Hebrews 10:19-25: Persecution Survival Kit

There are two types of motivation in the Christian life, the carrot and the stick. Today as we enter the section of Hebrews that has done with doctrine and moves to doing; moves from creed to conduct, we come first to the carrot in v19-25; and the stick in 10:26-31. Before the author launches into the warnings about what a dangerous thing it is to abandon the truth after having come to know it—the stick. He first quickly summarizes the work of Christ for us, and encourages us to three important activities. The portion before us is very important because after several chapters of doctrinal explanation in the face of terrible persecutions, and you finally come to the point of telling people how to live in light of these truths, what do we need to do in light of such profound truth? What would you say? Each of the three things stated here have already been stated, but here we have a concentrated action plan for what to do when we face life and death issues like this church. As you look down you will see that the author uses the words ‘let us’ three times; v22,23,24. These alert us to the important actions we must be taking during difficult times. We should draw near to God; hold fast to our confession; and stir one another up. You will notice that the triumvirate of faith, hope and love are present, we are to draw near in faith; hold fast in faith; and stir up in love.