Hebrews 3:13
25 May 2025
But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Now, the Word of God has many exhortations, and let’s just very quickly begin with a definition of what the word “exhort” means. To exhort means to call to one’s side, to summon, to encourage, to admonish. So to exhort is to call to one’s side, to summon, to encourage, to admonish. Pastors are called to exhort their congregations. It’s something we see Paul saying in 1 Timothy 4:13 to Timothy. It’s something we also see in Scripture at times where Christians are called to exhort other Christians. And this is one of these cases. In Hebrews 3:13, it is exhorting us as Christians to exhort one another, to call to one’s side, to summon, to encourage, to admonish. Now, as we prepare to work through what this verse is saying and what it means, there are two important foundations that need to be in view, namely Christ and the Church.
Because you’ll notice the regularity of what this verse is saying. This exhorting one another is something that is to be done every day. So that already means that the people that you are exhorting, the people that you are to exhort, are people whose lives you are involved in and you are invested in. So a key question to ask as we read a verse like this: what type of people are you close to and invested in in your daily lives? Because for us as people here in this world, there are many things that we have as things in common. Perhaps it could be we have similar cultural familiarity or there are common interests or even similar life stages that gives us a sense of, well, these are the types of people that we would want to be involved and invested in our daily lives together. But is Christ at the centre of that? Is Christ the focus and the desire? Also, when we think about this with regards to the Church, where does that fit in in our daily lives invested with one another? Now I’ve heard of instances, examples where Christians are seeking to be involved in the lives of other Christians, but not in the context of a local Church.
Now if we think back to Hebrews 3:6, “But Christ is faithful over God’s house as a Son. And we are His house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.” And when we were in that verse, we were thinking about what it means to be God’s house, being living stones together, built together as brothers and sisters. Now unfortunately, there are instances for Christians around the world and even here in the UK where they’re not invested and involved in a biblically grounded local Church. And so there have been instances where Christians have been coming alongside, supporting, even exhorting other Christians, but not in a context of a local Church. And sometimes that’s been a blessing.
But the most specific way in which this can be applied, this verse, is by having Christ in view at the centre and also an understanding that this should be in the context of the local Church. If you just notice in Hebrews 10:25, “Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” So we’re not to neglect meeting with one another, namely, the brothers and sisters that we have been joined together with as the Church. And this is applied in the local Church setting. Think about Hebrews 3:13 saying, “exhort one another daily.” Practically, how is this applied? It’s applied with the people that we are meeting with regularly, namely our brothers and sisters in the Church, and we are invested in each other’s lives. Now these, for some in this Church, should be very basic and straightforward things to state. And yet at the same time, we know that this is so irregularly applied. It is so irregularly applied.
Now as we think about what it would mean for us as a Church here to exhort one another daily, we could look at the situation of this local Church through either a very positive or a very pessimistic lens. And both angles, there would be some truth in it. The positive lens would be to say, well, we are a local Church. We are a fellowship of believers who have covenanted with one another. We are members of this Church. We have a biblical foundation, and we have opportunities to meet regularly and opportunities to grow in the fellowship we have with one another. All of these things are true. We could also look at this with a pessimistic lens and say, well, we are members together with one another, but we know very little about most of the members of this Church, past maybe their name and where they stay. So what do we do about that? Well, Hebrews 3:13 is saying, exhort one another every day.
That is what the Scriptures are commanding of us with one another. Now already, we can think practically that, well, what group of people is that going to be? And if already you’re thinking, well, I know a group of Christians in some other setting elsewhere, the Church is a secondary thing. Already, we can consider where the problem would be in that. And even more so if we go back, if that group of people, these people that you know are not believers, but they’re people who are at the similar life stage or people you get on with more than the Church folks, again, we can consider where this application is to be found in the setting of with Christ at the centre and in the context of the local Church.
Now this is important to stress because the verse doesn’t simply give the command to exhort, it also gives the warning of the deceitfulness of sin. Think about how this entire section has been built to this point. Notice the verse begins with “But exhort one another.” This is something the writer to the Hebrews is stating with such emphatic force because of a growing problem amongst these believers. A growing problem which has led to verse twelve, the warning of the danger of an evil, unbelieving heart. Namely, there are unbelievers in this Church. And he has given the example from Israel’s history. In verses seven to eleven, the writer to the Hebrews quotes Psalm 95, and he gives the example of these Israelites, God’s chosen covenant people. And they, though they had all the blessings of seeing the work of Yahweh, they rebelled against God. They turned their back on the commands of God, and they fell in the wilderness.
And that’s why the writer to the Hebrews warns, “Take care, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart” (Hebrews 3:12). And so with that being stated, he comes to verse thirteen where we go on to read, “But exhort one another daily.” So basically, the reason this verse is written at this time is because we need one another. This isn’t simply one of these nice Christian verses that we can pick up and say, well, it would be nice to have a bit of fellowship from time to time. There’s a lot more going on here. There is the entire battle of spiritual warfare. Now brothers and sisters, think about what this looks like, the nature of spiritual warfare. Because the devil is out to deceive. The devil is out to destroy. And one of the ways where he would seek to do this is with this unbelieving heart.
The unbelieving heart within the Church congregation. And so with this command to exhort one another daily, we need to think practically what this means and looks like. So there are three ways in which we’re going to look at this. We’re going to consider what it means to exhort one another by considering the importance of encouraging, edifying, and admonishing. We are to encourage one another.
We are to edify one another, and we are to admonish one another. This is how we can exhort one another daily and have in mind that the reason we need to do this is because we need one another. This is a spiritual battle and it is for the sake of the upbuilding and the preserving of the purity of Christ’s Bride. So let’s go through these. First of all, to exhort one another daily is to encourage each other.
So as Christians together, do we encourage one another? Is this something we are in the habit of doing? This is not simply saying nice things. In fact, it can be quite easy to just simply say a nice thing for the sake of it. And often, we might just say nice things because it actually suits our interests. It’ll avoid any hassle. It’ll maybe preserve some sort of superficial peace. To encourage someone in the context of exhorting is not simply trying to be nice for the sake of nice. And when we think about encouraging someone, actually, there needs to be a lot more knowledge of that person you are encouraging. If you look around even this room, the brothers and sisters in this Church, your fellow Church members, would you even know how to encourage them?
Would you know enough about what’s going on in their lives, their gifts, their service to encourage them in the things that they’re doing and in their spiritual walk? And would you have the attitude and the desire to do so? What are we far more prone to do in our hearts and in our minds even as we’re looking at our fellow Church members? We’re far more prone to criticise and fault find. To notice quite quickly, well, I see a problem in that man’s doctrine. I see a problem in the way that family are functioning. I see a lack of service in that couple over there. That’s often how we think. And when we’re talking about exhorting one another, we’re dealing, first of all, that the body of Christ, our fellow members, are to be encouraged. Now just think as you start to get to know your brothers and sisters more, as time is built, most of the things that maybe initially you’re fault finding, some of the issues that you’ve observed.
As you get to know your brothers and sisters more, you’re actually getting to know where maybe there is some struggle in particular areas of their spiritual walk. And actually for them to be in the place they’re in now is something they should be encouraged in as opposed to criticised in your mind and heart. But we need to take time to get to know our brothers and sisters, to see where there are struggles, to see where there are areas where they can be built up in their spiritual walk. Now do you have a desire and a longing to do this? There is absolutely no good and no need spiritually to tear one another down. We should be longing for the opportunities to encourage one another. “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11). And “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29). So what do we see in these verses? We’re to encourage one another for the sake of building up the Church.
Now how does this get a lot more easy, spiritually natural to do? By having the Lord Jesus Christ in view as the front and centre of how we live our lives. Because if the focus of your Christian fellowship and worship is within a limited, narrow, self-driven perspective, then it is going to be a lot harder to seek to encourage brothers and sisters. But if you’re looking at the Church of Jesus Christ as Christ’s body and each of us are individually members of it, you being one of them, you look around and you see these are my fellow members of the body of Christ, and I long, I yearn to build up this body which is Christ’s body. And because I have Christ in view, I want to see my brothers and sisters doing well. I want to see them built up in the faith. I want to see them being encouraged in their spiritual walk. And so if there’s an opportunity, if you see and know a brother, sister, couple, family that are doing well in something, that they’re showing such an example of humility, that God’s grace is very evident in their lives, then take time to encourage them. Don’t sit silently, because possibly some brothers and sisters are in this Church fellowship now feeling discouraged, and nobody else in this Church family ever says anything to encourage them. So let’s take time and be intentional in seeking to invest in this and then being driven to go forward and encourage one another.
If you’re feeling perhaps someone is almost maybe showing you up, they’re evidencing a greater maturity, a greater whatever it may be. All the more reason to encourage them in this as you maybe are being challenged, possibly convicted that you desire to encourage this brother or sister. And in this, first of all, we can be exhorting one another daily to encourage one another. Such an important thing in the life of the Church of Jesus Christ. Now the second way in which we can exhort one another, and that is to edify.
Now the word edify means instructing, advising, counselling someone that they may be able to improve in something or to grow. So instructing, advising, counselling. So if you ever hear or use the phrase seek biblical counsel, I hope to get biblical counsel in this area. That is to be edified, to be built up, to be guided, to be counselled, directed in your spiritual walk. Do we need this? Absolutely, we do. Just as the body of Christ needs to be encouraged, we need our fellow brothers and sisters to give us counsel, to help to give us direction in decisions and things that we do in our spiritual walk. And the first question to ask: to whom do you go for counsel and direction in your life? Because if the Church is far, far, far down in that list, if the Church is nowhere near the radar of the fellowship that you have where you would seek to be edified and seek to receive counsel, then we’ve already identified the problem. Because this verse again is saying that we are to exhort one another.
Now as you think about this, with the encouraging and the edifying our brothers and sisters, we need to know one another. We need to be investing time with each other. And perhaps you’re thinking, well, there are people in this Church that I try to speak to and I don’t seem to get anywhere. Try again, don’t seem to get anywhere. But you are getting somewhere. What we have to understand as a still relatively new and young Church, where the majority of the members of this Church have maybe been here for what, two, three years. It takes many, many years to build and to grow such deep-rooted fellowship where there’s a level of investment with one another, where we know how each other operates, and we’re not having to second guess and trying to be overly polite and everything. And even where we’re finding out about people, oh, this person isn’t much of a talker. Oh, this person is hard to get to know. Well, every time you even still take a couple of minutes for what seems like nothing more than pleasantries, you’re still building something there.
That’s still time invested in the bank and there is a means by which that fellowship will grow. Sometimes it may seem very quick. Other times, it may feel like it is so, so very slow. But brothers and sisters, that time is invested as we get to know the strengths, the weaknesses, the eccentricities, the passions, the interests. All of this is increasingly known as the fellowship begins to deepen.
And increasingly, we get more involved and invested in spiritual matters. It shouldn’t simply be that in order to try to get to know one another, we’re randomly asking one day, well, how’s your spiritual walk? Now as good and as helpful as that may be on occasions, often it may feel somewhat either forced or superficial. But if we’re investing time in building relationships with our brothers and sisters, as we’re getting to know more about how our brothers and sisters operate, as time goes on more doctrinal matters come up even when it comes to how things are going in the life of the Church. And then there comes to even deeper-rooted spiritual matters and issues, and we begin to build and invest in them in the lives of one another.
And so instead of just randomly once in a blue moon saying, how’s your spiritual walk? We’re increasingly knowing how our brother, our sister’s spiritual walk is. We don’t need to ask that question. We’re investing in what that spiritual walk is. And in this, just consider how much of a rich blessing that is to our souls.
How much of a blessing it is to have a brother, a sister, a group of believers, a Church family who know you and are invested in where you are spiritually, where your struggles are, where you have even issues of temptation, where you are really looking to push on, where your spiritual gifts are being recognised and invested all the more. That is a rich and a meaningful thing that we long to see in this Church and in Churches across our nation. And that’s how we are edified, where there is godly counsel, where we are built up in the walk that we have as brothers and sisters together. So there is to be encouraged. There is to be edified, and then we also come to being admonished.
Now one thing to state with regards to the grounds for these applications is that the Word of God has to drive and govern them. In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work”. And the Word of God is essential, especially as we come to the subject of admonishing our brothers and sisters. Now the word admonish means to warn or to reprimand. And 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 says “We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labour among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves”.
Now note what this verse says. It says that those who admonish you are to be esteemed very highly. But let’s be realistic to where we are in the flesh. If as a Christian you are about to, using the illustration, touch the hot stove and you think it’s a good idea to do it. So that’s the illustration. And another brother or sister is coming to say, don’t touch the hot stove. Well, you in your mind, you’re already set on doing this thing. You’re being warned not to, but instantly, often of the flesh, you may be quick to think, who are you to tell me not to do this thing? And yet a verse like 1 Thessalonians 5 is saying we are to esteem such people highly.
But again, we go back to the first two areas of exhortation, namely encourage and edify, and the time that’s spent getting to know our brothers and sisters. Because one thing that we do need to be very careful not to become is a people who are quick to admonish, but we never encourage or even edify. And that goes back to that critical spirit. Even if you are very good and pointed at picking out the sins of your brothers and sisters, and you’re right. You’re maybe right to say, no, don’t touch that hot stove. But if that’s the only time you ever speak to your fellow Church members, to warn them of the danger of sin, then you already know the problem. It’s lopsided. Yes, we need to warn our brothers and sisters of sin; we need to admonish them. But that’s in the context of the time spent invested in their spiritual walk, where we’re encouraging them, where we’re seeking to give them godly counsel. And in that, we know that we have brothers and sisters that we can trust. The people who are nearest and dearest to you, even if they say things at times that really offend you or annoy you, perhaps it could even be husband, wife, or a close brother or sister. One thing that often you do know of them is that they’ve got your back. That they love you. They’ve got your best interests at heart. And so if they come with a warning, you might not like it, but you know you can trust it. And that’s what we need. That’s what we should be praying for in the life of this Church.
That’s something that can’t just be manufactured in the space of a few weeks, but we should be praying to that end that the level of fellowship we have is that brothers and sisters are invested in encouraging us to build us up. They’re seeking to give godly counsel because they know us, the strengths, the weaknesses, the eccentricities, and so on, and that they are ready and willing and able to admonish us. Now why would you need that, brothers and sisters? Well, Hebrews chapter three already gives us more than enough to realise why we need this. The spiritual dangers are all around and think back to how we introduced this verse. This is a spiritual war. The devil is out to destroy us and sin can so easily be the means by which we move in a fleshly direction and not a Christ-centred one. And what has God blessed you with in your weakness and temptation, in your struggle and sin? Your brothers and sisters, Christians who are there to exhort even at times to admonish you. Because what matters here is your spiritual walk, your soul.
Think of the warning in verse twelve, “lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart.” That’s why we have verse thirteen, “But exhort one another.” Have brothers and sisters who are there to pull you away from that fire, to guide you and direct you, to literally at times simply say absolutely not. That is sin. You must not do that. You must repent for the sake of your soul. Because we are people who’ve denied ourselves. We’ve denied the fleshly self that says that my way is the best way. We’ve now turned to Christ in taking up our cross. We follow Him, and we have brothers and sisters who are leading, guiding, encouraging, edifying, even admonishing us in that spiritual walk.
And that’s a blessing. That is a blessing that we should long to have more of in application in the life of this Church. In this verse where it says, “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today.’” That word “today” has come up again in this chapter because it is such a significant word in the context of this time in history. A time where we look to Christ in Hebrews one and two who has come.
He has suffered. He has died. He has risen. He is ascended. He is seated on the throne, victorious, conquering sin and death.
He is our Intercessor. He is our Lord. He is our Saviour. And at this time, we as the Bride of Christ function in this way while it is called “today.” And that is a blessing.
It is a blessing why we should then seek to encourage, edify, and admonish. And may we do so with a spirit of gentleness. “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:1-2) So this spirit of gentleness, the meekness that we would demonstrate and apply as Christians, is this not the fruit of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives? It flies in the face of the anger, the resentment, the pride that otherwise would so often be what comes from our lips and shapes the actions of our lives. Now there is a spirit that is more Christlike. So even more than simply getting involved in each other’s lives, being ready to encourage, to edify, to admonish, it’s even also the way we do it because we are becoming more like Christ. And we desire our brothers and sisters to become more like Christ. That’s how this is applied.
Because if we’re considering the danger, the warnings of the deceitfulness of sin in the end of this verse. We know that the only means, the only One for whom there is any hope and victory over this is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And is this not how we desire to see our brothers and sisters grow, to become more Christlike in our daily lives? That we would seek to magnify Christ in our spiritual walk. That’s why we should be ready to do this. And at times, it is quite difficult. Perhaps, sometimes when we know our brothers and sisters are walking in a path of sin, of debauchery, of wickedness, many Christians may be quick to say, well, who am I to judge? It’s a pretty messy thing to do, but it’s a very necessary thing to do. It’s a very necessary thing because we know the deceitfulness of sin is a very great danger. And where Christ has given us our brothers and sisters, this Church family, this is literally a spiritual fortress against the dangers of sin and the evil one.
And if in this spiritual fortress, we are saying and doing nothing to one another and we’re just letting each other go in whatever direction they like, often very quickly leading to sinful directions, what then becomes of this Church body? Well, we’re going to be devoured by this deceitfulness of sin. And sin is being described as deceitful here in a very poignant way. Now the word deceit simply and clearly means to be lying, to be doing something to take advantage of another, and this is what sin does. It’s always veiled in a mask.
It is deceitful, and it’s why Jeremiah 9:6 says “heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit, they refuse to know Me, declares the Lord.” And Psalm 120:2, “Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.” And also in Ephesians 4:22, it talks of the dangers of “deceitful desires.” And we saw recently in 2 Corinthians 11 about how Eve was deceived by the devil’s cunning. The deceit of sin offers things that are not true. It offers advantages of the flesh, things and people that we cannot trust. It will often create a false estimate of you. It will often then lead to a hardening of the heart before God, which is exactly what has happened for Israel in the wilderness. And this is the danger, and it’s why we are called to exhort one another daily. It is to build us up as a Church.
It is to guard and protect us from the deceitfulness of sin, from the deceitful wolves that are out to devour. And praise be to God that the means by which we are protected from such deceit, from being devoured, is by our Chief, Glorious, Precious, Saving Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ. And 1 Peter 2:22 says, “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth.” Sin is deceitful. It will look to deceive you, to turn you away with lies; Christ is the exact opposite.
In Him, there is no lie. In Him, there is no falsehood. In Him, there is only what we have, the absolute expression of perfection. We have the Son of God who has come for liars, deceivers like us in our sin, and He has laid down His life for sinners like us. It’s how we exist as the Church. It’s why we have been saved and set apart as the Church. And it is why we can then function as a people together to exhort one another daily. And as we prepare this coming week and in the weeks to come to move into a new building as a Church family, may we understand that as God has richly blessed us with such provision that He has blessed us all the more with each other. We are spiritually a family together. We are living stones.
We are a spiritual house. And though relationships may at times feel almost fractured or distant, this is still what we are. This is still something that we should yearn to invest in and we should be invested in for the sake of our souls and for the sake of Christ and His Kingdom. To encourage one another, to edify one another, to admonish one another for the sake of Christ, for the sake of building up the Church. And this is a blessing to the soul of the believer.