You take your Bibles and turn
them into Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13. We'll be
looking at verses 1 through 4. Hebrews 13 verses 1 through 4. The Scripture says, Let brotherly
love continue. 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."
Now, the title of the message this morning is, The Love of
the Saints. of the Saints, having previously
in the last few verses of Hebrews chapter 12, the apostle having
given us blessed assurances concerning the promises of God, concerning
this unshakable and unmovable covenant of grace that is in
Jesus Christ our Lord, ratified by His blood, we now having received
This kingdom. This is the promise of the covenant
that we who are believers in Christ have received a kingdom. A kingdom. This kingdom of God
that shall not be moved, that's unshakable. He says in verse
27, he says, and this word yet once more signified the removing
of those things that are shaken as of the things that are made.
that those things which cannot be shaken may remain, wherefore,
we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved." Now, this kingdom
that we have, remember that it was purposed by God the Father. It was purposed by God the Father
that you who are believers in Christ should receive the kingdom
of God. Jesus said, it is your Father's
good pleasure. to give you the kingdom. Is that
not encouraging? That's encouraging. It is not
because of you, you receive the kingdom. It is because it is
your Father's good pleasure. Good pleasure. I am not such
a father. I love my children, but I am
not such a father as to give them things at times begrudging
but is my Father's good pleasure to give me the kingdom without
grudging." He purposed to give us this kingdom. We should inherit this kingdom,
Jesus said, that God had prepared for you before the foundation
of the world. This kingdom that we have received
is not only purposed, it's purchased. It is purchased with the precious
blood of the Redeemer, of Jesus Christ, as of a lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. This is purchased by the blood
of Christ. In Acts chapter 20 and verse
28 it says, "...the church of God which He purchased with His
own blood." And this kingdom, that was purposed
and purchased, it's also a kingdom that is received. Now, you can
know all about the purpose and you can know all about the purchase,
but have you actually received the kingdom by faith in Christ? This is the experience of grace. All biblical knowledge that can
be attained in this lifetime is not sufficient to receive
the kingdom. Nor all the greatest and grandest
works, but only by grace through faith, the elect are sure to
receive the kingdom of God as Abraham did. What is it said
of Abraham? It says that he inherited this
by They get by faith, he said, by faith. By faith, Abraham received the
righteousness of God, and so it is with us, we who believe,
have the righteousness of God imputed and charged to us to
us. Have you believed on the son
of God? Isn't this the question that the Lord asked the blind
man who was born blind and he was given sight? Jesus said, Hast thou believed
on the Son of God? And he said, Lord, who is he
that I might believe on him? He said, It is he that talketh
with thee. It's me. I am the Son of God. And Jesus said, I came to give
sight to the blind. Have you been blind? Have you
been given sight to see? I have. Once I was blind, but
now I see. What a glorious thing. The salvation
of Christ. I see the Son of God. I see when
I behold the Lamb of God, I see the Son of God. I see the Lamb
and the Son. I'm made to see. But if you say
you see, you don't have need of sight. You're blind. You're blind. But believing on
the Lord Jesus Christ, friends, this is the evidence of redemption.
Have you believed? If you've believed on Christ,
this is the evidence of grace. This is how we know our names
are written in heaven. I've not seen the book, have
you, in heaven? I've not seen the book written
with my name specifically on the book. No, I see this by faith. And I see it sure, I see it clear. This is because I've been given
sight and faith is evidence that my name is written in heaven. Now then, the result of this
kingdom. Now, having received this kingdom, the apostle now
turns in this point of the epistle to the practical application
of the doctrine of grace. The practical application of
all that is said before is now turning. He's pivoting. This
is the way the apostle in his epistles always does. He turns
and he presents the gospel of God's mercy and then gives us
the result of faith, of true, living, practical faith. He tells us that have received
the kingdom, he said, let us have grace whereby we may serve
God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is
a consuming fire. Let us who know grace be gracious. Let us who know grace be the
most gracious people that we can. How were we saved and made heirs
of the kingdom of God? Now, if we find any merit in
ourselves for the grace of God, then we have not known anything
of grace. Have you found anything in yourself? Because the more I grow in the
grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, the more abased
I become, the more I see that I have no merit or hand in this
salvation. The more I see my sin. Friends, we are brands plucked
from the fire. We are vessels of mercy taken
from the same lump of sinful humanity. There is not any difference
between us and the worst and abased of men. We are all taken
from the same lump of clay. The same race of Adam. The grace
and mercy of God is given to us freely, seeing that we receive
such free grace should we not have an attitude of free grace. It's only logical. It's only reasonable. You remember the illustration
the Lord gives us of the man Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth was
a son of Jonathan, the son of Saul. He was heir to the kingdom
of Jerusalem. And in that day, when kings were
to be exchanged, when the kingdom of one had fallen and another
had risen, it was just reasonable for the king to kill the descendants
of his enemy. So that none would rise up in
rebellion and claim heirship to the throne. It was just a
reasonable and just thing for a king to do. And so David, unbeknownst to
Mephibosheth, would sin for him, not to kill him, but to show
mercy. because of a covenant he made
with his father before he was born. David had made a covenant with
Jonathan and said, if I ascend to the throne, I will show mercy
to your sons. To your sons. And so David calls
and fetches Mephibosheth, And in fearfulness, he falls down
because that's all he can do anyway. He's lame on his feet.
This man has nothing. He comes from the house of Lodivar,
which is the house of no bread. He comes and he falls down before
the king because he cannot stand. And he said, Behold thy servant. David didn't want a servant.
David had plenty of servants. David desired to show mercy. David's purpose was to make him
to sit at his feet. David's purpose was to show grace
for Jonathan's sake. Even so it is with us when God
comes in grace and fetched us from the house of no bread. We
came and fell down before him and said, Behold, thy servant.
What else could we do? And what was His answer? I'm
going to show mercy for Jesus' sake. His purpose was grace. He fetched
Him not to kill Him. God fetched us not to kill us,
but to forgive us. His purpose was to pardon them,
to give peace. God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven
you and you sit at the table of Jesus Christ and feast at
His righteousness for all eternity. And our response to grace is
always the same. What is thy servant but a dead
dog? What a dead dog? Think of what
a dead dog can do you. I've got a couple of dogs and
they're really kind of neat sometimes to have around and not so neat
the other times. But what good is a dead dog? That's our confession. What is
thy servant but a dead dog? Why would you look on such a
dead dog as I am? And just as Mephibosheth was
still lame on his feet, he was able to sit at King David's table. Even so, though we are lame still
in our old nature, we are able to sit at the kingdom, at the
table of the Lord Jesus Christ and feast with Him, enjoy His
presence. Our works, our practice, our
worship, our service, we know they're lame on their feet. But
I know this also, that by the blood and righteousness of Jesus
Christ, they are accepted of God." My works are accepted of
God. Where then is pride? Does pride get to sit at this
table? No. Boasting is on the outside. Boasting is kicked out of the
room. There's no place for pride at the table of Christ. At the
table of grace, there's no room for boasting of pride. Seeing
we have received such grace, then let us render grace to all
men. As we have received it freely,
let us give it freely. And then the apostle says, let
brotherly love continue. Isn't this? Go to Romans chapter
12. This is exactly what the apostle says in Romans. He says in verse one, I beseech
you, therefore, brethren. By the mercies of God, because
of the mercies of God. Present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable under God, your reasonable service. Isn't it just reasonable considering
the mercies of God? If you consider the mercies and
grace of God, it's just reasonable to offer up all you have. To offer up all you are, it's
just reasonable. And be not conformed to this
world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect
will of God." What is that good, acceptable, perfect will of God?
To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the good, acceptable
work of God. Well, how are we to practice
this reasonable service? Brotherly love, first of all,
let brotherly love continue. Is that not strange that he has
to say that? Yet he does. Let brotherly love continue. In every believer. There are
three races. Faith. Hope and love. Faith, hope, and love are all
internal graces. We receive this by the new nature,
by the new man that is given to us, every one of us who believe.
We believe on Christ, we have hope, we rest in Christ, and
we love Christ. These are internal graces and
communion with God. What proves our faith and our
hope? Love. Anyone can say. I have faith,
I have hope, I have love. Can you see faith? No. Can you see hope? No. You can see love. You can see
love. Faith is the evidence of grace.
Love is the evidence of faith. In Galatians, chapter five and
verse six, it says, For in Jesus Christ, neither circumcision
availeth anything nor uncircumcision. What avails but faith, which
worketh. Now, this word worketh, it means
displayed. It means to show faith, to be
effectual, which worketh by love. How do I know your faith is effectual?
How do you know your faith is effectual? It works by love. Love, love to God, love to Christ. But again, you can't see my love
for God, and you can't see my love for Christ. How do you know
my love for God and my love for Christ? You know that by my love
for you. By my love for you. We who have fulfilled the law
in Christ, who have the righteousness of Christ, it will be manifested
by the love of the brethren. Therefore, we are exhorted here
to let brotherly love continue. Let brotherly love continue.
Believers, we are so prone to introspection, so caught up with
me. I am so caught up with me. that I need to be reminded to
let brotherly love continue. I have so many troubles and so
many difficulties that I seem to drown in self-pity and oftentimes
forget you. And that's to my shame. Let brotherly
love continue. Let us not be weary in well doing. Now, to love a sinner like me
will cost you. It will cost you to be long suffering
with me. To love a sinner like me will
cost you to be patient. It will cost you to be meek and
forgiving to me because I'm an offensive man. But yet, the love of the brethren
is not optional. It's not optional. Go to 1 John. 1 John chapter 3. Verse 10. In this, the children of God
are manifest and the children of the devil. Whoso doeth not
righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his
brother. Go to verse 14. We know that
we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother
abideth in death. Go over to chapter 4 and verse
20. It says, If any man say, I love
God. Again, it's easy to say, isn't
it? A lot of people say, I love God. And hateth his brother,
he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother
whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not? Believers, let us not be too
cynical about this matter of love. Let us not be respecter
of persons regarding love. Scripture says in Romans 12,
9, let love be without dissimulation. There's a 50 cent word. hypocrisy. Don't love in the face of one
and turn away and speak ill of them. That's not love. To love the brethren is to not
love in word only, but also in deed. In deed. John says in the same chapter
in 1 John 3, 18, My little children, let us not love in word, neither
in tongue, but in deed and in truth. This leads us to the next point.
It says, Let brotherly love continue and be not forgetful to entertain
strangers. Believers be hospitable people. Believers are hospitable people.
Not just to the brethren we know, but to all men we are to be gracious
men. Love your enemies. Do good to them that hate you. Is that not the example of our
Father every day? I. I don't know how I can't stand
it. Sometimes I just watch people
and I watch how they blaspheme my God, and I began to be filled
with anger. Yet God gives them life to do
it. God gives them breath to do it, and if they enjoy it,
believe it or not, God allows them to enjoy. But we are never to compromise
the gospel for so-called love. No one has ever said anything
of such from this pulpit. We love. But remember, the faithful
are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of the enemy are deceitful.
We're not trying to kiss up to people as to try to make them
come into our fold or anything like that. We're not trying to
be deceitful people. We're not deceitful about this
matter of the gospel, yet we can be loving to everyone. We
can be kind because we know we were in their condition at one
time. We were blind, now we see. We
see them as blind, yet we can give them the same grace and
mercy by spreading the gospel to them, by showing love. By showing love. No one was ever
saved by being beaten the head with this book. No one. No one. But I know this, love cover the
multitude of sins. Show them your love. And by this,
maybe God would be gracious to give them to ask of the hope
that is in you. Who's going to ask you anything
concerning the gospel if you're not a loving person? I wouldn't
ask a person is hateful, I wouldn't ask him anything. We should be loving and hospitable.
Believers, open your doors to one another. Do you feel lonely
at times? I do. I spend a lot of time alone
and I do. I feel lonely at times. Open
your doors to each other. I know the main reason we don't
open our doors so much to one another, we're afraid that people
might actually see who we really are. Be hospitable. Open your doors,
not only to the believers, it says to strangers. I'll give you an example of this.
There was a man that called me. I don't know who this fellow
was. I still don't know who. I don't remember his name. I
know he called me and he was in desperate need of fellowship.
He said, I just want to talk. I just want to meet with you.
I just want to talk about the Lord with you. I'm lonely. And
so I met this man and found out his condition. He had AIDS. He was dying. It didn't matter how. Didn't
care how he had it. I knew he was suffering. And I'll tell you what, I know
this, that many times we say this, we meet angels unawares. We meet God's people unaware. And it was a blessing to me to
be able to minister to him. And I know His love. I love that
man. I do. I imagine he's probably gone on
to be with the Lord. I don't know which church he
belonged to. I didn't care. Because when we talked, I knew
this man understood what grace was. And we had joyous fellowship
together. We had a good time together.
I wouldn't take that for the world. Open your homes. Be hospitable. Entertain. And let us love those who are
in bonds. In other words, suffer with those
who suffer. How many believers do you suppose
are in prison today for the gospel? We may not know of many here
in this country, but there are those around the world who do
suffer for the gospel. What about those who suffer in
our own body, in our own assembly? Do we take time to be with them? We should. If we love them, let's
not just say we love them. Go love them. I know this. If anyone of you
ever showed up to my house, you would never be imposing on me.
Never. It would never be the wrong time.
It would always be the right time. When you call me, have I turned
you away? No. Why would I turn you away? I love you. I love to hear your
voice. I love to hear the sound of your voice rings in my ears.
It's sweet. Be that to each other. When someone suffers, it should
be as though you have what they have. Lord's taught me that because
I swear I've never been so sick as to be when I became a pastor
of this church. I think I'm taking on everybody's illnesses. That's
OK. It's OK. I'm glad for it. Very
thankful. Very thankful. So let brotherly love continue. And by this, men see our faith.
By this, men come to know and believe on Christ. I pray that
God blesses you.