Amen. Turn with me, if you would,
to Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13, and let's
read the two verses that we'll be looking at this morning. Verses
15 and 16. 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. He is exhorting here some sacrifices
for us to offer that he says God is well pleased with. Sacrifices for us to offer and
he says God is well pleased with them. That is interesting for
a believer to read for a couple of reasons. Number one, it's
because we know that in the flesh, in this natural flesh, God has
only been well-pleased with one man. That's the first thing that
makes it interesting to hear that God is well-pleased with
something. He said, this is my beloved Son
in whom I'm well-pleased. well pleased with Him, the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's the only man that ever
walked this earth that God was pleased with. That's the only
man that God ever looked at and said, well done. One man. Concerning every other man on
this earth, every other woman on this earth, all of us. He
said, there is none that doeth good, no, not one. That's what
he said, none that do with good. So that's the first reason it's
interesting to read of these sacrifices he's well pleased
with and the commandment he gave in verse 16 to do good. That's
what he said, do good. The second reason it's interesting
to read that is because we know that in our flesh we can't offer
sacrifices to God. We cannot do it. Look with me
at 1 Timothy chapter 2. 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse 5 says,
For there is one God, And one mediator between God
and men, the man, Christ Jesus. There is one great high priest. One great high priest. There's
only one man who can make intercession to God on behalf of sinners.
That's what sacrifices are. You know, they would build an
altar and they would make a sacrifice and they were making intercession
to God. behalf of sin on behalf of the
our sin against him there's only one man who can do that Jesus
Christ the Lord there's only one mediator between God and
man the Lord Jesus Christ but this is what the scripture says
this is what the word says because of his one great sacrifice because
he did make intercession to God on behalf of His people. Because
of that one great sacrifice, if you'll look with me at Revelation
chapter 5. Revelation 5 verse 9 says, and
they sung a new song saying thou art worthy to take the book and
to open the seals thereof for thou was slain and has redeemed
us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and
people and nation. and has made us unto our God
kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth because of
his one great sacrifice for sin. I hope this will be made clear. This was made really clear to
me. Because of his one great sacrifice for sin, that one sacrifice
on the cross, Because the blood of his sacrifice was on us. Those priests would go in and
they would offer blood and sprinkle blood and blood was on everything. Blood was on them. And because
his blood is on us. Because his blood has cleansed
us and made us spotless before God. In that, he has made us
to be priests. every single one of his people.
Priest with him. A priest is a person who is able
to go to the throne of God through a sacrifice. That's who a priest
is. One who is allowed to approach
God through a sacrifice. In the Old Testament, the people
wouldn't dare approach God. They would not dare approach
God. The priest approached God for
him. They had a priest go approach God for him. Well, because of
his sacrifice. Because of the sacrifice of Christ. Because of what he accomplished. He was touched with the feeling
of our infirmities. He made himself to be our sin.
because he bled for us and cleansed us. Every single child of God
now, every one of them, is able to boldly approach the throne
of grace that we may find mercy and help in time of need. We're
all able to approach his throne. So every child of God now has
been made, in Christ, a priest. We do not offer Sin-offering
sacrifices all those animals were slain for thousands of years
Offering trying to offer they never did the blood of bulls
and goats never put away one sin They did all that and they
did all that and they did all that and Hebrew says it never
put away one sin and people are still doing that today and They're
reading what it says, and they're doing all this, and they're doing
all this, and it does not put away one sin. It doesn't put
away one sin. So we don't offer sin offering
sacrifices. There is no sin to sacrifice
for. There will be no more sin offering,
not for those who were not under the blood of Christ, not for
those who are under the blood of Christ. There will never be
a sin offering sacrifice ever again. Christ has already offered
it for his people and it's finished and they're put away. These sins
that we are living out right now and we just hate so much,
they're put away. In Christ, they're put away.
Jeremiah 50 says, in those days, and in that time, saith the Lord,
the iniquity of Israel, which is his chosen covenant people,
shall be sought for, and there shall be none. And the sins of
Judah, and they shall not be found, for I will pardon them
whom I reserve. I'll pardon them. He said in
Isaiah 55, I'll abundantly pardon them. So we do not offer the
sacrifice for sin to God. That one's finished. Christ finished
it. But because of that sacrifice,
because of the sacrifice, because of that payment, the apostle
said, let's approach him. Because he has made us able to
approach him, he said, let's approach him. Now go with me
back to our text. In Hebrews 13, Hebrews 13 verse 15 says, by
Him, and that's the key to it all, by Christ, because of Him,
in Him, with 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. Because
of the offering he made, there are a few offerings that we ought
to make. The apostle lists four of them right here. The first
one he said is in verse 15, by him therefore let us offer the
sacrifice of praise to God continually. He is encouraging, offer the sacrifice of praise.
God's people, the song says, praise God from whom all blessings
flow. Praise the Lord God. Praise means honor. It means
extol. It means exalt. It means cheer. Cheer. Cheer Him. One of my favorite
things in the scripture. I have loved this story. I love
it so much. It's when our Lord sat on the
colt of that donkey. He went riding triumphantly into
Jerusalem. And it says, as he was descending
down the Mount of Olives, headed to Jerusalem, everybody could
see that his face was set like a flint. And the people started throwing
their coats in the way, and they started throwing palm branches
in the way. And it says in Luke 19, the whole
multitude of the disciples begin to rejoice and praise God with
a loud voice, crying, blessed be the King that cometh in the
name of the Lord. Hosanna, that means, oh, save. Here he goes and they're crying,
oh, save. And some of the Pharisees were
annoyed by their praise. Annoyed by the praise of the
disciples and they went up to him and they said master rebuke
that disciples Shut him up, we don't want to
hear it and He answered and said unto them I tell you that if
these should hold their peace the stones would immediately
cry out I Wish they would have held their peace just so we could
Heard the rocks cry out. All the rocks will cry out. Glory
to God in the high. Praise. Praise. Praise. He must be praised. Right here. He must be praised. May God teach
us truly in the heart to praise Him. We're not just here to give
lip service. We're not here. I pray often,
and that's why I ask other men to pray. I feel like I say the
same things over and over. Lord, would you put something
in my heart? I don't want to just give lip service to you.
May God teach us to truly offer the sacrifice of praise to God
continually. Praise in the heart. We praise
Him in the thought. We praise Him in the heart. We
praise Him in word. We praise Him ever in joyful
song. Look with me at Colossians chapter
3. Colossians 3 verse 16 says, 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. I want to encourage all of us
to do that more often, starting with me. I want to encourage
me to do that more often. Let's sing these hymns that we
know and love so much. To me, a service doesn't get
better than Psalm 23 and hymn number 17. That's just good and
good. And as these moments come where
we need some encouragement, see if the Lord will let you sing
a hymn. These wonderful hymns, they praise him. It'll put grace
in our hearts. It really will. If we'll take
a minute and sing a hymn, it'll put grace in our hearts. And
in the process, we'll be praising God. praising him. All right, go with me back to
Hebrews 13. Verse 15 says, 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. We have so much reason to give
thanks. We have so much reason. You give
thanks for an act of kindness. You give thanks for a gift. Oh, the unspeakable gift. Oh, the unspeakable gift. God
gave his son. Lord, let me not ever say that
without entering into what it means. God gave his son. His act of kindness, His grace
was greater than all our sin. If we were in the darkest, lowest,
deepest day of our life, if we were right in the middle of the
lowest, darkest day of our life, we technically shouldn't even
have time to dwell on it for all the thanks that we could
offer. I'd love to learn that. If we do find ourselves in a
dark day, if we do find ourselves honestly in a dark place, a depressed
place, just start giving thanks to the Lord. I promise you, the
light will come on. It will pull us right out. The
next time depression sets in, just take about five minutes
and give nothing but thanks. Paul told the Thessalonians,
in everything, give thanks. This is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you. And he said right here in our
text, it's well-pleasing to God. Thanks is well-pleasing to God. Well-pleasing. And he said we
ought to do it continually. We ought to give praise to God
and thanks to his holy name continually. That means at all times, in every
condition we're in, In every place that we're in in every
way that we can every possible way that we can for Everything
for everything I'm gonna for the sake of time. I'm not gonna
have you turn but just listen to this I was gonna have you
look at Psalm 150 this is the last one he said In Psalm 150,
praise ye the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary.
Praise Him in the firmament of His power. Praise Him for His
mighty acts. Praise Him according to His excellent
greatness. Praise Him with the sound of
the trumpet. Praise Him with the psaltery and harp. Praise
Him with the timbrel and pipe. Praise Him with stringed instruments
and organs. Praise Him upon the loud cymbals.
Praise Him upon the high-sounding cymbals. Let everything that
hath breath Praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. Now down
here, sin is mixed with everything we do. And once you get all those
drums and cymbals and everything rolling, we start to think, man,
we're doing a pretty good job here. But one of these days,
when that sin is gone, we're going to praise the Lord. And
it's going to be right. It's going to be right in God's
eyes. And that's what his saints ought to do continually, offer
up the sacrifices of praise and thanks. Well, he said in verse
16, but to do good and to communicate, forget not for with such sacrifices,
God is well pleased. We know we've already acknowledged
that there is none good, but God. We know that all of our
own righteousnesses, all of our good works are filthy rags in
his eyes. We actually cry here. By God's
grace, we cry, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, unto thy name give
glory. But verse 15 says this is all
by him. It's all by him. It's by his
work. It's by His Spirit in us. It's
all because of Him. And therefore, verse 16 says,
don't forget to do good. Don't forget to do good. What
is doing good? Ultimately, the Lord says it's
communicating. And we'll see what that is in
just a second. But look with me at Philippians 4. Philippians 4, verse 8 says, Finally, brethren,
whatsoever things are true, Whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever
things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are
lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any
virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things. If we
think on those things, we are thinking on Christ. We just described
Christ, all of those things. He is truth. He is honesty. He is just. He is pure. He is lovely. He is of good report. Virtue goes forth from Him. He's
the only one worthy of praise. And because of Him, by Him, may
God teach us to follow Verse 8 says, whatsoever things are
true, let's stay away from lies. Let's just try as hard as we
can. We try to, we justify it in our
mind saying, well, I'm just not going to tell the whole truth,
which is the start of a lie. And Lord, help us just put away lying.
Help us to put away lying. Verse 8 says, What whatsoever
things are honest. God's people ought to be the
most honest people in the community. They ought to be the most honest
people in business. They ought to be honest. Verse
8 says, Whatsoever things are just. Whatever's fair and right. God's people are not trying to
take anybody for all they're worth. Whatsoever things are
lovely or loving. Whatever's loving. How should
we handle this? How do we respond? Well, what's
loving? That's what we should do. Whatsoever things are of
good report. One of these days, I would be
so grateful to the Lord if He would teach me to only repeat
things that are of good report. The news hasn't learned that
yet. They only repeat bad report. That's all they give you is bad
news. And that goes against the flesh, doesn't it? Good report,
all the flesh wants to do is repeat bad report. But I know you've heard that. Is
it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? If it's not,
Lord, would you help me to just save that for a good report? Well, all those things are doing
good. Here's the last thing he mentions. Look at verse 16 back
in our text, Hebrews 13. Verse 16, he said, but to do
good and to communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices
God is well pleased. Communicate does mean, even in
the definition of that word, we look up these words and see
what they mean, and it does mean in the definition of that word,
communication, conversation. And it's a good thing for brethren
to communicate with each other. It's a good thing. Have you ever
thought something really kind about somebody and just not told
them? You just keep it to yourself.
And then some time goes on and you think it again. You think
a kind thought and you just don't tell them. And then some more
time goes on and you think that again and you finally realize,
I'm going to tell them. I want to know how I feel. That's a
good thing. That is a good thing. We need
to do that. But this word communicate it
means something deeper. It means to give. It means to
supply a need. That's what it means. And that's
something that our Lord has said time and time again in his word
that he is well pleased with it. He's well pleased. He said
it is better to give than to receive. It's better. He said
He loves a cheerful giver. He proved that to us, didn't
He? He proved that in His own gift. He gladly gave His Son. Our Lord went to that cross for
the joy set before Him. And because of that, we ought
to give in return. We ought to communicate return we have a
very short time on this earth to take part in the ministry
of the gospel From here. We're the Bible studies done.
I just want to tell you something now Time is flying by I've been here
almost six years and it's flying by and it's flying by and the
Lord has has mercifully and miraculously raised up a ministry of the gospel
here. And the time is very, very short
for us to actively take part in the ministry. We have a very
small window of time, and then our time on this earth is over.
And the Lord will continue it with whoever he pleases to bring
up along the way. I want to encourage all of us
to communicate whenever I believe everyone here knows that the
one subject I hate talking about the most is giving because it
appears to be so selfish and greedy and all those kinds of
things but we're about to read something in just a minute and
it'll make a lot of sense out of it And I want to encourage
us to communicate. Let's show our love and show
our thanks and show our support for the gospel. Concerning the spreading of the
gospel, you know, we're trying to spread the gospel. A sower
went forth to sow seed. We're trying to spread the gospel.
Concerning that, concerning the support of God's people individually,
individual needs. There are other ministries who
are trying to spread the gospel. There is never a time when there's
not a need. I just want to have that on record. There is never a moment in time
when there's not a need. A lot of times we don't realize
it, you know, and generally, if there's not a need, we don't
give. There is always a need and usually
we don't realize it. The Lord knows and the Lord will
do whatever he's pleased to do with his own. But I'm going to
tell you about a need right now that we can communicate to. There's
a brand new congregation in Missouri. And they've just called a brand
new pastor. and I've spoken with the men, and they are going to
try to communicate with all their communication. They're a small
group. It's something that's very fresh
to us. They're going to try to communicate
everything they can to that man so that he can completely, totally
give himself to study and preaching. That's what the ministry out
there needs. That ministry needs that man to be completely, completely
given to studying and preaching. And they're going to try to communicate
to that man. And they're going to try to communicate to the
city. A small group of people is going
to try to communicate to that great city by way of supporting
the gospel in whatever way the Lord will open a door for them
to get it out there. They're going to communicate
everything they can So let's communicate to them. Let's communicate
to them. When I first got here, the Lord
has provided for us. Oh, he's provided for us. When
I first got here, four congregations supported us for a period of
time. It was not an ongoing thing.
It's a period of time. And it meant the world to me,
and it meant the world to everybody who was here at the time. We
needed it, or else I was gonna have to go get a job. We needed
it. But more so than that, it was
such an encouragement to us. It made us believe the Lord is
in this. The Lord is with us. The Lord
has rallied his people, and he communicated to us. Let's do
that for them. I want to encourage everybody
here to communicate not to me and not to us. Let's communicate
to them. If the Lord will let us do that
because of Christ by him by him. It's a good thing in doing that
we will be given praise and thanks to our God. Now, let me very
quickly close with this go back to Philippians 4 one more time.
The Apostle Paul said the same thing right here. And I think
this is very important for us to say. Philippians 4 verse 15, he said,
now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the
gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated
with me as concerning giving and receiving, but you only.
You sent support to me. For even in Thessalonica you
sent once and again unto my necessity. Not because I desired a gift. God will provide. If God is in
the ministry in Missouri, God's gonna provide for Missouri. They
will not stand or fall based on what we do. God will provide. God is in charge of that. And
he said, not because I desire a gift, but I desire fruit. that may abound to your account.
He said, it just thrilled me to see God's Spirit in you. God's Spirit is a giving Spirit. God is a giving God. He's given
all. He's given it all. And when God's
Spirit is in a sinner, that sinner, he gives. He gives everything
he can. But he said in verse 18, I have
all and abound. I am full having received of
Epaphroditus, your pastor, the things which were sent for you
and he said it was an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable,
well pleasing to God. That's just something the Lord
is well pleased with. May the Lord help us, teach us. All right, you're dismissed.