I'd like to say amen to what
Bill said about the musical instruments. It certainly helps our singing. I know we all appreciate those
who play the instruments week after week, and we may not express
that as often as we should, but we do. Thank the Lord for each
of you. If you will, let's open our Bibles
this evening to Hebrews chapter 13. Several weeks ago, when we had
to begin only streaming our Wednesday evening services, we had come
to Hebrews chapter 13 in our studies on Wednesday evening.
And rather than continue, I brought messages from other passages
of scripture over these weeks. But tonight I want to take up
where I left off, and that is chapter 13 and verse 1. And God willing, we will finish
this epistle with this study tonight and two others. Now many
refer to this last chapter as the practical teaching or the
practical doctrinal part of the epistle. And I suppose that all
of the ones written by the Apostle Paul, most of them at least,
can pretty well be divided into two parts, the doctrinal and
the practical. And I'm not saying that the Apostle
Paul wrote this letter. It seems to me that all through
the letter, as we have gone through this letter of Hebrews, yes,
we have found many very important and very precious doctrinal teachings,
but also we have come across many practical lessons as well. For instance, in Hebrews chapter
four, verses 14 through 16, how much practical could we get than
this? Seeing then that we have a great
high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the son of
God, Let us hold fast our profession, for we have not an high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore, because we
have such a great high priest, who has entered into the heavens
and is there now making intercession for all who come unto God by
him. Let us therefore come boldly. We don't come to the throne of
grace irreverently, but we do have boldness because we come
in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. We come through the
new and living way, which he has opened up by his flesh. Therefore,
let us come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy
and find grace to help in the time of need. It could not be
more practical than that passage of scripture. Don't we always
need mercy? And don't we always need to find
grace in the time of need? And we have that great, great
promise that we shall obtain mercy and find grace when we
come to his throne of grace. And I'm so thankful that it is
a throne of grace that we go to, not a throne of judgment,
but a throne of grace. And it is a throne of grace because
the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, he's upon that throne. Now, Tonight, we're going to
look at the first six verses, and we have five practical exhortations
in these first six verses here, Hebrews chapter 13. First, the
exhortation to love. Let brotherly love continue. Brotherly love, of course, is
speaking of the love among God's children. We are members of God's
family through the person and work of Jesus Christ, God's dear
son. So we all have the same father
and we are members of the same body that is the mystical body
of Christ. The apostle John in his first
epistle gives us, I believe it's five marks of the new birth,
five marks so that we may know that we have been born of the
Spirit of God. And one of those marks is found
in 1 John 3 and verse 14. He said, we know, we know. I like that, don't you? I like when the Apostle Paul
and the Apostle John wrote like that. We know, there's not a
doubt, there's not a question, there's not an if or maybe or
perhaps, but no, we know that we have passed from death unto
life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother
abideth in death. A person who hates his brother,
he has not eternal life abiding in him. Look over there in that
epistle, just a few pages towards the end of the Bible, 1 John
chapter 5, and let's look at this verse. This is another one
of those verses that show us the mark of those who are born
of the Spirit of God. 1 John chapter 5 and verse 1,
whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And everyone that loveth him
that begat loveth also, loveth him also that is begotten of
him. You notice those three things
in that verse of scripture. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ. Do you believe tonight that Jesus
of Nazareth, the Jesus of the gospels and the word of God,
that he is the Christ, that he is the anointed of God, that
he is the one and only savior that God sent into this world
to save his people? The Apostle Peter said, we know
and are sure that thou art the Christ. So first of all, whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And everyone
who is born of God loves him who begat us. With every birth,
there's someone begatting. We love him who begat us. In James chapter 1 and verse
18, the apostle said, of his own will, that is God's will,
of his own will, he hath begotten us again with the word of truth. So everyone that believeth that
Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone that is born
of God loves him who birthed him. and not only loves him who birthed
him, but loves all those who are born of God. Let brotherly
love continue, the apostle says. Now what does that exhortation
mean? We know that this grace of love,
everyone that's born of God loves, so we know that this grace of
love can never be lost. It can never be lost. And yet we are warned, or exhorted
rather, to let brotherly love continue. This exhortation must
mean that we are to do and we are to practice everything that
will increase this love. And we are, listen, we are to
guard against anything that would decrease, diminish this love
that we have for the brethren. A believer's love for Christ. As our love for Christ increases,
so does our love for our brethren. And as our love for Christ grows
cold, diminishes, and we know that it does at times, so too
our love for the brethren. will decrease. Let brotherly
love continue. Do everything in your power,
everything that you can, to promote love among the brethren. One of the six sayings, yea seven,
that God said in Proverbs chapter six, that he hateth is he that
soweth discord among the brethren. We must always guard against
that. God's church, God's people, is
to be a house of unity, of unity. And there, that Psalm tells us,
it's like the oil that was poured upon Aaron's head and ran down
to his beard and his garment. Speaking of Christ as our high
priest, as Aaron was the first high priest, a type of Christ,
so this oil, this love, comes down upon all of the members
of his mystical body. This word, let, let brotherly
love continue. Look back over to Colossians
chapter three. In Colossians chapter three and
verse 16, The apostle exhorted the brethren
here, let, here's that word again, let the word of God dwell in
your hearts, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in
all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to
the Lord. How do we let the Word of Christ
dwell in us. We are exhorted to do this, just
as we are exhorted to let brotherly love continue, so let the Word
of Christ dwell in you. Well, first of all, we must read
it. We must read the Word of God, the Word of Christ. We must
hide the Word of God in our hearts. I thought about this this past
week. If you had to choose one chapter,
knowing what you know, those of us here tonight, knowing what
you know about the Bible, about Christ, about God, about the
gospel, if you had to choose one chapter, one chapter as your
favorite chapter, Have you ever thought about that? Think about
that, if you will. And when you choose that chapter
that is your favorite chapter, commit that to memory. Commit
that to memory. I listened to an interview of
a man, a pastor who was in prison for two years. He, he didn't
have a Bible with him. And he was in a cell that was
built or made for about 10 prisoners with about 25 other prisoners. And all of them were of a different
religion. He was the only Christian, professing
Christian in that cell. And I thought to myself, now,
if I were in that situation, could I recall the word of God? Commit the word of God. Choose
that chapter. And commit that chapter to memory. I remember reading in church
history, look at this page here. This page. One page, that's not
much, is it? One time, one page. of the letter of James sold,
one page translated into English, it sold for a wagon load of hay. One page of the letter of James. Let the word of Christ dwell
in you richly. Read the word of God. Commit
the word of God to your heart. Hear the word of God. when opportunity
presents, when we can come together and hear the gospel preached.
So let brotherly love continue. Here's the second exhortation.
This exhortation is to hospitality. Hebrews chapter 13 and verse
two. Be not forgetful to entertain
strangers. For thereby some have entertained
angels unaware." We have read of the persecutions that some
of these Hebrews to whom this letter was originally written,
Paul said they had suffered the spoiling of their goods. Now
he, or Paul, the author I should say, Now he tells these same people,
show hospitality and kindness for those brothers who have,
for some reason or the other, had to flee because of persecution,
who have lost all of their worldly possessions, who've lost their
living. And he gives the example of some
who have entertained angels unaware. Now we know he has referenced
to two men. Abraham, first of all, in Genesis
chapter 22, Abraham, or 21 I believe it is, Abraham entertained those
three men. Two of them turned out to be
angels. One of them was the Lord Jesus
Christ. But he didn't know that. When
he saw them approaching, he immediately began to offer them food and
hospitality. And then two of those angels
went on down to Sodom and Lot took them into his house, not
recognizing either that they were angels. And it was those
angels that saved Lot. pull Lot and his wife out of
Sodom before it was destroyed. Matthew Henry commented on this
verse, and I quote, though we cannot suppose this will ever
be our case, yet what we do to strangers, in other words, we
cannot suppose that we are going to entertain angels. That's what
he means here when he said, though we cannot suppose this will ever
be our case, that we'll have angels come to our door. But
they could. Yet, this is Matthew Henry, yet
what we do to strangers in obedience to him, he will reckon and reward
as done to himself. As Matthew chapter 25 and verse
35, The Lord speaking to those sheep on his right hand, I was
a stranger and you took me in. Lord, when? When saw we thee
a stranger and took thee in? Verily I say unto you, inasmuch
as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren,
you have done it unto me. So the second exhortation is
to show hospitality. Number three, the third, empathy
for other believers. Remember them that are in bonds
as bound with them and them that suffer adversity as being yourselves
also in the body. You know, it seems that in God's
wise providence, God's wise and God's good providence, that he
has so ordered things in this world that when one part of the
world One part of the Christian church is in a part of the world
where there's a great deal of persecution. Then there is another
part of the world where the Christian church is not suffering the same
persecution. He's so ordered things that in
this world, when one part of the church is enjoying peace,
another part is experiencing trouble. What are we to do then? we are to remember them. We are
to remember them, remember them to God in prayer, and we should
sympathize with them. And I firmly believe tonight,
as we sit here, with the liberty we enjoy, without fear of persecution
in our country, that there are believers in parts of the world
tonight who are suffering great persecution. in some countries
that they will not allow any Christian assembly. Some countries
where the majority of the population are anti-Christian. And we read and hear all the
time of Christians being burned alive in some countries and persecuted
That's what Paul, that's what the writer here is exhorting
us to do, to remember them. And to remember them who are
in bonds as though we are bound with, like them, with them. We're all in the same body, the
body of Christ. And as our physical body, when
one member of our body suffers, the body suffers. The body has,
empathy for that part that is suffering. So in the Church of
the Lord Jesus Christ, since we're all members one of another,
we are to remember them to God Remember them that are in bonds
as though we are bound ourselves. And those who are suffering adversity
as though we are suffering adversity. And notice the last part of that
verse, as being yourselves also in the body. Now that may mean
that we are in the body of Christ. It certainly is a truth. But
it also may mean that we too are in this body, this physical
body that is subject to suffering and trials and persecutions. The fourth exhortation, sexual
purity of believers. but whoremongers and adulterers
God will judge. And I would call our attention
to two truths in that exhortation. First of all, marriage is honorable
in all. What a statement. What a statement. Marriage is honorable in all. How could marriage be more honorable
than it is when we remember who instituted marriage. God did. How could anything be more honorable
than that which God Almighty instituted? It was God who saw
that it was not good that Adam should be alone and prepared
for him a helpmate. And God brought her, presented
her to Adam. We might say that God himself
performed the first marriage ceremony. How could marriage
be more honorable when we remember who instituted it? And when God
instituted marriage, it was between a man, one man and one woman. Now we're living in a day when
people are calling marriage something between two men or two women. Now men may call it marriage,
but God calls it an abomination. And that's not going to change.
That's against God's order, and it's not honorable. The marriage
bed is honorable in all. One man, one woman. And then
another thing, How could marriage be more honorable when God uses
it to picture the relationship between His dear Son and His
Church? How could anything be more honorable
than that? Marriage, God uses to picture
the relationship between you as a child of God and the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is our husband. We are His
bride. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter
5. Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 30. For we are members of his body,
of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave
his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife and they
too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery. Amen? This is a great mystery. But
I speak concerning Christ and the church. This is a great mystery. Something that if God had not
revealed it, we would have never known it. That marriage is a
picture of the relationship between the heavenly bridegroom, the
Lord Jesus Christ, and his lovely bride, his church. So that's
the first thing in this exhortation. Marriage is honorable and all,
but number two, be sure your sin will find you out. Fornication
and adultery was in the days of the New Testament, much like
it is in our day. It was an acceptable way of life
as it seems to be today. But remember this, God will bring
the hidden sins to light. The Apostle Paul told us in Ephesians
5 that it is a shame for believers even to speak of those things
which are done of them in secret. It's a shame for us to even talk
about those things. that are done against the word
of God concerning sexual purity. Now here's the last fifth, the
contentment that God's children may enjoy. Verse five and six, let your
conversation, your life be without covetousness and be content with
such things as you have. For he has said, I will never
leave thee, nor forsake thee, so that we may boldly say, the
Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto
me. A.W. Pink defined contentment
in this way. Contentment is the being satisfied
with the sovereign dispensations of God's providence. It is the
opposite of murmuring, which is the spirit of rebellion, the
clay saying to the potter, why have you made me thus? Instead
of complaining at his lot, a contented man is thankful that his condition
and circumstances are no worse than they are. When Paul wrote
the letter of Philippians, we know he was a prisoner at that
time in Rome, probably in chains, and yet he was able to write
and say, I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. I confess tonight that I haven't
learned this lesson as I should. I haven't learned this lesson
as I want to learn it. I just confess unto you to be
content in whatsoever state I find myself. And I also confess that
I believe the way for me, for you to begin to learn this lesson
of contentment is to take this promise that he gives us here
and believe it. I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee. That should be enough, shouldn't
it? If we truly believe that promise, I will never leave thee,
nor forsake thee, then no matter what the situation we find ourselves
in, He's with us, and He's going to remain with us. This is a promise that was first
given to Joshua, this promise here, But I would remind us of what
an old writer said, when God opens a well for one of his children, he opens that well for one of
his children to drink water from, then all of his children are
invited to come. And yes, this promise was first
given to Joshua, but it is a promise for all of us tonight. Come and
drink of this promise. I, God says, I will never forsake
thee. I will be with thee. Well, I pray the Lord would bless
these thoughts to us here this evening. I believe we're going
to sing the hymn, Jesus Paid It All. Bill will come at this time and
we'll sing and then we'll be dismissed in prayer tonight.