SERMON SPOTLIGHT * 5/18/25
With the weightiness of Israel’s example, knowing Jesus is greater than Moses and the towering warning in V. 7 drawn from Psalm 95, the author of this passage in Hebrews is going to WARN, ENCOURAGE AND CHALLENGE the people reading this letter and you and I with two action items that will serve as our two points. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.
SERIES: Sanctification: Being Conformed to Christ
TEXT: Hebrews 3:12-13
TITLE: Sanctification Practices
PREACHER: Tim Lambros
BIG IDEA: The gospel gives power for believers to intentionally pursue and practice sanctification.
POINTS:
I. THE PERSONAL CALL TO CARE
II. THE CORPORATE CALL TO EXHORT
SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes and text emphasis are taken directly from the pastor’s notes.
“…with serious Biblical history behind the author’s letter and with a small band of believers struggling to persevere in the faith, the author gives some God breathed out words to the struggling believers and to us today.”
“Once again, God’s Word targets the heart. TAKE CARE. The action here is to take care. To persevere you will need to take care. Take care is defined as … you guessed it, guarding your heart. Once again, we see God’s wisdom through another Biblical author targeting the heart of the believer.”
“LEST THERE BE IN ANY OF YOU AN EVIL, UNBELIEVING HEART. We are to personally care for and guard our hearts. Guard from what? From unbelief or as the author says – guard yourself from an evil, unbelieving heart. God calls us to personally guard our hearts from the worst of all situations. An evil, unbelieving heart. God does not waste words in the Bible. He uses two words here that are synonymous. Evil, unbelieving heart.”
“Take a close look at Israel’s example then compare to your personal experience and if you’re honest, unbelief – or actively believing untruths about God can quickly creep in. We are to TAKE CARE that this doesn’t happen. Taking care means to seriously guard your heart on what you take in and what you begin to believe.”
“For every believer, the enemy is sin. It’s not the American moral decline over the past two generations. Is it the garbage that’s on the TV these days? Is it the public school system polluting our children? No, the greatest threat to you in persevering in God’s truths, guarding your heart is what Chris Lundgaard in our book of the quarter says “the enemy within.” Your greatest enemy to your faith is not out there, it’s your own heart.”
“Theologians call it REMAINING SIN. We’ve heard that in the gospel the PENALTY OF SIN has been removed. We’ve heard that Christ’s work on the cross has removed the POWER OF SIN to rule our lives but we’ve also learned that progressive sanctification is working in our lives until we have the PRESENCE OF SIN removed at glorification.”
“PC ILLUSTRATION w Mike Bullmore. Church, the call to personally care, to personally guard what you believe about God is absolutely the wisdom of God to fight our chief enemy. EVERY SQUARE INCH OF YOUR GROWTH IN SANCTIFICATION WILL BE HARD FOUGHT.”
“REMAINING SIN is our biggest enemy. This letter is written to Christians. The original audience is believers struggling to trust God at His word. To persevere in the midst of trouble and persecution. The author doesn’t draw their attention to external realities but to calls them to personally care and guard their hearts. REMAINING SIN is the enemy within.”
“LEADING YOU TO FALL AWAY FROM THE LIVING GOD. So we are to take care, why? Here’s the warning. Look at the 2nd part of V. 12. An evil, unbelieving hearthas consequences. You must personally take care, guard your heart because there are serious consequences. What’s the worst case scenario? An unbelieving heart leads you to fall way from the living God.”
“The gospel saves and sanctifies. The Cross is sufficient to preserve us. As we learned last week, God’s word is sufficient. By God’s grace, He breaks the penalty and power of sin. He gives us His word. He gives us His Spirit to take up residence. He also gives us one another. This is the other tool the author points their attention to. Our practice begins personally, but then moves to a Biblical call to help you guard your heart.”
“V. 13 We are to exhort one another every day. There are approximately 100 uses of “one another” in your Bible. 59 of them are in the context of living together as God’s children. The practice of guarding vs. indwelling sin involves relationships, personal relationships.”
“EXHORT means to warn, encourage and correct. The context here is the local Church. You can’t EXHORT another person and fulfill this part of your sanctification by attending a conference once a year. You can’t benefit from God’s grace through people in your local Church if you watch the Sunday sermon at your home. In our Church, we prioritize Sundays and give ourselves to smaller, Comm Groups to build relationships and position ourselves to EXHORT ONE ANOTHER.”
“Specifically in our text the call is to EXHORT one another, every day. This magnificent, Christ-centered letter is written to a Church, a group of believers at risk of drifting away. Just like you and I at times are at risk, so is the recipients of this letter. After calling them to TAKE CARE, now the author warns them to exhort one another every day.”
“This aspect of your sanctification takes some work. The call here is to personal relationships, trusting relationships. It’s a call to build relationally, invest in relationships.”
“You must know people and they need to know you if you expect any sanctifying fruit in EXHORTING one another. EXHORT one another EVERY DAY. That is why God has ordained the local Church to be that place for proximity to others – proximity for doing the ‘one another’s.’”
“To EXHORT means to warn, encourage and correct. Our relationships in the Church should be filled with consistent and regular encouragement to each other. I hope we are a Church that is growing in both looking for and communicating to people encouraging evidences of God’s work in a person’s life. Looking for it AND encouraging people. That’s one aspect of EXHORTING ONE ANOTHER.”
“EXHORT also means to warn or correct. That’s not just the job of your Pastor’s or your CG leaders. When was the last time you called a brother or sister in the Church and asked “hey just wondering what’s going on cuz I haven’t seen you in CG for a while?” Do you love your brother or sister enough to inquire about something you’ve heard or seen that may be sinful or a distraction in their relationship with Jesus?”
“When you hear us use the phrase “living out life together” think WE’RE CALLED TO EXHORT ONE ANOTHER. Hopefully that’s in a relationship where you’re bound together in mission, you know each other at some level. You won’t find this in an online Bible study. The para Church ministry falls short when compared to a local Church that gathers each Sunday in person, Comm Groups, outreach events, like pop up pizza stands or going out on a Sat morning to talk to our neighbors about an invitation Sunday or when you consider the times you’re together for birthdays, baby showers, Forge/Woven events, etc.”
“AS LONG AS IT IS CALLED TODAY. Israel had their now but not yet. Every Christian alive today lives in the now but not yet. As long as it is Today, we are called to exhort one another. But notice what the end of V. 13 says. READ IT. So that none will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. God’s wisdom. God’s why. We are to exhort one another – daily – not because this is nice religious activity. No, this is the wisdom of God to guard us from the deceptive, hardening effects of sin.”
“Sin is subtle and deceitful. That’s why we can drift so easily. That’s why our hearts can slowly but definitely get hard toward the things of God. For example, your appetite for God’s Word isn’t the same as it was year ago. Your love to gather with your Church has slowly and gradually diminished. Your conscious slowly gets insensitive to sin. Confession is without sorrow. Gradually, you are no longer amazed by grace. You see, sanctification is actual growth in God-likeness. You become more and more like Jesus. You’ve been DECLARED righteous by God, but now, by His grace, the work of the Spirit and His Word, you actually become more holy, more Christ-like.”
“This is all done and lived out with loving brothers and sisters who are on mission together with you- your local Church. Why do we need others? We don’t see all we need to see. We don’t detect when our hearts get hard. We don’t notice that we are resistant to repentance. In most cases we are blinded to our blindedness!! That’s why we need each other.”
CREAM CHEESE IN THE MUSTACHE ILLUSTRATION
“I will believe my own lies. I will have a flattering assessment of myself. Assume some things. Assume you have cream cheese on your mustache. Assume others see it. Assume they are reluctant to say something.”
QUOTES:
Paul Tripp- “Personal insight is the product of community.”
ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
1 Corinthians 10:6
Hebrews 3:7
James 4:1
Galatians 5:16–17
Ephesians 4:29
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
APPLICATION:
Q. How do you take care of your heart? How do you regularly stir up affections for Jesus?
Q. What is your commitment to Sunday’s gathering? How much do you guard your Community Group schedule? The local Church is God’s tool to put us in proximity with one another.
Q. Have you ever intentionally reached out to a CG member, friend or spouse and given them permission to tell you that you have cream cheese on your mustache?
Take some time this week and re-examine how you guard Sunday gatherings and Community Group times in your calendar.
SONGS FROM THIS SUNDAY:
Reformation Song
Our Song From Age To Age
A Christian's Daily Prayer
Show Us Christ
As You Go
NEXT WEEK’S PASSAGE:
The Goal: 1 John 3:2
THE BOOK OF THE QUARTER:
