession, supplication, gratitude, praise? Are you eagerly participating in Sunday worship? King David said in Psalm 122, 1, I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord. Let me ask you, are you glad? Eager to join voices with other believers? God intends for us to do this when we come to Him. Now secondly, we hear from God. And God intends for this to happen as well. Look with me at verse 23 of Hebrews 10. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. Now, what is this confession? Let us hold fast our confession of hope without wavering. Well, it's our belief in the word that has been spoken. It's biblical theology. This is the truth that we confess. And the writer of Hebrews tells us to hold on to this. To make sure that we keep a firm grip on it. That way, when that happens, he'll continue to speak and we'll be continually receiving the truth that he has. And folks, listen. This truth is preserved for us here in this place. And that's why last Sunday I went to Psalm 1. Because without God's Word, there's not going to be any change in your life. You've got to have God's Word. And so we need this truth, folks. Our faith is sustained by the Word. Romans 10, 17 tells us, Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. This book is our spiritual food. You remember God's Word says, Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth And so our souls need to be fed. And God's program is the preaching and teaching of his word. Let me read a passage of scripture that the Apostle Paul wrote to a young pastor by the name of Timothy. 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 13. Here's what he says. Until I come, Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. So why do we do what we do on Sunday morning? Why do we read so much Scripture? Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, that's the preaching of the Scripture, to teaching. And why does Paul say this? because he understands what happens when this book is preached publicly makes all the difference. Listen to what J.I. Packard, one of the great theologians, wrote about this. He said this, preaching mediates not only on God's authority, but also his presence and his power. Preaching affects an encounter not simply with truth, but with God Himself. Now think about it. I know this to be true in my own life. God using His Word like a hammer hitting my stony heart. God using His Word like a sword piercing even the divided soul. God using His Word like rain to nourish and refresh my inner soul. Folks, listen, I get a lot of that in my private devotional time. But there's nothing like it when you get together with your brothers and sisters in Christ and sit under the preaching and teaching of the Word of God. I remember one time I went to Together for the Gospel down in Kentucky, Louisville, Kentucky. I didn't say it, I'm sure. And Dr. John Piper preached. Dr. Piper had been in England for a year, and he hadn't preached for an entire year. He was actually doing research for a book. So for a year, he had never preached. And he gets down there, and he's got a whole group of about 1,200 preachers to preach to. And he opened up the Bible, and man, I'm telling you what, he spoke in a great and mighty way. In fact, when it was all over, There wasn't a sound in the crowd. Nobody coughing, nobody saying anything. In fact, one of the guys that went down with me, some young kid, began to say something to him and he just put his hand up like, shh, don't talk. And I'm thinking to myself, as a pastor who's been preaching and toiling over the word for years, saying, have I ever once preached the gospel? After hearing that message. But you know what's amazing is that. A couple of years later I'm in a little rough spot and I'm feeling down. So I go to the Internet and find that message. And I kick it up and I listen to it. And it was good. But it was nothing like the day I heard it. You see what I'm saying? And here. We have an opportunity to gather together as brothers and sisters in Christ and hear God speak to our hearts. There are things God wants us to get done here, and he speaks through the teaching and preaching of his word. So let me ask you, do you eagerly come to benefit from what he has for us? Help me take my eyes off my circumstances and look to you We come every Sunday anticipating God is going to speak. So come with humility and spend some time getting ready for God to challenge you. God intends to speak to us Sunday by Sunday when we come. When we put the message together and the whole service together, we do that in such a way with prayer, asking God just to bring it everything together so it can just speak to people. You know, we even get kind of carried away sometimes. You know my favorite song in the world is Ann Canopy? But you know there's a line in that song that is theologically out to lunch. Second verse says, emptied himself but all but love. Ladies and gentlemen, did God ever empty himself of anything? How could he? He's God. So fortunately, some of our people bought the MacArthur new book for singing that he publishes. And he goes in there and theologically changes the word. And I don't remember what they are, but we sing it now. We don't sing it the old way. Content for the truth. The truth is important. And then lastly, listen, we impart God's grace to each other. Now, look, I'm a great believer in preaching. Right and faithful preaching of God's word. But I have no illusion that preaching is enough. There needs to be a mutual ministry a ministry in which we all participate. And we see that in Hebrews 10 verses 24 and 25. It 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 growing. Folks, we need each other is what this passage of scripture is saying. Now do you know you can go on the internet or turn on 99 or 91.5 and hear some great preaching and teaching? But listen, if that's all you're getting and you're not gathering together with a body somewhere, you're missing out on something that God's got for you. What is this encouraging one another? Well, it's not just saying nice things. It's actually depositing something, imparting something. You say, well, depositing what? Imparting what? Well, according to our passage, what it is, is God's grace. Good things from God for us. Things like strength, comfort, courage, hope, motivation to love, and motivation to good deeds. You say, well, where do you get this, Pastor? Well, if you would, take your Bibles and turn with me to 1 Peter chapter 4. I want to look at two verses, verses 10 and 11. Listen to what Peter says here. As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's very grace. Whoever speaks as one who speaks oracles of God, whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies, In order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Good stewards of God's grace. And it's interesting here, we see the two different avenues. Those who speak and those who And I wish I could just stop here and give you about a 10-minute testimony of how many times I myself have been insured when I'm in the house of God with somebody with what they tell me or what they say. Good steward of God's grace. Delivering of God's grace. Something from God, something of God. And did you notice Peter says, as each one has received a gift? That means what? Everyone here this morning, or this afternoon, excuse me, has a responsibility of ministering grace. You say, well, how do I find out these gifts? Well, 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, Ephesians 4, 1 Peter 4, all those passages. So each week, every Sunday, what a great opportunity this provides for a whole network of the imparting of God's grace to each other. Take time to listen and get to know people. And when they're going through a difficult time, if you've been through it and God has led you, talk to them. In fact, sometimes just a welcome and a hello is all that it needs. You know, I was reading Luke 15 the other day. You know Luke 15, the parable? The parable, the prodigal son? Prodigal, there we go. Man, that's a message, eh? For years I've always put my emphasis on the son. Man, he was a rough cut dude, wasn't he? I mean, he wanted his dad to go into almost a financial crisis so he could get the money he thought he had coming and he sent him away and he did all that. And then he went off and lived the way he lived. But what happened when he came to his senses? I thought, man, you know, my father's servants have it better than I do. I'm starving and no one cares, no one loves. Man, that pig slop is looking awful. He said, you know, I'll go home and I'll tell Dad, Dad, I'll be your servant. I don't care. How does the father respond to the boy? Spanky old guy out there with the hogs he puts in his arms and pulls him inside. He forgives him and loves him. He gets shoes and a coat and a ring. And he welcomes him. Man! Hoorah! Does it get much better than that? Now listen to me. God wants you to do that with your brother and sister. Come on. Nourish them. Tap their backs. Folks, you know we're all recovering parisans, right? But by the grace of God, there won't be. Each week, every Sunday, what a great opportunity that he provides. for a whole network of the imparting of God's grace as we share with one another, as we talk with one another, as we listen to one another. Sometimes something as simple as a word of welcome, a warm kind hello, because the Bible tells us that we're to greet one another. So when you gather together, look for The Spirit of God wants to be active in this room after the service, just like He is now in the service. So let me ask the question, am I coming expecting God to be arranging some conversation, looking for an opportunity to impart God's grace to someone? You say, well, what's the application? Well, there are three things that God intends to happen on Sunday. We speak to God. We hear from God. And listen, as you get ready to come to church on Sunday, pray for your pastor as he preaches so he might have the power. And then lastly, we impart God's grace to each other. There's something good here that God has for us. Don't mess up and miss it. Make Sunday morning a priority for yourself and your family. Anticipate it coming. And let's not waste another Sunday in 2025. Father, once again, we thank you for your love and your kindness and your goodness. Father, we used an illustration of yourself, the father, who welcomes the sinner. Father, we can have an audience with you today because of what Christ did. We just read that. It was his flesh that was torn so we might have a relationship with him. Father, the Bible very specifically tells us that that relationship starts by faith. There's a time in our life when we recognize our sinfulness and the need of a saint. And then we see Jesus as He is, the God-man who took our place on the cross, who died, was buried, and rose again so we might have life everlasting. And the Bible tells us that if we confess with our mouth and believe in our heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. So Father, if there's someone here that's struggling because of sin, their conscience is not clear. They don't have the freedom that some of the people here have. Help them to see that Jesus has got his arms wide open. And he says to us in Matthew, come on to me, all you labor and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And then, Father, for those that know you and love you, thank you for the Lord's Day. Thank you for the Sundays when we can gather together and hear you praise you, and then serve one another. Father, we say here in this church, God is most honored, and we are most happy when we worship God, serve one another, and take the gospel to the nation. Help us to do that, we pray, especially in this coming year.