KEY PRINCIPLES FROM THIS MESSAGE:
“exhort” – from parakaleo [para = “from close-beside” + kaleo = “to call”) – to “make a call” from being “close-up and personal” (“personally make a call”); refers to believers offering up evidence that stands up in God’s court.
Barnes on Heb 3:13
Belonging to the same family; having the same interest in religion; and all suffering when one suffers, why should they not be allowed tenderly and kindly to exhort one another to a holy life?
With the holy calling to sanctification in view, it only seems right and good that we kindly and gently exhort one another to a holy life, by the grace of God, that we each might bring the most glory to God with our lives. Amen???
God’s Word is ointment for the soul.
The Value of Well-Timed Words – blog 7/14/23
A person whose heart is focused on the Lord “is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season” (Psa 1:3). In other words, what comes out of their mouth is what abides in their hearts (Matthew 15:18), namely gracious words. They exercise good judgement when the moment calls for it, seizing the opportunity to bring glory to God instead of humoring the human flesh.
We’re in this fight together; the spiritual war is real, so we must be lovingly attentive towards one another and exhort one another while it’s still called “today”!
We’ve been designed by God to function as a family unit. The local church is a provision from God, where we get to stand united in the faith and help one another WIN in the spiritual life. What greater privilege could there be, other than leading someone to Christ for eternal life?