I want to deal with ten things
out of this chapter this evening, ten things. I believe there are
areas here that every believer, every believer is interested
in, and it would help them and encourage them and instruct us
and exhort us. First of all, it says now, I
think in verse twenty, the God of peace, the God of peace that
brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ. It says in
verse 21, the God of peace make you perfect, perfect in every
good work to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing
in His sight. The God of peace make you perfect.
He is able to make you perfect. He's able to make you work in
you that is well-pleasing in His sight, because He raised
the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, and He, Messiah, made peace. But every believer wants to be
perfect. It says here, make you perfect. And this word perfect
means mature, honest, sincere. And every believer wants to be
perfect, and it says, make you perfect in every good work. We
want to be perfect in every good work. He wants to be well-pleasing
in the sight of his heavenly Father. And it's God that does
it. But now there are some important
things for us, and I, you and I both need them. And I need
them more than most. But these are some things that
we want to be made perfect in. These are areas in our life,
and I speak for myself more than I do anybody else, that I believe
that I want God to make me perfect in and establish me in them and
make me well-pleasing in His life. First of all is love. Look there in verse 1. Let brotherly
love continue. God makes you perfect in love. You know, our Lord Jesus Christ,
He says, you know how men are going to know you're my disciples?
Because you have love one toward another. I heard a fellow say
the other day, he says, you know, he was using this as an illustration.
He says, if you see a prostitute out on the street, you recognize
her by her demeanor and her dress. Things like that. And he says,
you know why I don't believe in Christianity? Because you
can't recognize a Christian when you see. And you know, that's
the way they look at things. You're supposed to stand out
some way. The Jews in New York City stand out. You can tell
a Jew from a mile away the way he dresses. But he's not a believer. He's not a believer. And that's
why he says, let brotherly love continue. And this is how our
Lord says, this is how people will tell you that you're my
disciples. They'll see y'all loving one another. They'll see
you caring for one another. They'll see you going that extra
mile for one another. Look with me now. You keep Hebrews
and look over 1 Corinthians with me in chapter 13. You know, our Lord Jesus says,
you've heard it says, says that you shall hate your enemies and love them that love you.
But I say unto you, love your enemies. Pray for them with despiteful
illusion. And this love is not something
that we just use words about. It's something that's actually
manifested. You know, God is love. How do we know He's love?
Herein is the love of God that He sent His Son into the world.
How do we know God loves us? How do we know God loves sinners?
He manifested in His Son. He manifested in calmness by
the gospel. Love can't be hid. Love has manifested
itself. Love expresses itself. It can't
be done any other way. And here in 1 Corinthians 13,
it says this, Though I speak with the tongues of men and of
angels, oh my, I mean just, whoa, just a great orator, and how
my charity I've become as a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. Sound and grasp. And though I
have the gifts of prophecy, I mean, I can preach. I can preach to
no other thought. I can preach where people stand
in wonder and astonishment. And I understand all mysteries.
I can tell you the ins and outs of everything in the Scriptures.
And I have knowledge. Oh, I know all the things that's
going on. And though I have faith that
I can make mountains move out of my way and have not charity.
I am nothing. Nothing. And though I bestow
all my goods to feed the poor, and I give my body to be burned
and have not charity, it profits me nothing. I am nothing, and
what I do profits me nothing. Charity, love, suffers long. I mean, love makes you go so
far and farther and farther and farther and farther. And it's
kind. And it doesn't envy what somebody
else has. They rejoice in what somebody
else has. Charity boughteth not itself.
It's not real rash and makes quick decisions. And it's not
puffed up. Look down at verse 13. And now abideth, abideth, things
that stay on continually. Now abideth faith, hope, and
charity. And I want all three of them.
These three, but the greatest charity is the love of God. Oh
my God, make us perfect in love. Look back over in our text and
let me show you another one here. Oh God, make us perfect in hospitality. Look there in verse two. Be not
forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained
angels unaware. Hospitality entertains strangers.
You know, Abraham was sitting out in front of his tent one
day and three men walked up to him. And he recognized those three
men. One of them was the Lord himself. And he says, let me dress you
some food and let me get things ready and sit down here with
you. And he said, oh, I've got to go. He says, no, please sit down
here. And he entertained the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And the Lord says, do you think
we should tell Abraham what we're going to do? Getting ready to
destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? And then angels went down to
Sodom and Gomorrah. And they were standing there,
sitting out there, and Lot didn't know they were angels. And Lot
says, you men, why are you standing out here? He said, come to my
house. Come on into my house. We'll feed you. We'll take care
of you. We'll give you a place to sleep. He said, no, no, we'll
sleep out here in the street. He says, no, no, no. Come into my house. And it was
when they was in there that those men began to beat on the door.
And let me show you what happened in Luke chapter 24. And look
at the Lord Jesus Christ here when somebody thought He was
a stranger. In Luke 24, hospitality. Hospitality. In Luke 24. Look what happens, look what
it says up there in verse 18. Our Lord Jesus Christ draws nearer
to these two men, and one of them said in verse 18, And the
one of them whose name was Cleopas answering said unto him, Art
thou only a stranger in Jerusalem? It is not known the things which
are come to pass there these days. Stranger. Now look down
here in verse 29. Verse 28, And they drew nigh
unto the village where they went, and he made as though he would
go farther. He was going to go on. But they constrained him,
saying, Abide with us, for it is toward evening the day is
far spent. Oh, don't go on. It's late. It's getting late.
It's going to get dark. And will you go? And they constrained
him to abide with us. And oh, and he went in to tarry
with them. And it came to pass that he sat
with me to them. He took bread and blessed it
and break it and gave it to them. And watch this. Their eyes was
open and they knew him. You never know. When our Lord
says, give a cup of cold water, to a disciple in my name, or
a prophet, and you'll receive a prophet's reward. Hospitality. Entertain angels. Be alert for
an opportunity to treat people. Oh, hospitality. And I'll tell
you another one here that, oh my, for me, compassion. Compassion. Look down at verse
3. Hebrews 13. Remember them that are in bonds
is bound with them, and them which suffer adversity as being
yourselves also in the body." Compassion. Now, when it talks
about people in bonds as bound with them, people that's struggling,
people that's in some kind of a bondage, or they're in some
kind of adversity, they're in trouble, they're in heartache,
they're in great trials, they're in things that seem to be against
them. And here this adversity and this suffering, this suffering,
this suffered adversity, there's two kinds of sufferings. There's
physical sufferings, and physical sufferings in the body. And when
you suffer in your body, you also suffer in your soul. I was
talking to a preacher the other day, and he has, his body is
just breaking down on him. He's having to start sitting
down to preach. And he says, you know, he said, I get to hurting
so bad, and when you're hurting so bad, your mind won't work.
You can't think, you can't read, you can't do anything. And we're
so connected together, our body and our minds. If your body's
hurting, then your whole soul's hurting. And if your soul's hurting,
then it makes you where you can't hardly think or do anything else.
You're taken up with it. And so that's what he says. When
you see people in these bonds, you see people in these adversities,
you see people suffering physically or spiritually, have compassion. Lift him up. Now you keep this
and look at Galatians just back a couple of chapters, a couple
of books back. Look what he says here in Galatians
6. Oh, compassion, compassion, compassion. You see, we're still in this
body as if you yourself were in the body. You know, this is
one thing. When you see somebody suffering,
the first thing you think of, Oh, Lord, I hate us for them. Oh, God, have mercy on them.
And because we know our body's subject to these same things.
Our body's subject to it. We don't know what we're going
on in our bodies right now that may be the death of us six months
from now, or a year from now, or two or three years from now.
We don't know if you're going to be up in the morning and you're
going to have heart problems, and they're going to have you
in the hospital doing the five bypasses on you. We don't know. But we
do know this, that when we see people suffering in the body,
And we are in the body, and we're subject to these things. So when
we see people suffering, and we're subject to these things,
your heart goes out to them. You want to do everything you
can to relieve them of their pain, relieve them of their anxiety,
and relieve those who are doing for them. And that's what he
said here in Relation 6. Brethren, if a man be overtaken
in a fault, you which are spiritual, restore such a one. In the spirit
of meekness, here's why, same thing as considering yourself
you're in the body, lest thou also be tempted. Now listen to
it. Bear ye one another's burdens,
and so you fulfill the law of Christ. Our Lord says, cast your
cares upon me, because he cares for you. And oh, here's another
one. If a man thinks himself to be
something, he thinks himself to be spiritual, thinks himself
to be dedicated, thinks himself to be a real fine, strong believer,
thinks himself to be one who really is interested in what's
going on. When a man thinks himself to be something, when he sees
these things going on and he does nothing about it, when he
is nothing, he deceives himself. When you see these things going
on, you're deceiving yourself if you don't do something to
help. That's what he's telling us there. And so we're still
in this body. And I'll tell you, people and
things are precious to us after they're gone. Why can't they
be as precious to us while they're here? Huh? Why can't they be
as precious? They should be as precious to
us while they're here, shouldn't they? When they're gone, they
become extremely precious to us. The memories become precious
to us. The time that we had together
is precious to us. Shouldn't they be precious to
us now? And that's why we do whatever's
necessary when somebody's in trouble, to do what we can to
relieve them, compassion. Let me show you another one here.
These are things that, oh God, make us perfect in every good
work. Making working in us at this well-pleasing in your sight.
Here's another one. Marriage. Marriage is honorable
in all, in the bed undefiled. You know, marriage is the first
institution that God revealed in His Word. He made Adam out
of the dust, and they're going to go back to the dust. Remember,
Job said this morning, he says, you're but ashes, and your body's
nothing but a body of clay. He said, out of the same lump,
out of the same lump of clay, every man's made. Some to honor,
some to dishonor. We're clay. And here he made
this man of clay, and he gave him a woman. He set this woman
down beside him, and he says, now you two, you're going to
be one. You're going to be one. This
is before they ever had a child. This is before they ever had
any kind of relationship. You're all going to be one. In
my sight, you're not going to be two. You're not going to be
Adam and you're not going to be Eve. As far as I'm concerned,
you're going to be married. You're going to be as one person
in my sight. You'll have responsibilities as a man. You'll have responsibilities
as a woman. But you're going to be in my
sight. You're going to be as one. And this is a type of our relationship
to Christ. Ain't that right over in Ephesians
5? Look at this here. Let me show you. This is a type
of our relationship to Christ. And this is the first institute. that God manifested on this earth. The first thing you see, He says,
you shall please to one another. That's why He said, please to
one another. And oh, in Ephesians chapter 5, and it says here in
verse 25, Husbands, love your wives even
as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it. John
Newton, his wife got cancer, and she was dying. And back then,
they couldn't do anything about it. She got in bad shape, and
he spent all his waking time with her, sitting with her, praying
with her, comforting her. And then he'd get up and go preach.
He'd come back, and one man told him, he says, Mr. Newton, He says, your Lord has smitten
your wife because you love her too much. And you know what Mr. Newton said to him? He said,
how could I possibly love her too much? He says, the Lord told
me to love her as Christ loved the church. Does Christ love
us too much? Does Christ love us too much?
Husband, love your wife even as Christ also loved the church,
and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse
him with the washing of water by the word, that he might present
it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, any
such thing. Christ does not fault us, does not chide us, does not
ridicule us, does not embarrass us the way we see husbands and
wives do with one another. But as it should be holy and
without blame, so ought men to love their wives as their own
bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth
himself. No man ever yet hated his own
flesh. You ain't going to mistreat your own body, so surely you
wouldn't mistreat your wife, who is your own body. And he
that loveth him wife, but nourishes and cherishes it even as the
Lord the Church. For we are members of his flesh
and of his body 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. One flesh. You know, I was talking
to a fellow yesterday, we was talking about marriage, and he
says, you know, I'm a very moody person, and my wife's been married
many, many years, and we've got to the place where she knows
when to let me alone, and I know when to let her alone. And that's
marriage. You don't pick at one another.
It's like picking at a scam. You build a marriage. Somebody
said, well, you put in 50-50. Nope, that don't work. That does
not work. 50-50 don't work. This is not
a 50-50 proposition. It's a 100% proposition. And
I'll tell you why it's a 100% proposition, because there's
lots of times one of them will put in zip, zero, nada. And in fact, they won't put anything
into it, but they'll do everything they can to damage it. So you've
got to put in the hundred percent. And you've got to bear the burden
of it, bear the brunt of it, bear the misery of it. I mean,
it works both ways that way. And oh, beloved, that's lots
of times. And I, Lord, do know marriage. Oh, my soul, this is something
that I can't tell anybody how. I just, I want to do a state
with what the scripture says about it. I'm not, we're not
going to have no marriage seminars or anything like that, but our
Lord Jesus went to a marriage. The first time he performed a
miracle, it was at a marriage. They invited him to a marriage
and he went to that marriage. That's when the scripture says,
when Christ first began to manifest his glory, when he turned that
water into wine, performed his first miracle at a wedding. So
he, beloved, sets his approval on a wedding. I know that folks
today think so little of marriage. And they ridicule marriage. And
they live together. And they want to try to... And
preachers don't even make much about it anymore. But, oh, this
is so typical of our relationship to Christ. And that's why it's
so imperative that, you know, Christ loved his church, gave
himself for it. Husband, you love your wife,
give yourself for it. Wife, submit yourself to your
husband as Christ submitted himself to the Father. And, oh, do I
hate my body? No, I'm going to take care of
my body. If I hurt something about it, oh, it hurts me. And
that's why we're one flesh. If I hurt my wife, then that's
like hurting my own body. That's what the Scripture says. Oh my, God make us, oh. Let me give you another one.
Oh, make us perfect in this. There in verse 5, covetousness.
Let your conversation be without covetousness, and be content
with such things as you have. For He has said, I'll never leave
thee, nor forsake thee. Now that word covetousness means
craving and inordinate affection. Craving, oh, I want something,
I want it, I want it, I want it, I want it, I want it. And
you know, I want you to keep this, but I want you to look
and flip this forward with me just a moment. You know, our
Lord gave an illustration. He says, you know, there is a
rich man. He told him, beware of covetousness. He said, there
is a rich man. And all, he says, this rich man,
he labored and labored, and he, all he was interested in was
filling his barns. Filling his barns. Making money,
making money. Working, working, working. And
the Lord Jesus says, you know, said, this fellow, this rich
man, said, his, oh, he was so, he had everything. He said, let's
just tear down the barn, let's build some more, put all this
stuff in it. Now, soul, you've got everything. That's all he's
interested in, what he can get. Take yea's, drink and be merry.
And about that time, the Lord says, you fool. Now watch this. Your soul is required of you
tonight. Your soul. Your soul. And oh,
beloved, I tell you, To be content, oh, to have contentment is one
of the most blessed things you can have on the face of this
earth. To be content, be content where you live, be content with
what God gave you, be content with your money, be content with
your friends, be content with your food, be content, oh my,
listen to what it said here in Philippians chapter 4 and verse
11. Not that I speak in respect of
want, for I have learned, and this is something you have to
learn, don't come easy. That's why God keeps trying us
and keeps breaking our, taking our hands off of things and taking
things, you know, making us, weaning us from this world. For
I have learned that in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. Now, what kind of states are
we in? Well, Paul said, I tell you, I know how to be abased.
I know how to be embarrassed. I know how to be put down. I
know how to be made to be nothing. And I know how to abound. No,
not many people know how to abound. They don't know how to abound.
Most folks don't know how to abound. They get a little money,
get a little property, get a little something, you know, and then
they got to get great big mailboxes, let everybody know it's theirs.
Got to get science put all over the place and let everybody know
it's my property and I want you on it. You know, got
to let everybody know it's mine. This is my accomplishment. But
oh my. He said, I know how to abound.
I know that just as low as I'm made low, I know it's the grace
of God that makes me high. And everywhere and in all things
I'm instructed both to be full and to be hungry. Both to abound
and to suffer need. How do you do that? Well, before
the Lord's people, before God, you're hungry. Before God, you're
obese. Before God, you suffer need.
Before the world, you're full. Before the world, you're abounding.
Before the world, you're full. Before the world, you don't have
any need at all. Only before God. And watch this. Well, how in the world can we
do this? Where can we get this contentment at? I can do all
things through Christ which strengthens me. That's how I can do it. That's
how I can learn contentment. That's how I can learn. That's
how I can... Oh, let me show you something
else in Proverbs. I've showed you this so many times, I ask
you to even mark it in your Bible, I believe. Proverbs chapter 30. Proverbs 30. I believe I asked you to mark
this in your Bibles. I believe I did last time we looked at
it. Proverbs 30. Oh, what a verse of Scripture
here. Proverbs 30 and verse 7. Two things. This is the words
of Agar. Two things, if I require of thee.
Deny them me not before I die. Don't withhold them from me.
First of all, I want you to remove me far from vanity and lies.
Don't make me think more of myself. Don't make me vain glory and
lies. Remove them from me. Remove me
far from them. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient
for me. Give me my allowance. And I ask
you this, lest I be full and deny thee and say, Who is the
Lord? I've got everything. I'm all good. Well, I'm rich.
I'm increased with goods. I don't need the Lord. And watch
this. Or lest I be poor and steal and
take the name of my God in vain. Oh, my. Don't let me be rich,
because I won't need the Lord. Don't let me be poor, I'll end
up stealing something. Take God's name in vain. Oh,
don't let us. You know, things come under strain,
over-wanting things, and then get them. If you want something
bad enough, sometimes you get it, and then you say, Oh, my
Lord, save me from this. Save me from this. You know,
hell and destruction are never full. The eyes of man is never
satisfied. But you know back over in our
text, back over here in Hebrews 13, you know why? The Scripture
shows us here why we shouldn't covet. Let your conversation,
that word conversation means your life, your manner of life. Don't let your life be about
coveting. Don't let your life be about
just wanting things, desiring things, craving things, craving
things, all the time wanting more and more and more. When
all of us has got more than we could possibly use. But here's
the reason why. Let your manner of life be without,
verse 5, without covetousness, and be content with such things
as you have." Here's the reason why. Because all your riches
will leave you. Your health will leave you. Your
friends and things, and I mean everything. But he has said,
I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you. So we'll
boldly say, the Lord's my helper. He's the one that provides for
me. He's the one that gives me everything I have in this world.
The Lord is my helper, and I'll not fear what man will do unto
me. I ain't no sense in me coveting things that I don't need. And
then let me show you another one here right quick. Here's
another thing. Back here in this, Hebrews 13. Oh, God worked these things in
us. Verse 7, the rule over you. Remember them which have the
rule over you. That word rule over you means to guide you.
It don't mean somebody that's got authority over you in any
way. It means to guide you. Remember
them that have the rule over you, have spoken unto you the
word of God. Remember them. Whose faith follow. That faith is what they preach
to you. Considering the end of their manner of life. Do they
practice what they preach? If they preach that the grace
of God saves a man, do they live by the grace of God? If they
preach the sovereignty of God and not murmur, do they murmur? If they preach that salvation
is holy of the Lord, if they preach, don't be covetous. If
they preach, be content. If they preach these things,
do they not bear it out? And that's why he says, remember
them which have the rule over you and have spoken unto you
the Word of God. And when he says, remember them,
remember them in prayer. I told Brother Milton last week,
and I told the folks down there, I said, you know, the congregation,
every time the men pray, every time somebody prays, they pray
for me. Every time I hear them pray,
they pray for me. And I'm grateful for it. I am
so thankful for it. You know, remember them in prayer.
Remember their responsibility. Remember their burdens. Remember
their care for you. Because they preach unto you
the Word of God. Now look down here in verse 17.
Obey them that have the rule over you, or that guide you.
Obey them. That word means submit to them. Submit to them. Submit to their
gospel. Submit to their Word. Submit
to their office. And submit to them, for they
watch for your souls, as they must give an account, that they
may do it with joy and not with grief, for that's unprofitable
for you. Obey them. Obey them. And here,
beloved, there in verse 17, there's a threefold, you know, they got
to give an account. They watch for your souls. Watch
for your souls. That's why I tell you, you don't
know how desperately I want to see somebody come to Christ.
How I want to see people grow in the grace of God. I sent the
messages down to Daniel of his son preaching here last week.
And he wrote me back and said, oh, I sent him email. And he
said, oh, my son's such a, what a, oh, I'm so blessed by that.
So blessed by it. And you know, here's the thing.
We have a threefold giving account. He wants for your souls. And
we have to give an account for your soul. And there's a threefold
giving account. We have to, first of all, give
an account to our own conscience. We have to give an account to
our own conscience in preaching the truth and what we have to
say and what we have to do. I've got to, Paul says, I labor
to have a clear conscience in the sight of God. And secondly,
we have to give, and I have to give an account to you fellows
here at the church. I have to give an account to all you. And
this is something I've told you so many times, that if I start
going wrong in the gospel, start going wrong in doctrine, it won't
come all at once. It'll be a subtle thing, and
you've got to watch it. But I have to give an account
to the brethren of this church. You know, am I telling you, do
I love you? Do I care for you? Do I really
watch over your souls? And thirdly, I have to give an
account to God. When I come to God in prayer,
when I get up here to preach, I have to give an account to
God. I have to give an account to God of my message. I have
to give an account of my love for you. I have to give an account
of my attitude. I have to give an account of
my spirit. I've got to give an account of
my intentions. And this thing, that we may do
it with joy. Oh, give an account before God.
Give an account to my conscience. Give an account to you with joy.
You rejoice in the gospel? You rejoice in the truth? You
rejoice in the fellowship? You rejoice in the love? Oh,
listen, and not with grief. Oh, I don't want to go to God
with grief in my heart over somebody, over somebody being out of pocket,
over somebody being mean, over somebody being cruel, somebody
being mean. And because if you do that, it'll
be unprofitable for you. And then look down in verse 24.
Remember, rule them that rule over you. Salute them that have
the rule over you. And all the saints, they evidently
salute you. Now, this word, salute, everybody
knows what that means. It means to greet and greet with
respect. It's like when we salute the
flag. We do that because of out of love and respect for our flag. And when He says, Salute them
out of love and respect for the office, You embrace it. You show great respect for it.
And you salute them. Oh, in the name of Christ, I
salute you. In the name of Christ, I love
you. In the name of Christ, I respect you. And oh, and I'll tell you
another reason why to remember them, because you know what their
message is when he says there in verse 7, he said, whose faith
followed considering the other manner of life. Here's what it
is. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. That's why we're preaching. That's
why we submit to one another. That's what we're given account
for of our message. And that's why Jesus Christ is the same. And let me hurry on here. I'll
tell you what. Let me give you another here
real quick. Back over here in Hebrews 13.
One of the things that we want to watch and we want God to work
in us. First of all, apostasy. We don't
want to be apostasized. We don't want to be carried away.
He says there in verse 9, Be not carried about with divers
and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the
heart be established with grace, not with means, which have not
profited them that have been occupied therein. And he says
here, be not carried about. Don't be carried away. Don't
be carried about with divers and strange doctrines. What's
he talking about? Anything that's strange to the Scriptures. Don't be carried about. Don't
be carried away with anything strange to the Scriptures. If
it's strange to the Scriptures, don't listen to it. Don't follow
it. That's why it's so imperative that you know the Scriptures.
That's why you come here to learn from the Scriptures, to learn
what the Scriptures say. That's why we turn and we look
at the Word of God, see what it does say at the Scriptures.
So, oh, if it's strange to the Scriptures, If it's strange to
the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, because He's the
same today, yesterday, and forever, and if He ever changes and you
present a Christ who changes and don't have the power to do
what He will, that's a strange thing. Don't be carried around
all for that strange doctrine. If it's strange to the person
of Christ, if it's strange to the work of Christ, that Christ
did not actually accomplish the salvation that He worked out
and gives that salvation to His people. And if it's strange to
the doctrine of the grace of God, if they bring in anything
besides grace, it's strange. Don't be carried about with that.
Don't be carried away with that. Don't even entertain it for a
moment. Don't entertain it for a moment.
If it's strange to the Scriptures, And that's why, you know, if
you give somebody the Scriptures, you know, they may not like...
You know, I've often said this. Brother Henry Mayhem, when Bill
was talking about this the other day, if you reject him, you've
got to reject him on account of his message, not because of
the way he gives his message. And that's what we want to be
careful for. If we know the Scriptures, and if we'll give men the Scriptures
and give it to them right, then they've got to reject the Scriptures.
It's not you they reject. And that's why God said, it's
not you that they reject, it's me they reject. When He told
Moses, it's not me, you, they rejected Moses, it's me they
rejected. And when a person rejects the
Scriptures, they're rejecting God. And that's why we don't
want to be... That's why we don't want Jehovah's
Witnesses. We don't want them around our house. You know? Don't want Seventh-Day Adventists? Don't want free-wheelers? Armenians? Anything that's strange to the
Scriptures, to the personal work of Christ, to the doctrine of
the grace of God. And there's three key words here in this
verse of Scripture. It's a good thing the first was
the heart. The second's established. The third's grace. That the heart,
it's a good thing that the heart, the heart is you. That's us.
That's our person. Our hearts. With the heart man
believeth unto righteousness. With the heart. As a man thinketh
in his heart, so is he. The heart's established on Christ. The heart's established in Christ. Established in the word of God.
And then it's established. That word established means set.
Set where something's established, I mean, it's unmovable, it's
there, it's good, it's strong, it's steadfast. And then how's
it established? By grace! Marvelous grace of our loving
Lord! Huh? Oh, my. I'll tell you, the kingdom
of God's not in meat and drink, but righteousness and joy and
peace in the Holy Ghost. So be not carried about. Oh,
God don't let us be carried about. Don't let me even go along with
anything that's strange to you. And then down here in verse 15.
Praise. Work in us. Praise. Praise. In verse 15. By Him, therefore,
let us offer the sacrifice of God to continually, that is,
the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. Praise. Praise through Christ. By Him,
therefore, let us offer. God says it's an offering to
Him. What is it? It's the sacrifice of praise.
He calls it the fruit of your lips. By Him, by Him, you know,
we're kings and priests under God. By Him, as priests, we bring
sacrifice of praise. We offer spiritual sacrifices
acceptable unto God through Jesus Christ. And that's the only sacrifices
we can make, is our spiritual sacrifices. What else? We can't bring anything else
to God that would satisfy Him. So we can bring Him our thanksgiving,
we can bring Him our lamb. I'll tell you some things we
can't bring. We can't bring a lamb. He's already the lamb that was
slain. You read it tonight. Worthy is
the Lamb, and I want that to put in the bulletin before you
leave tonight. You give that to me. I'll put that in the bulletin
next week. And I'll tell you, the blood, we can't bring blood.
Christ's already entered once into the holy place with His
own blood. We can't bring atonement. Christ is our atonement. But
I tell you what we can do, we can give thanks, we can offer
the sacrifice of praise, and we got much, you know, your granddaughter
today just got bruised up a little bit. Oh, what to give thanks
for? What to get thankful for? But look down here in this word,
look in your margin, maybe it's in your margin, but to giving
thanks, it says, confessing to. Giving thanks, confessing to
His name. giving thanks to Him, confessing
His name, that He is worthy. He is all power. He is worthy
of our praise. He is worthy of our worship.
He is worthy of our love. He is worthy of everything. And
oh, many don't worship. They're careless. And look with
me quickly in Psalm 100. Psalm 100. You know, many don't
worship. They're not serious in their
worship. They don't pay any attention to their worship. They're careless
in their worship. They don't participate in the
worship. They'll be late and they'll disturb worship. A lot of places men would be late
for, but they don't mind at all to be late to come in on a worship
service. But look what it says here, making a joyful noise.
Let us offer the sacrifice of praise. Make a joyful noise unto
the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before His presence with thanking. Know ye that the Lord,
He is God. Now watch this. It is He that
hath made us, and not we ourselves. He made us to be His children. He made us to be His sheep. He
made us to be His elect. He made us to be His vessels
of honor. We are His people and the sheep
of His pasture. Now watch this. Since we are,
enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him and blessed. His name. Oh, for the Lord is
good. His mercy is everlasting. His truth endures to all generations. Let's come into His courts, blessing
His name, offering thanks and praise unto Him. And that's what
Paul's saying here. Oh, let's give. By Him, therefore,
let us offer the sacrifice of praise. Sacrifice of praise. Let me give you two more, and
I'll let you go. Let me give you two more. Back over in our
text. giving. Praise, giving. Oh, did God make us, work in us to do these, perfect
these things in us. He says in verse sixteen, But
to do good and communicate, forget not. For with such sacrifices
God is well pleased. There's two things here that's
pleasing unto God. Praise and communicating. That word communicate means It
don't mean us talking. It don't mean us communicating
here. Let's sit and talking back and forth. This word communication
means giving. Communicate unto them. That's
what it means. It means giving. And I'll show
you that over here in Galatians chapter 6. Let me show you that
in Galatians 6. Giving. Oh, God make us You know, it says that God loves
a cheerful giver, and that word cheerful means hilarious. God
loves somebody that gives with hilarity. I mean, they just love
to give, and it's like they're laughing about it. And that's
what he says. Look here in Galatians 6 and
verse 6. Let him that is taught in the
word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.
Let him give. That's what that word communicates.
Let him give unto him that teaches an all good thing. And he goes
on to say this. Don't you be deceived. God's
not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
If you don't sow to the Spirit, if you sow to the flesh, and
you don't communicate, and you don't give, and instead you take
what you've got and you sow it to your flesh, you and your flesh
are going to reap corruption. But if you sow to the Spirit,
you shall of the Spirit Reap like everlasting. That's why
it says, don't be weary and well-deemed. Huh? For in due season you shall
reap if you fail not. Just keep on giving. And as we
therefore have opportunity, let us do good unto all men, but
especially unto them who have the household of faith. Especially. And oh, God, make us, oh, work
in us to give, give, give, give. And then let me show you this.
Last of all, Prayer. Prayer. Back in verse 18 of Hebrews
13. Pray for us. Pray for us. For we trust we have a good conscience
in all things, willing to live honestly. Prayer. You know, doctors, undertakers,
people that deal with life and death issues and people in dealing
with wrecks and broken bodies and things, they, after a while,
they become insensitive. They're unmoved, they're untouched
by these things. And sometimes we get so familiar
with things from the Scripture, so familiar with the preacher,
so familiar with going to church, so familiar with so many things,
that after a while it becomes, we become insensitive to it.
We're not touched by it, we're not moved by it. Now, and all
of these things that I said, I started out with, all the things
that I said, love, hospitality, compassion, marriage, covetousness,
rule, apostasy, praise, giving. There's got to be a place to
start if we want to grow in these things, and for God to work in
us, and a place to start. And I'm speaking for myself.
I don't know about you all, but I can get pretty insensitive
to things sometimes. But we need to do something about
these things. Well, how can we do it? The place to start here. Prayer. Prayer. Prayer. Prayer. Start with prayer. You
want to love more? Pray. You want to be more sensitive
to hospitality? Pray. You don't want to be covetous?
Pray. Pray. Our Father, our gracious, gracious
God in heaven, how wonderfully, wonderfully blessed is your name.
Oh, God, how blessed you are. How wonderful is your blessed
grace, your power, your mercy, your love for us. Your sustaining
grace. Lord Jesus, we're overwhelmed
with all the things that we should be thankful for. Don't know where
to start. Your mercies that are new to
us every morning. Your compassions that never fail. Your longsuffering with us. Your
holiness. Your righteousness. Your justification. Your forgiveness is so free and
so full. You're bearing with us, loving us in spite of us, O Lord
Jesus, loving us for Christ's sake. With all that's wrong,
O God, have mercy on me. God bless these dear saints,
and I thank You for them. I thank You for them. I pray
that they and myself and all of us tonight would lay these
things to heart and feel our need, dear Lord,
to think that we've not arrived yet, that we haven't yet grown
as we should grow and be as loving as we should be. Oh, Lord Jesus,
I don't want to be hard or critical, but Lord, I cast myself on you
and I cast this congregation on you. And I thank you for the
grace you've given them, the love you've given them, the strength
you've given them, the health you've given them, and our fellowship
that you've given us together, we thank you for it in Christ's
name. Amen. Amen.