Hebrews: Encouraging One Another
Hebrews 10:23-25 - We can act alone in our faith or act together; together is best for telling, loving, doing good, and assembling together.
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”
Hebrews 10:23-25 NASB1995
The exhortation continues in these three verses in Hebrews 10. The author of Hebrews pleads with his audience to “hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering”. The Lord who promised is faithful! He also advises the wobbly believers to stimulate one another to love and good deeds and to not forsake assembling together. My guess is that these early believers were getting criticism (or worse) from their friends and neighbors, and they were afraid or ashamed of what they now believed. The assemblies of believers were probably less frequent and they cowered before the criticism of unbelieving mobs.
Charles Spurgeon has this to say to those who would hide their beliefs because of fear (from Precept Austin):
You are Christians, not for a time, but for eternity. Your new birth is not into a dying existence but into life everlasting. Continue your confession, and never conceal it. There are times when you will be inclined to put your flag away into the canvas case and hide your coat of arms in the cellar. Then you may fitly judge that the devil is getting advantage over you, and that it is time that you ceased to be beguiled by his sorceries. Tear up the wrappings, throw the bag away, and nail your flag aloft where every eye can see it.
Whenever you feel inclined to be ashamed of Christ, do not deliberate but say, “This is wrong. There is coming over me something that I must not endure. If I were in a right state of mind I should never feel like this.” Never yield to shameful cowardice; scorn such detestable meanness. Perhaps you may have to go into a certain company where you do not want to have it known that you are a Christian. It is imperative that you break through that snare and put the case beyond debate.
If I were you, I would make my profession known in that very company, because the idea that you must not be known to be a Christian will be very dangerous to you. I cannot exactly tell in what way it may endanger you, but it will surely do so. Therefore, whenever the thought of concealment crops up, down with it, and come out clear and straight for Jesus. Only when you are out-and-out for Jesus can you be in a right condition. Anything short of this is full of evil. Since Satan tempts you to hide your faith, feel that he seeks your harm, and therefore come out all the more decidedly. (Holding Fast our Profession).
We have to tell others that we are blessed beyond belief because we believe! Continue your confession and never conceal it, as Spurgeon remarked. I can’t count how many times I’ve had an opportunity to introduce someone to Christ at an informal gathering but I just couldn’t get the words past my lips. I am a cowardly evangelist who hopes that my amateurish written devotionals find a way to the occasional non-believer (probably not, but I can hope). Unfortunately, with the ever-increasing division in our culture and nation, the fear of broaching sensitive subjects like politics and, more importantly — belief — overwhelms those (guilty!) who really just want to live in peace (again, this is so cowardly, I’m ashamed to say). I’m guessing those first-century Jewish believers felt much more pressure to renege on their beliefs and return to “normal”, as dictated by their friends and families and society. Hence, we now have the amazing book of Hebrews, which might have begun as a sermon.
Steve and I are currently watching an eight-part series on Prime Video called “A Small Light”. So far, it is quite good. Apparently this came out a couple of years ago on Disney+/Hulu. The series follows the life of Miep Gies, who was one of the people who helped hide the Jewish Frank family (of Anne Frank fame) and others from the German occupiers in Amsterdam for two years. I had a discussion with an acquaintance about the series and we both wondered if we could be so brave as Miep Gies and her husband Jan, who was in the Dutch Resistance, to do these kind of actions ourselves (considering my confession about cowardice and telling others about Christ, I’m dubious that I could act to actually physically save others). I hope to seriously not be tested this way, but it is worth taking stock of your faith and how much strength you can have to tell, love, do good and assemble together. It’s a bit odd, isn’t it, that the last devotional and this one have lessons from people that fought against the genocidal racial policies of the Third Reich, but one thing I’ve discovered is that there are no coincidences where God is concerned. My point with this example is that those who fought tyranny were not alone and believers are not alone.
I’ll share one more commentary on these three verses, from Enduring Word:
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
a. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering: Discouragement made them waver from the truth. A renewed confidence in the greatness of Jesus and in the New Covenant will make them stand strong in the faith.
i. “That exhortation, ‘Let us hold fast,’ might well be written on the cover of every Christian’s Bible. We live in such a changeful age, that we need all to be exhorted to be rooted and grounded, confirmed and established, in the truth.” (Spurgeon)
ii. Without wavering: “The Greek word translated in this way is used only here in the New Testament and is based on the idea of an upright object not inclining at all from the true perpendicular. There is not place in the Christian experience for a hope that is firm at one time and shaky at another.” (Guthrie)
b. For He who promised is faithful: The reason we can stand strong is because He who promised is faithful. It is far better to trust in His faithfulness instead of ours!
…
And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
a. Let us consider one another: Discouragement made them avoid community at the very time they needed it most. Jesus meets us in one another to stir up love and good works.
i. One another: “This is the only place where the author uses the expression ‘one another’ (allelous), though it is frequently found in the NT. He is speaking of a mutual activity, one in which believers encourage one another, not one where leaders direct the rest as to what they are to do.” (Morris)
ii. The wording of stir up is strong. “A striking term meaning ‘incitement’ and is either used, as here, in a good sense or, as in Acts 15:39, in a bad sense (i.e. contention). It seems to suggest that loving one another will not just happen.” (Guthrie)
iii. Love here is the ancient Greek word agape, filled with significance by the New Testament. “Love needs stimulation and society. Faith and hope can be practiced by a solitary, in a hermit’s cell or on a desert island. But the exercise of love is possible only in a community.” (Robinson)
b. Forsaking the assembling of ourselves together: Forsaking fellowship is a sure way to give place to discouragement. This discouragement festers where God’s people are not exhorting one another.
i. Some only go to church if they feel they “need it” at the time. But our motivation for fellowship must be to obey God and to give to others. We can and should gather with believers to encourage someone who needs to stand strong against a tide of discouragement.
· We gather to receive something from God.
· We gather to give something to God.
· We gather to encourage each other by our shared faith and values.
· We gather to bless one another.
· We gather to work together.
ii. “Any early Christian who attempted to live like a pious particle without the support of the community ran serious risks in an age when there was no public opinion to support him.” (Moffatt, cited in Morris)
iii. Because it is so important that Christians gather together, things that work against their gathering must be regarded as serious dangers. “Schism is the very putting asunder of the very veins and arteries of the mystical body of Christ. We may not separate, but in the sense of intolerable persecution, heresy, idolatry, and Antichristiansim.” (Trapp)
iv. “Dr. Mackintosh has well pointed out that the word saint never occurs in the singular, and that ‘inevitably it is plural.’” (Thomas)
v. Assembling: “The words, not neglecting to meet together, presumably refer to worship meetings, although this is not stated. It may purposely be left ambiguous so as to include other gatherings of a more informal kind, but the Greek word (episynagoge) suggests some official assembly.” (Guthrie)
c. So much the more as you see the Day approaching: As the Day of Jesus’ return draws nearer, we should be more committed to the fellowship of God’s people, the assembling of ourselves together.
i. As you see the Day approaching: “It is worth noting in the present context that the verb is indicative and records an accomplished reality – you see – and is not as the preceding verbs, in the form of an exhortation. The immanence of the day was considered to be plain. It is not to be regarded as secret. Christians were to live as if the dawning of the day was so near that its arrival was only just beyond the horizon.” (Guthrie)
ii. “Each successive Christian generation is called upon to live as the generation of the end-time, if it is to live as a Christian generation.” (Bruce)
A few key takeaways (this commentary uses the NKJV translation FYI):
There is no place in the Christian faith for a hope that is firm at one time and shaky at another.
Trust in His faithfulness!
We are to stir up or stimulate (NASB) each other in agape love. Love between believers cannot be done in isolation.
We must obey God and give to others.
Live each day as if it will end in His coming before the end of the day.
My next devotional examines Hebrews 10:26-31 - Christ or Judgment
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Please strengthen me in the ways to tell others about you, to love others, to do good for others, and to cheerfully assemble together with other believers. Amen.
Credits and Citations:
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org.
Precept Austin was accessed on 01/14/2026 to review commentary for Hebrews 10-23-25 and to review the Charles Spurgeon expositions for Hebrews.
Commentary from Enduring Word is used with written permission and without any alteration. ©1996-present The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – enduringword.com. Within the Enduring Word commentary:
Spurgeon, Charles Haddon The New Park Street Pulpit, Volumes 1-6and The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volumes 7-63 (Pasadena, Texas: Pilgrim Publications, 1990)
Guthrie, Donald Hebrews (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1983)
Robinson, Theodore H. The Epistle to the Hebrews (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1948)
Bruce, F.F. The Epistle to the Hebrews(Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1964)
Morgan, G. Campbell An Exposition of the Whole Bible (Old Tappan, New Jersey: Revell, 1959)
Morris, Leon “Hebrews” The Expositor’s Bible Commentary Volume 12 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981)
Trapp, John A Commentary on the Old and New Testaments, Volume Five(Eureka, California: Tanski Publications, 1997)
No reference in the Enduring Word Bibliography for Thomas.