throughout the Old Testament. And we have, as Brother Al has
brought forth this scripture to us this morning, throughout
the Old Testament. we see the sovereign work of
God, and the sovereign and faithful work of God in delivering his
people, Israel. And he delivered them time and
again, even though they disregarded him, they did not walk in his
ways, and yet he was faithful to them. because he determined
to be so. And he raised up the nation of
Israel that he might show us his everlasting love for that
people which were chosen in Christ from before the foundation of
the world. Israel was not a people unto
themselves, but they were a people God chose for that purpose, that
they might illustrate the glories of his grace unto those people
which are in Christ from the beginning. Many have gone astray
in their consideration that Israel in the flesh is yet the people
of God. Now I have no doubt that there
are a people among the nation of Israel who are indeed the
people of God. For there is a remnant. And the Lord will save those
that are His. And so it does come to pass as
Paul wrote in the book of Romans that all Israel shall be saved. All of those who were chosen
in Christ shall indeed be saved. None shall perish. The Lord said
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that
cometh to me all in no wise cast out. He did not tell us who they
are. He did not tell us what number
of them there would be. But he did tell us that all of
them shall come to him. And all of them shall indeed
be saved. What a glorious thing that he
will lose none for whom he came. We do not preach nor serve a
savior who tries to save men. We declare one who has accomplished
the salvation of his people and does presently draw them with
cords of love and he calls them out of darkness and into the
light and they hear his voice. Not all at the same time, not
all at the same age, but all without hear him and believe those things
that he has said. Now we've been reading here in
the book of Hebrews, and of course this book is addressed to the
Hebrews. This book is addressed to those
who were descendants of Jacob who were believers. And of course,
as religious men are wont to do, and as we are wont to do,
is to return to that place from whence we came. You know, as
men get older, they desire to go back to their home. You see
that a lot of times, you know, people will leave a little place
like O'Brien to go off and find their fortune and fame and other
places. And then when they get old and
they retire, they say, you know, we're gonna go back home. uh... because that's the nature of
man uh... to desire those things from whence
he came and we're no different and uh... we would be even as
the egyptians or as the uh... israelites after they left egypt
and wandered in the wilderness and they said you know we those
leeks and onions were good back there in egypt we'd rather go
back there and apart from the lord's mercy To keep us from
going back to Egypt, we would go back to Egypt, every one of
us. You know, we've already got our ticket bought, and we got
it hid away in our pocket. But the Lord in His mercy, just
like He did with Jonah. You know, I love the story of
Jonah. If there's one book in the Bible
that illustrates the sovereign purpose of Almighty God, it cannot
be overturned any more clearly than the book of Jonah. the Lord
will do as he sees fit. And it may not be as the way
that man designs it to be. Jonah booked a passage away from
Nineveh, but the Lord booked his passage to Nineveh. And he
went by the exact conveyance to Nineveh that the Lord had
ordained that he went. It was necessary that Jonah buy
a ticket. going the other way. It was necessary that the Lord might demonstrate
His mercy, not only to Jonah, primarily to Jonah. Jonah was
the one that was blessed in the book of Jonah. But not only did
He show mercy to Jonah, but He showed mercy to the people that
He loved in Nineveh. And He brought them to repentance. Now, we are looking here, and
as we said, this book is addressed to the Hebrews, and they, as
natural men are, would constantly be looking back on that religion
from which they have been called out, because the law of Moses
While it is a thing that man hates on the one hand, it's the
thing that he always gravitates towards when he thinks that he
would come into the presence of God. He thinks, well, I'll
do these things and I'll earn my place before the Lord. All men think that. There's not
a man alive on the face of the earth that has not entertained
the thought perhaps on many occasions and perhaps continually, that
if he would do this, that, or the other, he could earn God's
favor and he could get the blessings of God to come to him. That shows
the work of the law written in our heart. We would gravitate
toward it. Yet, by the grace of God, he
teaches his people that this law is no hiding place, as we
sang a moment ago. It's not a place we can find
any comfort. Because the purpose of the law
is to reveal sin. And as the law comes full force
into our mind and heart, we're slain by it. And we can't get
up. Only the grace of God can raise
a man. up from being slain by the law. But thanks be unto God, when
a man is slain by the law, that's a merciful thing. But when a
man comes to the law and he realizes, I can't keep it. I can't abide
it. I mean, it's overwhelming to
me. There's no manner or means that
this can bring me to the Lord. If this is the means whereby
I'm going to come to the Lord, I'm lost. I'm without help, only
in the grace of God. And so he writes to these Hebrews
who wanted to gravitate back to those roots from which they
had come, and he is setting forth before them the absolute sufficiency
and efficiency of that which Christ came to do. And he is
the spokesman of God, there's not another. The prophets, they
spoke to us in time past and we have received some good things
from them, he said. God spoke to us through the prophets.
But he's not speaking to us through the prophets anymore. That's
not to say that we don't still learn things from the prophets,
but that's not the spokesman of God. The spokesman of God
is the one true prophet of whom all the other prophets have spoken
and who is the one whose testimony the scripture says is the spirit
of prophecy. God has spoken unto us in these
last days by His Son, by whom He created the world. And He
is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God. What does
that mean? Does that mean that there are
two thrones in heaven? The father's sitting on one and
the son's sitting on a little smaller throne over here to the
side. No, it means he is seated as God in power. He's at the right hand of God.
He is the right hand of God. He's the demonstration of God's
power. He's the spokesman for God. And if a man would know anything
about the truth of God, he must hear Jesus Christ. And that's
the message, that's what he's saying in this book of Hebrews. And as that is the basis, he
is showing them the absolute sufficiency of that which Christ
did, which did away with the forms and offerings that were
so much a part of the Jewish religion. He says that Christ
has obtained eternal redemption. And having obtained eternal redemption,
he has put aside all other offerings. There's not an offering that
can be brought unto the Lord that is of any use or value.
It's that the only offering that's of any value is that which Jesus
Christ offered when he gave himself on Calvary's cross in our behalf. He is our sufficiency. And he
is efficient in calling those who belong to him. And so he
ends the 12th chapter with a very startling statement. Wherefore, receiving a kingdom
which cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby we may serve
God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. Oh, that the
Lord might bestow this upon us, that we might have grace, because
otherwise we won't do that. And then he says this, for our
God is a consuming fire. That is, there's nothing that
can stand before Him, and only that which He has set forth is
that which shall stand. Oh, what a glorious God He is.
Our God is a consuming fire. He consumes all things that are
in His path. He consumes some unto His love,
and He consumes some unto destruction, according as He sees fit. And
you know, that doesn't sit well with a lot of folks because they
think God owes them something. Or that at least he ought to
give everybody a fair chance and a square deal. It just wouldn't
be right if he didn't. Shall the thing form, say to
him that formed it, why'st thou made me thus? You see, man has
no place whatsoever to bring any sort of accusation against
anything God has ever done. You know, when men in this world,
in our country, and lately we've heard some about men wanting
to bring a case before the Supreme Court, and they weren't able
to do so because the court said you don't have any standing.
to do that. In other words, they didn't have
any place to argue this case before the Supreme Court. Well, that's the place man is.
He has no standing. I mean, he can't come. People
talk about, well, I'm going to reason with God. I'm going to
tell God, you know, I'm going to plead my case. Well, you don't
have any standing there. See, there's only one advocate
who's appointed by Almighty God to plead the case of any man
before the throne of God, and that is Jesus Christ the righteous. Oh, to have him as an advocate,
he's never lost a case, and he never will because he is the
true advocate, a faithful advocate. He is the word of God that fails
not. And so, with that backdrop, he
moves into what we might call the so what. I mean, he's told
us that Jesus Christ is our advocate, he's our offering, he's our great
high priest before the throne of God, he's the spokesman of
God, which he has sent and who's brought to us the truth of God,
and so what? Let brotherly love continue. You see, the Lord has called
out his people in this world, and as John said, by this we
know that we are the sons of God because we love the brethren. Now a man that doesn't love the
brethren gives no evidence that he is a child of God. Now, that's
just, I don't know any other way to do it, to say it than
that. Man that has no concern for his fellow believers in Christ
who has no concern for those sheep of the Lord's pasture,
he gives no evidence. of being a child of God. And so work of the Spirit of
God in the people of God calls them to love one another, to
desire to fellowship with one another. And fellowship is not
just getting together, but it is coming together with one heart
and one mind. That is, we have communion with
one another in spirit as we desire to worship Christ, to lift him
up. We're not, we don't have fellowship
with the world. The world, they don't care anything
about worshiping Christ. I mean, they might have, they
might set aside a time, you know, when they would, and certain
seasons of the year, and this, that, and the other, when they
would take of their precious time and give a little time to
the Lord. But God's people love one another. And we are encouraged to love
one another. And the reason that we're encouraged
to love one another is by nature we don't love one another. But
the working of the Spirit in us causes us to love one another.
And we desire that that love might be enhanced, that it might
grow within us. And that the Lord might apply
those things to us. And so the exhortation is let
brotherly love continue. We want to love one another.
May the Lord enhance that. And here's, he gives some illustration. of how that love operates. He
says, be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have
entertained angels unawares. Remember them that are in bonds
as bound with them, and them which suffer adversity as being
yourselves also in the body. Marriage is honorable in all,
and the bed undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
Let your conversation be without covetousness, and be content
with such things as ye have. For he hath said, I will never
leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, the
Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man shall
do unto me. Remember them which have the
rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose
faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Jesus
Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever. Be not carried
about with divers and strange doctrines, for it is a good thing
that the heart be established with grace, not with meats, which
have not profited them that have been occupied therein. We have
an altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the
tabernacle. For the bodies of those beasts
whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest
for sin are burned without the camp or outside the camp. Wherefore
Jesus also that he might sanctify the people with his own blood
suffered without the gate or outside the gate. Let us go forth
therefore unto him without the camp. bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing
city, but we seek one to come. By him, therefore, let us offer
the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the fruit
of our lips, giving thanks to his name. But to do good and
to communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well
pleased. Obey them that have the rule
over you and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls
as they must give an account, for that they may do it with
joy and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you. Pray
for us, for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things
willing to live honestly. But I beseech you, the rather,
to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner. Now the God
of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that
great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting
covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will,
working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through
Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. And I beseech you, brethren,
suffer the word of exhortation, for I have written a letter unto
you in a few words. Know ye that our brother Timothy
is set at liberty, with whom, if he come shortly, I will see
you. Salute all them that have the
rule over you, and all the saints, they of Italy, salute you. Grace
be with you all. Amen. Now he says, be not forgetful
to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels
unawares. And of course what he's saying
here in the context of letting brotherly love continue is that
the people of God, if they truly love one another, need to be
concerned with the benefit of one another. And that is, as
he puts it in this place, he says, be not forgetful and entertain
strangers. Now, sometimes we encounter people
from other places who are, we detect, are believers. They're
strangers to us, but we have the same regard to them. We would
not cast them off simply because they come from another country
or they come from another city or whatever. Those who worship
Christ or those with whom we have fellowship. Now, if a man
desires to exalt and honor the name of Christ, then we can have
fellowship with him. And we're not to be, be not forgetful
to entertain strangers. Now, the context in which he's
speaking about is, of course, in those days, there were not
the facilities that we enjoyed. Now, we just got back from a
trip up in Maine and points thereabouts. And during that point in time,
we stayed in several different motels, but there was not than motels. You know, it's amazing
how all of those things change over the years. But nonetheless,
we had facilities. But in those days that he's speaking
of here, if you went to another city There might be a place. I mean, they did have inns and
things like that, but not on the basis in which we do. I mean, there's so many hotels
and motels up and down the road now until I wonder how they all
stay in business. But the amazing thing is, they're
always full. And so if you go trying to get
one, you'll have a hard time sometimes because people are
out there and about. And they have places to stay,
but in those times, they didn't. And so he said, you know, if
you encounter a brother along the way, don't just turn him
aside, but give him help, help him. You know, give him a place
to stay even. Now throughout the scripture
we're taught that it is being lovers of hospitality is a mark
of spiritual grace. To love to entertain others,
those who are our brethren in the Lord. And who we give of
them our time, our money, whatever we have is at their disposal. It is to be that way, let brotherly
love continue. He said, for thereby some have
entertained angels unawares. Now I don't think this is a mystical
thing that he's talking about, although there's a mystical aspect
to it. We see one of the best examples
of this is in the case of Manoah, who was the father of Samson.
I won't go read this, but I encourage you to go read that. And Samson,
the Lord promised his wife that she was going to bear a son and
that he would be a Nazarite from the womb. And she came and told
her husband that this angel had appeared to her and told her
these things. And so he was eager to talk to
this one himself. And so as he went there, he desired
that this one would come and eat with him. And so he killed
a kid, a goat, and prepared it that the man that he might eat
with him. Now, Manoa didn't know exactly
who this was, and he asked him his name. And this angel whom
I believe as we would discover in scripture was none other than
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now you ask me how did that occur,
I can't explain that to you. But he asked him his name, he
said my name is a secret. Because you see it wasn't until
later that he revealed his name when that angel came to Joseph. And he said, thou shalt call
his name Jesus. See, they didn't know that. But
Manoah said, you know, if we, and then he left. And of course,
before that, he, they had, Manoah had said, well, let me make this
offering unto, to the Lord while you're here. And he caused fire
to come down and burnt that, that offering up off the altar.
And of course, Manoah was taken aback by this situation. And then that one who appeared
to them, he was taken up from them. They didn't see him anymore.
And Manoah said, you know, we're gonna die because we've seen
the Lord. He said, no man can see God and
live. And his wife said, well, no,
if he was going to kill us, he'd already killed us. And so anyway,
I brought that up to show that when this one came, the first
thing that he wanted to do, he recognized that this was one
sent from God. And he said, I want to do something
for you. I want to give you a meal. He
showed hospitality. and indeed he entertained angels
unawares. He didn't know who that was.
And you know, we may not encounter, have an encounter such as Manoah
had, but the Lord does send messengers to us, which are angels. An angel
is a messenger. See, if a man brings the word
of God to you, he's a messenger. He's an angel in that respect. And he comes with the word of
God. And so you never know when you, entertain strangers, those
whom you don't know who they are, that the Lord may have sent
them to you with a message. May the Lord give us such a mind
and heart to be those that are lovers of hospitality. Remember them that are in bonds
as bound with them, and them which suffer adversity as being
yourselves also in the body. We are to be compassionate with
others. The Lord said, I was in prison and you visited
me. I was sick and you comforted
me. That's what he's speaking about here. And the people of
God said, well, Lord, when did we do that? He said, when you
have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren,
you have done it unto me. And so we're to be lovers of
hospitality, not simply for our sake, or even for their sake,
but for Christ's sake, because he's commanded us to be so, and
to be those who love one another and demonstrate that love. We are to be concerned, he says,
as bound with them. Now we look upon the brethren
who are in these places, like Ukraine, Russia, Gaza, Israel,
and if we have true brotherly love, are not our hearts moved
for these people? I mean, we may not politically
be in agreement with some of them, but some of them belong
to the Lord. I mean, if you'd have known the
Apostle Paul when he was breathing out threatenings and slaughters
against the people of God, you wouldn't have liked him very
much either. You'd say, there ain't no way he could be one
of God's children. But you see, God in his time, he calls his
people unto himself. And so we ought to be concerned. And even as those who are in
bonds and in places of trouble, as though we are there ourself
to bear their burden with them, to help them. And of course,
many times, the only way we can do that is to pray. But what
a glorious thing that is, when the Lord has blessed us to pray
one for the other, and to demonstrate that brotherly love. Marriage
is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled, but whoremongers
and adulterers God will judge. Now that does not mean that whoremongers
and adulterers are the only ones God will judge. God judges all
sin. And indeed, you know, the sin
of adultery and the sin of fornication, that is having a sexual relation
outside of the marriage bond, is a thing that God condemns.
And this is the judgment of God upon these things. Now in our
society, we've become much like the Corinthians. You know, in
Corinth, that was just considered, wasn't no big deal. I mean, and
that's the way our society has become. Here, I can remember
in my younger days when that was really not the case in general. I mean, that was still frowned
upon. Now, it's more or less accepted
that people are gonna go and live with one another before
they get married, and then if it don't work out, then they're
easy to just go on down the road and find somebody else and do
the same thing with. And so marriage has become a
thing that has no value in the eyes of men, and the reason for
that is because they have no understanding of what marriage
is. Marriage was given to men for their benefit for sure, for
men and women. But that's not the purpose of
marriage in the greatest purpose of marriage. The greatest purpose
of marriage is to demonstrate the relationship that God has
with his church. Christ has a bride, and he's
faithful to that bride. He has one bride. And he does
not go from one to the other. But he is faithful to her. And
the Lord in marriage, the picture of marriage is to show this.
For this cause you shall cleave to one another. And so it is
that marriage is honorable. And this is not in any wise can
men speak against it. But that which is done by men
outside of that is certainly condemned. And God will judge
that. Let your conversation be without
covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have.
For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Paul told Timothy, I have learned in whatsoever state I am in therewith
to be content. Now you notice that he did say,
I have learned. Because that's not natural, is
it? I mean, we're naturally not content. We're always looking
for something better. Something's got to be better. We're like
the old cow that's in the field, and he can have grass in that
field that's knee-deep. But he'll look across the fence,
and he'll see some old dry parched ground there with a little weed
sticking up here and there, and he'll get looking over that fence,
and if the fence won't hold him, he'll get out and go over there.
That's just the way men are. We're never content. Like the
farmer said, he didn't want all the land in the world, he just
wanted what was next to his. And that's kind of the way that
people are. I mean, not kind of the way people are, it's the
way people are. And so we have to learn to be content. And the
only way we learn it is by the work of the Spirit of God in
us to teach us that our satisfaction and happiness cannot be made
complete by the things of this world. It doesn't make a difference
how much money you've got. You know, I hope you get a bunch
of money. I mean, I'm not against anybody having a bunch of money
or things, you know, but these things are nothing. They pass
away in a moment, and these are not the things of which our life
consists. So be content with such things
as you have, and Don't be covetous, that is, always thinking about
what you can do to get this or to get that. Be content with such things as
you have, for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake
thee. What a blessing is that? What better possession could
a man have than to have that understanding, to have that belief,
to trust in him who said that? I mean, what a glorious thing,
better than all the riches of the world. So that we may boldly say, the
Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what men shall do unto
me. See, whenever the Lord is pleased to give a man that understanding,
that he will never leave him or forsake him, then he might
boldly say these things. He might boldly say, I will not
fear what man can do unto me. Now that's the mark of God's
work in a man. And it's not a thing that a man
can just decide on. But as the Lord teaches him contentment,
then he teaches him not to be afraid, not to be fearful. See, we're not to be fearful
and unbelieving. The Lord constantly upbraided
his disciples, be not fearful. He said, don't worry about what
you're going to wear or what you're going to eat. He said,
consider the lilies of the field, how the Lord clothes them. And
if He took care to clothe the lilies of the field, will He
not take care of you? I mean, what are we to be fearful
of? I will not fear what men shall
do to me. Oh, that He might give us such
a mind and a heart. Remember them which have the
rule. over you who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose
faith follow considering the end of their conversation. Remember them, that is pray for
them. Take care of them, look at those
who are faithful to declare to you the things of God. Now, when
he says have the rule over them, he doesn't mean those that, they're
absolute rulers, but just those that are appointed in a place
where they are commanded and they can't escape it. See, Paul
said that necessity was laid upon him. He didn't choose to
go preaching Christ among men as a career choice. You know,
he didn't decide on it. The Lord decided it for him.
And he couldn't do anything else. He said, woe is unto me if I
preach not the gospel. I gotta do that. I can't help
it. And so he says, here as believers,
we ought to be mindful of that. and remember them in the place
of prayer. And who has spoken unto you the
word of God, whose faith follow. Now, is he saying, well, yo,
look at old brother so-and-so and do what he does. No, he said
whose faith follow. What is the faith of those that
faithfully preach Jesus Christ and him crucified? It's Christ. See, that's what we're commanded
to follow, whose faith. What is his faith? It's Christ.
See, we follow Christ. We're not following men. And
because the Lord has sent somebody to us to faithfully declare and
preach Christ, we're still not looking at Him. We're looking
at what He's preaching. See, we're looking at the truth.
We're holding on to that. Because all of us can stray from
the truth from time to time. I mean, every man is prone to
be in error. And I believe all men are in
error in some place. And the only people that can't
see their error is often the person who's Caught up in error. That's why the Lord gave brethren
to communicate with one another, to help one another, to exhort
one another, to build one another up in the most holy faith. That
we might not be overcome in an error, but that we might see
Christ more clearly. Remember them. whose faith follow
considering the end of their conversation. What is the end
of their conversation? If a man faithfully preaching
Christ, what is the end of his conversation? That is his way
of life, is to be an example, number one, to not say, do this,
do what I say, but rather to set forth an example, even as
Christ gave us an example that we should follow in his steps.
And so we consider the end of his conversation. What's the
purpose of those who are preaching to us? Is it to exalt Christ? If it is, then that's a good
thing to follow. You know, we can't find a better
source of truth than Christ. He is the truth. And this goes
hand in hand with this, the end of their conversation, Jesus
Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. The Word of God
doesn't change. Jesus Christ is the Word of God.
And everything that He has said will stand the test of time.
And we don't need to fear what men can do to us. We don't need
to fear what men will bring to us. Because the next verse, He
says, Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines.
Now there's a lot of them out there, and there's a lot of eloquent
men who are able to deceive men and tell them things that are
not true. And oftentimes they're subtle.
But any man, as Paul said, I determined to know nothing among you but
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And any message other than that,
though it's spoken with the tongue, the silver tongue of a great
man who comes saying, I am a prophet sent from God, believe him not. For there'll be many who shall
say, lo here, lo there. And they shall deceive many.
And if it were possible, they would deceive even the very elect
of God. But thanks be unto God, that's
not possible. You know, that's a glorious thing,
to know that God's people will have one hope, one consolation,
one point of trust. They have no confidence in their
religion, their denomination, their baptism, their taking the
Lord's Supper, their anything. None of these things matter.
is Christ and Christ alone. And if we have Him, we have everything. If we don't have Him, we don't
have anything. Lord might put these things in
our heart, teach us, and lead us. He's able. And that's why we're able to
continue to declare those things because we believe that He is
able. and that he has a people scattered
in the earth, and he's digging them out. I remember the old
black preacher said he's like digging sweet potatoes, you know,
and he's digging them out of the ground. He says, you go and
you look at the sweet potato patch, and you figure it's all
dug up and nothing left, but you can go out there and get
your fork and dig down there, and you'll find another sweet
potato. He just said taters, you know, but said they'll be
there. And the Lord has a people in
the earth, and he's calling. And in his own time, they hear
his voice. They believe. May we be among
them.