Dates says Church should hold fast, watch out for each other even when ‘days are dark and grim’

Charlie Dates said in Hebrews 10, the writer gives a “trifecta of encouraging exhortations.”

But they aren’t for Christians to live out in solitude. They’re communal exhortations — they all begin with “let us,” he told the Alabama Baptist Pastors Conference, which was held virtually Nov. 16.

“These exhortations sit on a significant foundation,” said Dates, pastor of Progressive Baptist Church, Chicago, Illinois. “We have a boldness given through our great Savior, our Path-maker. It gives us entre into the presence of God.”

In Hebrews 10, the Church has an exhortation to draw near, hold fast and watch out for one another, he said.

“Even when days are dark and grim, we hold on to what we believe,” he said.

From that place of confidence, Christ’s followers can watch out for each other, Dates said. “Sometimes it’s the sharp edge of the Christian personality that prods another Christian toward love and good works.”

In Scripture, it’s clear that “Christian character is seen in our concern for one another, that the demonstration of our real membership in the local fellowship is the way we take care of each other,” he said.

The conference — an all-virtual, cost-free conference that you can watch from your home or office at your own pace — is still available at albaptistpc.com/virtual-conference.