I want to turn to Hebrews chapter 10.
Hebrews chapter 10.
We're talking about first things first.
And I wanted to come and during the month of May
and be as transparent as I know how to be with you,
full disclosure about if you wonder
what makes the new guy tick,
I want to share with you this month what makes me tick.
I first started talking about the need of
knowing that you are saved.
If someone is haunted by those questions,
it always defeats them in their spiritual walk
as well as limits them in their testimony.
I don't want you to doubt your salvation.
I want you to be sure of that at the same time.
I don't want you to be sure of something that you don't have.
And so if you don't have Jesus,
I want to tell you how you can have Jesus.
And so I began with that
and we took some time to honor our ladies on Mother's Day.
I continued by encouraging you to be in the Word of God daily.
And how many of you read the Word?
No, I'm kidding.
I'm not going to do that.
Because that's not why we read it.
And if you're one of those who are taking that bookmark
and checking it off
and showing it to people when you check it off,
you know, real big,
you know, that's not what the point is, folks, you know.
It is to have a time with the Lord.
And so I encourage you to do that.
And today I want to encourage you to spur one another on.
I want to tell you why.
And I want to tell you how.
It's in Hebrews chapter 10, beginning in verse 23.
And it says,
First, I want to tell you why
we ought to spur one another on.
Because we have a great opportunity.
That's why.
I have a friend that has made a great impact on football
for the cause of Christ.
He's on the board of Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
He's in their Hall of Fame.
And he is known by all Christian coaches in college
and in the NFL.
And God's used Ken Smith in a mighty way.
And I've enjoyed following him around on occasion.
When he spoke at Ole Miss,
he invited me to come along.
And we went before a ball game.
And I waited for that game to start
in the coach's locker room with the coaches.
I went to the head coach's office for a little while.
When the game started, I had two options.
One, I could either be on the sidelines
and watch a ball game.
Or I could be in the coach's box.
I chose both.
I spent the first half of the game on the sidelines.
I was moved out of the way for just a moment
for a presentation when Joe Gibbs of NASCAR fame
and before that of the Washington Redskins,
if you can say Redskins.
But anyway.
As well as Archie Manning.
And Archie Manning, you may know him
as a quarterback that suffered for the New Orleans Saints.
But in Mississippi, I'm telling you,
he hung the moon.
He was a hero.
The golden boy of Mississippi in so many ways.
And at any point I wanted to,
I chose halftime.
I went up an eight and sat
in the head coach's box with his family.
I was sitting there with Monty Kiffin.
Some of you who know a lot about NFL
may know who that is.
He's a legendary defensive coordinator
throughout the years.
As well, Jimmy Sexton.
And Jimmy Sexton is an agent to,
the last time I looked,
11 of the 14 coaches in the SEC
as well as a bunch of NFL greats.
And I looked and the governor
was in a box over from us.
Waved at him through the glass.
For a football fan, I'm just telling you,
it was amazing.
I'm not trying to drop names here.
I'm just telling you, I didn't belong.
I was invited.
I was on somebody else's invitation.
And I was having a heyday
until the fajitas did not agree with me.
And then everything changed.
But it was as good as college football can get
unless, of course, there's another team playing.
I won't bring them up.
I don't want to make folks mad this morning,
so I'll be quiet.
But I do love games locally as well.
However, there is nothing compared,
that is nothing compared,
nor any interaction that we've had upon this earth
compared to what Hebrews chapter 10
talks about in the verses before the ones I read.
The Hebrew writer is saying there,
because Christ has died in our place,
and because he has removed every barrier that we have
to keep us from God,
we can approach, get this,
we can approach the very throne of God with boldness.
We are welcomed into his presence.
Now, understand this.
He knows everything about us.
He knows what we've done.
He knows what we would have done.
He knows what we've said.
He knows what we thought about saying.
He knows what we wish we'd have done.
He knows what we wish we hadn't done.
He knows it all,
and loves us enough to die for us
and give us the opportunity for salvation,
giving us access to the throne of God for forgiveness
and for the presence of God in worship.
And if you are a born-again believer today,
you are blessed.
And it is not because you deserve it,
because we do not deserve it.
It is not because we've earned it,
because we have not earned it.
It's because he came to us,
not because we came to him.
We were dead, dead, dead in our trespasses and sins.
And he's made us alive through his death and resurrection.
And because of that, we have access to him.
So we take it.
And every day, we read his word,
we seek his face,
and we spur one another on.
It is necessary that we do that,
the Hebrew writer says,
because the day is approaching.
Jesus is coming again.
Like the old hymn says,
maybe morning, maybe noon,
maybe evening, and maybe soon.
I love that hymn.
It's what's irritating him, honestly.
But it's the truth.
He's coming back.
And nothing on this earth is keeping him from coming back.
I don't know what kind of chart you have,
but I'm telling you,
nothing is keeping him from coming back.
He can return at any moment.
And so we be ready.
We are to be ready and be spurring one another on.
The ESV, I think, does an injustice to this
when it says stir.
Now, if you know what stir means there,
it's okay to use that word.
But it really depends on what kind of stirring
you're talking about.
I eat that fruit bottom yogurt every morning,
or just about every morning.
And the first thing I do with my spoon is I stir that.
Just stir it a little bit.
And get that fruit from the bottom
to where I can taste it.
That's not the kind of stirring he's talking about.
If when you think of stirring,
he's talking about how you stir people
when there's a breakaway, go-ahead touchdown
that happens late in the game
to a fan base of a team
that has been down by less than a touchdown.
If you've been in that kind of atmosphere,
you know what that does to the crowd.
That's the kind of stirring that he's talking about.
He's talking about a stirring that makes a difference.
And that's why some translations,
and I agree with them,
translate this spur.
Because you can spur a horse along to get it going.
Now, I say, you can spur a horse because of Old Blue.
I think it was the Wanata Valley, if I'm not mistaken.
Years ago, when I had the opportunity to go on a horse ride,
we all lined up, one tail in front of the other,
you know, and we all got on there.
Nobody knew what they were doing.
Hard enough just to get on the horse.
We're all standing in line,
about from here to the back of the room.
And I'm looking at the tail in front of me,
talking to Old Blue, my buddy.
I got a legend right here before me.
And this legend sees something up an embankment
that he liked.
We wasn't moving along the way.
We were just standing still.
And instead of me looking like I had my act together,
Old Blue had to get the weed on top of that embankment.
And so up we climbed about 15 feet.
I kicked him in the gut.
I yanked on his ropes.
I did whatever I could.
And Old Blue wanted to go to the top of that hill.
And Old Blue went to the top of that hill.
So now I'm standing on top of the hill
like a victorious captain,
looking down at everyone else,
when all they want to do is go on the ride.
And somebody came and helped me get Old Blue down the hill.
So when I say, you can spur a horse,
I mean, you can spur a horse because I'm not going to.
But I'll tell you what, you can spur a horse
and we can also spur one another along.
And we're instructed to do that by Scripture.
So not only do I want to tell you why you ought to spur,
but I want to tell you how we ought to spur,
just some ways of how we ought to spur one another along.
One way we do that is to pray.
You say, oh, preacher,
I thought you were talking about something we could do.
Well, whatever you're going to do for the Lord,
you ought to pray about it before you do it.
You ought to pray about it while you're doing it.
You ought to pray about it after you're doing it.
Because the difference that you make
comes only from a complete dependence upon the Lord
that allows him to work in us and through us.
And so we must pray.
Now, let me be honest with you.
I'm not just preaching here.
I'm telling the truth.
The word there, stir, for encouragement,
excuse me, the word for encourage there,
that stir, is the same word in English as paracism.
Paracism is a medical term that speaks of a sudden shaking,
like a convulsion of sorts, an emotion.
It's normally used as a negative word in the Greek.
Now, you don't have to be negative to spur one another on,
but you might need to be.
But I'm telling you,
whether it's negative or whether it's positive,
when you try to spur others along,
you ought to pray before you do.
The second thing is invite and share.
Spur one another along by inviting and sharing.
Notice what he says.
He says, all the more as you see the day drawing near.
What day is he talking about?
He's talking about that day there is short
for the day of the Lord.
He's talking about a day of judgment that is coming.
The chickens will come home to roost.
You can count on it.
The signs of the times tell me
that it's closer than it's ever been.
We need to act on it.
And listen, if they needed to act on it
as the day was approaching 2,000 years ago,
how much more do we definitely need to act on it?
So tell somebody about Jesus.
Invite them to worship with you.
Share what Christ is doing in your life.
If you're rooting for a ball team
and they win a championship,
you're gonna go tell everybody that already knows it,
ain't you?
You want everybody to know it
because your team won
even though it's been well publicized
and people know.
Well, tell them something bigger than that.
Tell them something more lasting than that.
Tell them something better than that
and much more important
that they need to know and may not.
And that is Jesus saves.
Jesus changes lives.
That is that God wants to do a wonderful work
in a local church
and I want to encourage you
to come to church with me.
What a wonderful opportunity you have.
The power that is in you
because you pray in a dependence upon the Lord,
ask God to use you.
Simply walk through the doors that he opens
and has the opportunity to invite and to share.
There's some VBS cards out there.
That's easy.
If we run out of those,
there's postcards as well that we can use.
That's easy.
You see a kid in the neighborhood,
that kid that won't get off your lawn,
just tell him,
get off my lawn.
Here, come to Vacation Bible School.
Spur one another on.
Shake each other up.
We missing somebody this morning?
Spur each other on.
And then smile.
Smile.
You know, you can love God and live for him
and still be happy.
You can.
And you can be winsome
and you can be pleasing to others.
Don't mean they're always going to agree
with everything you say.
Probably shouldn't agree with everything you say.
You really can, though.
And so I want to tell you to make a point
to be for his honor and for his glory
one who's winsome.
Why are we spurring each other along?
The middle of verse 24 says
that we do it for love and good works.
Love is an eternal matter.
It's a heart matter.
It's taking care of things in the heart.
And if the heart is right,
that drives outward into those good works.
But if love is not right,
it will not promote good works.
If the love in the heart is right,
it'll promote good works.
You can't do that grumbling.
You can't do it like when you look like
you've been sucking on a lemon.
That's not holy.
It's ugly.
And so if Jesus has changed your heart,
inform your face.
And listen,
the guest here today
probably will not remember what I said.
But they'll remember what you said.
And they'll remember how you treated them.
And they'll remember the love
and the smiles of the people.
So smile.
I promise you folks,
it ain't that hard to smile.
Next thing is respond.
When God speaks,
respond.
If it's in this worship hour,
respond.
If it's in your prayer time,
respond.
If the spirit prods you,
respond.
If the spirit waves a red flag on your life,
respond.
If the spirit waves a green flag on your life,
respond.
I think about Philip.
God told Philip to go down to the crossroads.
He didn't really know what he was getting into.
But he went because God told him to go.
And when he got there,
what he didn't know was that God was working on that Ethiopian eunuch in that chariot
by leading him to a passage that spoke of a coming Messiah.
And when they met up at that divine appointment,
that man said,
how can I understand this unless somebody explains it?
And he sat down and explained it to him,
led him to Christ,
baptized him right there.
Listen,
in every church I've pastored,
I've had people meet me at the door and tell me,
I felt led to come down.
I felt led to make a decision,
but I didn't.
And when I hear that,
do you know what I want to do?
I want to spur them on.
And I mean in a horse kind of way.
I want to take a pointy thing on the end of my boot
and stick it in their side of sorts.
Why?
Because your disobedience,
my disobedience,
our disobedience,
quenches the spirit of God
from moving and working in the way he'd had moved.
What if your obedience
would have given someone else the courage
to come up as well?
By following your example.
I'm not asking you to orchestrate something.
I'm simply asking you to be obedient to God.
Just do what God tells you to do
because God has a way of using us
to help each other.
Spur one another along.
We can build an atmosphere
of being stiff as a board,
scared to death,
that God's going to move in a mighty way.
Or either we can be one
built on obedience
and an expectancy
that God wants to change lives,
that God's still in the saving business.
He's still doing miracles
and he wants to work
and to move in people's lives
and we ought to expect it.
We ought to pray for it.
We ought to look for it.
We ought to invite people to experience it.
I'll never ask you to do more
than what God tells you to do
and I'll never want you to be satisfied
with doing less.
You shouldn't do less.
When God speaks, respond.
It'll be like a kick in the pants
to the rest of us.
When you respond
to what God tells you to do, respond.
The next thing is to reach.
To reach.
To assure you
that I have not left the text.
If you're going to stir one another along
to love and good works,
you're going to have to rattle a cage or two
from time to time.
If they're missing,
check on them.
If they need Jesus,
reach out to them.
Pray before you do.
Ask God to open up the opportunity
and then step out boldly
and reach out to them.
If you need a church home,
if they need a church home,
touch base with them.
If they're missing here this morning,
check on them.
If they're sick,
reach out to them.
If they're hurting,
love on them.
Worship is not,
I'm here,
I dare you to bless me.
That is not worship, folks.
That's a standoff.
It's not worship at all.
Worship is Isaiah chapter 6.
In Isaiah chapter 6,
Isaiah said,
whoa,
I am a man of unclean lips.
Cleanse me, Lord.
And then he said,
send me, Lord.
That's what worship is, friend.
It's getting right with God
and then being ready to walk with God.
He'll use you this very hour
if you respond as he tells you to
and you reach out to somebody
on the way out of here.
I promise.
He'll do works in you
you don't expect.
Spur one another on
and then attend.
It says,
not neglecting to meet together.
Being faithful in worship
is the gift that just keeps on giving
because you need it
but not only do you need it
but Christ established the church
because we need each other
and we have a job to do.
We're to reach the world.
We're to spur one another on
and you can't do that from the couch.
You can't do it online.
It's a great option
for those that can't be here physically
but if you can be,
be here physically.
You can't do it from the lake.
You can't do it from the ball field.
Now I know
as the Hebrew writer knows,
so many preacher
are in the habit of doing it.
He warns us
of that very thing.
Let's don't act like some.
Notice in scripture,
it's the people
who were not like others
that God used mightily.
It was the exceptions.
It was not the normal.
They said Noah was blameless
and above reproach.
You know what that means?
That means when a man
builds a huge boat
in the middle of the desert
and people walk by and go,
I think he's losing it.
Somebody else is going to say,
you know what?
He must be on to something
because that old boy
has got it going on.
I don't understand
what he's telling us
but there's something
about what he's doing
that must be right.
He was blameless.
That means people
didn't accuse him.
He was above reproach.
That means if they did accuse him,
that somebody else would go,
nah, I'm sorry.
Not Noah.
Noah stood out
and because of that,
God used him.
It says David was a man
after God's own heart.
Man, David was as imperfect
as any of us.
But the reality is
he had a heart for God.
And when God told him
to do something,
he did it and God used him.
Abraham went to a land
that God would show him
and was willing to go
and do what God
would have him to do.
The disciples dropped their agenda
and followed Christ.
Do you know how significant it is
when your daddy has a fishing business
and you're cleaning out the net
on the side of the water
and Jesus says,
come and follow me
and he don't wait on them
and he don't beg them
and he don't plead with them.
I believe he just turned
and began to walk
and they dropped their net.
They dropped their inheritance.
They left their career behind
to follow Christ.
Oh, you know what?
Two millenniums later,
we're still talking about them
because they stepped out
for the Lord
because Christ uses those
who are willing
to be used mightily of God.
So let's not be in the habit
of so many.
Let's be faithful
to not neglect meeting together
because not only do you miss,
but you are missed,
I promise you.
And another way to spur,
and listen,
what I always say is
miss for the extraordinary.
But don't miss for the ordinary.
There's great opportunities
to come around
and they come around on weekends.
It happens.
Miss for the extraordinary,
but don't miss for the ordinary.
Attend.
And then give.
You knew I was going there.
I want you to notice
the impact of giving.
2 Corinthians chapter 9,
verse 6 through 8 says this,
the point is this,
whoever sows sparingly
will also reap sparingly.
And whoever sows bountifully
will also reap bountifully.
Each one must give
as he has decided in his heart,
not reluctantly
or under compulsion,
for God loves a cheerful,
that's that smile
I was talking about.
God loves a cheerful giver.
And God is able.
Have you seen the economy?
Have you seen what houses cost?
Are y'all praying?
You been in the gas pump lately?
Been in the grocery store?
Preacher, how in the world
can we be faithful to the Lord
when things are like they are?
And God is able
to make all grace abound to you
so that having all sufficiency
in all things
at all times
you may abound
in every good work.
As long as it's all in your pocket,
you're responsible for it.
But when you obey God
and give as he instructs you to give,
I'm not responsible anymore.
He's going to provide my needs.
He'll be more than sufficient.
And listen, this is the good part.
Abound, amen?
Abound in every good work.
When you trust God
by giving the tithe and the offering,
God's grace is more than sufficient
to provide your needs
and to strengthen
and empower the work
that you are doing in his name.
It will spur us all on.
The lack of faith of those
that do not give
hinders the work of God
among his people.
Now, I don't want you to misunderstand.
My father owns the cattle
on a thousand hills.
He don't need our money.
But he chooses
to use the obedient.
That's who he chooses
to be a part of.
That's who he chooses
to work in.
Make a point
to be obedient
with what is precious.
Because when we fail
to give faithfully,
we are hindered ourselves.
But we are also
not trusting God
in that matter.
And that stunts
personal growth.
And if you've learned
anything from this
passage of scripture today,
I hope you've learned.
And when we fail
to grow in the Lord,
and when we fail
to do what God
tells us to do,
that fails to spur
or to stimulate
the work of the Lord
in other people as well.
So give.
Just give faithfully.
God's got it taken care of.
I promise you.
Just be faithful.
And then serve.
The Apostle Paul
said in Galatians 5,
verse 13,
through love,
serve one another.
Remember,
we're talking about
spurring on.
We're talking about
stirring up.
We're talking about
motivating,
promoting,
stimulating.
That's what teachers do.
That's what was going on
in Sunday school classes
just a few moments ago.
From the little bitty ones
to the real old ones.
That's what was happening.
Spurring one another on.
That's what happens
when those greeters
stand out there
on that porch.
Invite you in.
Stirring one another on.
That's what happens
when people serve.
That's what happens
when people cook.
That's what happens
when people host.
When they sing.
When they play instruments.
Every one of us
needs a small group.
A Sunday school class
to share our life with
and a place of service
to serve God in.
Nobody needs to do everything.
Everybody needs to do something.
And we encourage
one another along
when we serve the Lord.
God honors such as that.
You've got to find your niche.
Get busy for God.
And then follow up.
There's possibly
no better way
to be an encourager
than to touch base
with someone
as you have the opportunity.
When you greet somebody
touch back base with them.
Don't leave them behind.
When you pray for somebody
follow up on them.
When you share your faith
with somebody
follow up on them.
When you invite somebody
to come
follow up on them.
If the first contact
means that you care
the second one
means that you love
and when folks
are loving one another
and when folks
are spurring
one another along
God gets involved
and God does
wonderful things
in our midst.
so I encourage you
spur one another on.
If that was an acrostic
it'd be a horrible one.
I don't like acrostics.
I just want you
to get the point
that we ought to
spur one another on.
I've been a part
of a high school
football program
as a chaplain
or as a stat guy
or as an announcer
for over 25 years.
I've been in a lot
of field houses
at halftime.
Heard a lot of things
I didn't really want to hear.
The coach's job
may be to chew them out.
The coach's job
may be to fire them up.
He may be to console them.
Hopefully not to cry with them
at least not at halftime.
But he knows his team
and he knows the time
and he knows what they need.
And it's his job
to bring that team
to the next level
for the rest of that game.
Church, I'm new.
I don't know you
as well as I want to.
I'm trying.
Studying your pictures
and names last night.
You didn't get your picture
made at Easter.
Shame on you.
I'm trying.
But church,
let's spur one another on.
Let's not be satisfied
with where we are.
Let's spur one another on
to do great works of God.
Preacher,
how do we do that?
Well, you see it.
Find your place.
Do your thing.
God has orchestrated
the body of Christ
and the body of this
body of Christ
together.
Together,
we have everything
we need.
We just got to be obedient
and follow God.
And he'll do
wonderful things
among us.
Listen,
if we're going to do it
in the name of the Lord,
let's do it right.
He deserves
our best.
So spur one another
along.
Find a place
to click into.
Find a place
to serve.
Don't try
to do it all,
but do something
for the Lord Jesus.
With every head bowed
and every eye closed,
I want you to know
the time is precious.
It's precious.
I don't know exactly
what that means.
It could mean
for an individual here
in some capacity.
I don't know.
But I know
that what I see
in Scripture
over and over again
that was all written
over 2,000 years ago,
all of it
is to telling us
to spur
one another along,
to encourage
one another
along the way
because the day
is approaching.
We're on barred time.
We only have
so long
in this life.
God tells us
to make the most
of it for His cause
and His kingdom.
If we're Christians
and we're set apart
for Him,
let's make a difference
in His life.
Now what is it
in your life today
that's hindering you
from being everything
that God would have you to be?
Maybe it's that
you've never taken
that first step.
You've never asked
the Lord Jesus
to come into your life.
You've never asked
Him to save you
and to change you.
And if you're here
this morning
and you've never
surrendered your life
to the Lord Jesus Christ,
I am thankful
that today is the day
of salvation
and that if you'll
surrender your life
to Him
and ask Him
to forgive you
and to cleanse you
of your sin
and you'll turn from it
and follow Him
in His way,
He'll save you today.
I'm thankful for that.
When we stand
and sing in just a moment,
you come down this aisle,
I'll be happy
to guide you in that.
Maybe you're here
and you know
you're a Christian
but you know
there's some stuff
missing.
Ain't enough
spurn going on
for you.
Well, I hope
the sharp point
has hit you
in the side today.
Not just to make you
feel bad
but to respond to it
in a way
that will honor God
and please Him.
Will you be faithful
to Him
today?
Maybe you're here
and God's drawing you
to this body
of believers.
You come.
Let's talk about that.
What a wonderful
it would be
for you to join us
along the journey
of serving the Lord.
Lord Jesus,
I love you
and I thank you
for your Holy Spirit
and how He works
and moves
and I ask right now,
dear God,
that you'll just lead us
to be obedient
whatever you tell us
to do.
In Jesus' precious name,
amen.
Let's pray to Him
and Alpha
and��ides.
Thank you,
at Brook Lead,
and other projects
folk movement
that I've ever
left with While
Twine is a responsible
and should be
helping the earth
and their son
and has a medicine
in the circle of
disciples.
I don't see you
like the building
and the fragile
and the world
and the unknown
and the 91.
And that we have
them before
that where
when the people
went past
their dual
and the automobile
and the Prep
and história
to become
master father
after that
all
and the
child
and life
and became
very