Now, the title that Henry put
on his outline for this morning is Practical Godliness. Paul's
finished in these first 12 chapters his doctrinal teaching, and he's
going to close his letter with some exhortations to this what
we call practical godliness. And I'm not a big fan of that
term. It makes it sound like the previous
12 chapters have not been very practical. And I'll tell you,
unequivocably, there is nothing more practical than salvation
in the Lord Jesus Christ. There's nothing more practical
than the teaching that we've seen in Christ is better. But
what Paul gets into now is our everyday walk, our conduct as
we go through this life, how grace in the heart affects the
believers walk as we go through this world. And this is something
that believers are very, very interested in. If you'll turn
back before we begin here in Hebrews to Titus chapter two. This is something that believers
are interested in. Paul writes to Titus in chapter
two, beginning in verse 13. Looking for that blessed hope
and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior,
Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us. that He might redeem
us from all iniquity and purify unto Himself a peculiar people
zealous of good works. Believers are interested in having
good works as we go through this life. Wednesday night, Brother
Henry talked about these things abounding in you from there in
Peter's epistle. So that's what Paul is going
to talk about here in this chapter. He begins in verse 1. Let brotherly
love continue. Such a simple statement that
carries a lot of weight. Let brotherly love continue.
Now we know from Scripture that believers, we're to love all
men. Our Lord said we're even to love our enemies and pray
for them. But what Paul's talking about here is a special love.
It's a family love. It's a love between people who
are in love with Christ. These people here this morning,
we're not just acquaintances that run into each other once
or twice a week. This is family. This is our brothers and sisters.
And you have a special bond and love with our brethren, brothers
and sisters in Christ. And Paul says this love is to
continue among you, among us and in us individually. This
love is to continue. We should be known both as a
group and as individuals as loving people, shouldn't we? Well, how
can we be known that way? Well, love in the heart, true
love that's in the heart will always express itself in our
outward actions. It must if it's true love. It'll
show itself in praying for each other, being patient with one
another, forgiving one another. True love will go out of its
way to show affection and care for one another, for the people
that we love. And our love will grow. As we grow in grace, our
love will grow. As our love for Christ increases
and matures, our love for one another will increase and mature. And this grace of love is not
optional. This is not optional equipment.
It's necessary for the believer. Look over in 1 John 2. I'll show
you this. Now, this is not optional. 1
John 2, verse 9. He that saith he is in the light,
and hateth his brother, is in darkness, even until now. Those
two things are not possible. But he that loveth his brother,
abideth in light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in
him. Look over at chapter 4, verse 20. If a man say I love God, and
hates his brother, he is a liar. He that loveth not his brother
whom he hath seen, How can he love God whom he hath not seen?
And this commandment have we from him, it's not optional,
this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love
his brother also. Now this is just necessary. Let
me ask you this. Is it possible, is it even possible
for someone to be unloving after the love of God is shed abroad
in their hearts? Absolutely not. That's just an
impossibility. If you're still there in 1 John
4, look at verse 7. Beloved, let us love one another,
for love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God and
knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not
God, for God is love. And this was manifested, the
love of God toward us, because the God sent his only begotten
Son into the world that we might live through him. Herein is love,
not that we loved God, but that he loved us. and sent his son
to be the propitiation for our sins. Now, beloved, if God so
loved us, we ought also to love one another. If the love of God
has been shed abroad in your heart, you must love your brethren. You can't help it. It's just
a natural reaction and it's a commandment to the believers. And a sure
sign of error in the pulpit is a lack of love and lack of generosity
in the That's just so. You just remember that. Let brotherly
love continue. And he goes on in verse 2 in
Hebrews 13. He says, Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby
some have entertained angels unawares. Now, don't forget to
show hospitality to strangers, to our brethren, to people who
might be visiting from Lexington. Don't forget to entertain strangers. And that's a whole lot more than
being just friendly, smiling at them, going on. It's being
hospitable. It's making sure they've got a place to eat and
maybe they can stay with you or something. When I was a little
boy, before we moved to Danville and then to Ashland, my dad would
go different places and preach. And after the morning service,
occasionally, everybody would just leave. And nobody would
be sure the visiting preacher and his family had a place to
spend the afternoon. And we'd spend the afternoon
in the car, you know, in the park. And I was a little boy.
I thought that was great. But that's not very hospitable.
Never let that be said of us. Grace in the heart should never
let that happen. Be hospitable. Entertain strangers. And in Scripture, we find some
who did show hospitality to strangers. Strangers they didn't know. They
happened to come upon. Entertain angels. Entertain God's
messengers. They didn't know they were God's
angels or God's messengers. They entertained them and they
found out later. Look over in Genesis chapter 18. That happened
to Abraham. In Genesis 18. We won't read
it, but it happened a lot too. Those angels that came to rescue
him out of Sodom. He entertained angels unawares.
But Genesis 18 verse 1. The Lord appeared unto him, unto
Abraham in the plains of Mamre. And he sat in the tent door in
the heat of the day. And he lifted up his eyes and
looked, and, lo, three men stood by him. And when he saw them,
he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself
toward the ground. And he said, My lord, if now
I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from
thy servant. Let a little water, I pray thee,
be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the
tree. And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your
hearts. And after that ye shall pass
on. for therefore you come to your servant." And they said,
so do as thou hast said. Now Abraham didn't know who these
men were, but here he went and met them. He ran to them, made
sure they had a comfortable place to rest and had some food to
eat. Well, who is this he's entertaining?
Well, look down in verse 9, we'll see. And they said unto him,
where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, behold, in the tent.
And he said, one of these men that Abraham is entertaining,
he said, I will certainly return unto thee to the time of life.
And lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it
in the tent door which was behind him." Now nobody could say that. Nobody could promise Abraham
you're going to have a son. That I'm going to return and
because of my power she's going to have a son if that wasn't
Christ Himself. Only God can give life. He entertained the
Lord Jesus Christ Himself unawares. Now that's not going to happen
to us. We're not going to entertain Christ in the body and His flesh.
We're not going to entertain some angel. But we can entertain
people. We can show hospitality and generosity
to people. And we don't have to be sure
they're an angel. We don't have to be sure they're some famous,
you know, believer, you know, whatever, to show hospitality. You just show that hospitality
and it won't be wasted. Later on, you might be surprised.
Maybe you will, maybe you won't, but it won't be wasted. I thought
of this this week. Many of y'all may not even remember
this, but I remember this. Years ago, Holly was just a little
baby. Tom Hardy was an elder at 13th Street. I don't know
how he did it, but he came across this young man pushing a baby
stroller. And he got up and the man looked to be in dire straits. He was. He didn't have a place
to stay. He didn't have a job. His wife, the mother of this
little baby, had left him. And they were just destitute.
And Tom got up talking to this fella, just dirty and so down
and out. Come find out his situation.
Didn't have a place to live. Tom got him a room at the hotel.
Tried to arrange interviews. The man did a good job. Got him
some clothes. Invited him to church. He came.
Tom told everybody about this situation. That evening, that
fella had more stuff than he could push on that stroller.
He had clothes. Clothes for himself and the baby.
He had diapers. He had wipes and Desitin and
all these things. Just born at Cary. That's what
this is talking about. As far as I know, we never saw
that fellow again. I don't know. Was that hospitality
and generosity wasted? No, sir. It was not. You never
know. Scripture doesn't say, well,
you show them hospitality, they're thankful and they stick around.
Don't be weary in well-doing is what Scripture teaches us.
Look over Matthew chapter 25. It's what our Lord was teaching. This generosity and this hospitality
wasn't wasted. You never know. In Matthew 25 verse 34, Then shall the king say unto
them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, Inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungered, and you gave me meat. I was thirsty, and you
gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took
me in. Naked, and you clothed me. I
looked like a homeless person, and you took me in. I was sick,
and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came
to me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when
do we see you hungry and fed thee, or thirsty and gave thee
drink? When do we see you a stranger and took thee in or naked and
clothed thee? When do we ever see you sick or in prison and
came unto thee? See, they didn't even remember
doing these things, did they? When do we do that for you? Then
the king shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto
you, inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these,
my brethren, you've done it unto me. That wasn't wasted, was it? So don't let this hospitality
Don't be forgetful to entertain strangers. Verse 3, back in our
text, Paul goes on, he says, Remember them that are in bonds
as bound with them, and them which suffer adversity as being
yourselves also in the body. Remember those, Paul says, who
are in prison. At this time, those who are in
prison for the sake of the gospel, for believing the gospel and
preaching the gospel. You remember them. And that doesn't
happen today, but even if someone would happen to be there and
that's where they deserve to be. Remember them. Be compassionate. People make
mistakes. We just do now. People make mistakes. And don't be so judgmental and
quick to be harsh to them. Just remember them. Remember
those who are suffering any kind of affliction. It can feel like
you're in prison. It can just be awful. So remember,
suffer with them. Act like you're a fellow prisoner
suffering right along beside them. If you love, you will. Let brotherly love continue.
If you love them, you will. If one part of the body hurts,
the whole body hurts. And the rest of the body will
compensate for that part of the body that's hurting. So you do
that. That's what Paul's saying. If
brotherly love continues in us, then missionaries, Sick people,
old people, people who are out of work, people who are in need,
won't suffer lack for something we can provide. Not if you love
them. So let these things continue
in you and remember them. Then Paul says in verse 4, Marriage
is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled, but whoremongers
and adulterers God will judge. Now let marriage be held in honor. and esteem among us. Marriage
is an honorable thing, and we're to treat it as something that's
honorable. And we should let our actions
and our words, even careless words that we just kind of say
off the top of our head that might seem to be funny at the
moment, devalue the honor of marriage. Marriage is honorable.
God himself instituted marriage for our good. and our happiness. Look in Genesis 2. I want you
to see this. This is for our good. Marriage
is honorable. It's for our good and our happiness. In Genesis 2, verse 18. And the Lord God said, it's not
good that man should be alone. I will make and help me for him.
It's not good that he be alone, so he made Adam a wife, verse
21. The Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and
he slept. And he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh
instead thereof. And the rib which the Lord God
had taken from man made he woman, and brought her unto the man.
And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my
flesh. She shall be called woman, because
she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his
father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they
shall be one flesh. There can be one flesh because
God said it's not good that man be alone. He made Eve for Adam's
well-being and his happiness. Later on, our Lord Jesus, when
He came incarnate, He showed His approval of marriage by attending
that wedding and that wedding feast where He performed His
first miracle. Turned the water into wine. And Paul says here
that the bed is undefiled. It's honorable. I told Janet
last night, Slightly uncomfortable for me to talk about, but this
is what Scripture says, that the sexual relationship in marriage
is honorable. It's holy. It's a good thing.
Not something to be ashamed of. It's holy. Now, this relationship
is reserved for marriage, for married couples. My mom told
me all the time when I was growing up, just wait until you're married.
She said over and over and over and over, wait until you're married,
wait until you're married. Once you're married, it's okay. It's
a good thing. It's holy when you're married,
but wait until you're married. A sexual relationship in marriage
was encouraged by the Apostle Paul to prevent sin. That's true. Look over in 1 Corinthians chapter
7. 1 Corinthians 7 verse 1. Now concerning the things wherever
you wrote unto me, it is good for a man not to touch a woman.
Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife,
and let every woman have her own husband. And let the husband
render unto the wife due benevolence, and likewise also the wife unto
the husband. So that sexual relationship is
given to us for our good. But now Paul says God's going
to judge promiscuity and adultery. And think about that this week.
You know, that just scares me to death. Our society has just
run rampant with this. And, you know, you just don't
know how the Lord's going to judge us. And he certainly should. But this whole institution of
marriage is honorable. It's good for us as individuals.
It's good for our society. And it's good for our children. benefit from having a mother
and a father. It's good for them. And believers
ought to have loving marriages, compassionate marriages, and
loving homes. Homes and marriage relationships
that reflect the presence of the Lord. If the Lord is the
head of our home, our home ought to reflect that, shouldn't it?
Sure it should. We studied this back when we
were going through the book of Ephesians in chapter 5. Marriage was given
to us as a type, as a picture of the relationship between the
Lord and His bride. So let's have the love of Christ
be the rule of our conduct in everything. And if we do that
in our marriage every day, we'll have a happy marriage and a happy
home. That's what he's telling us here. Now, verse five. Let your conversation be without
covetousness and be content with such things as you have. For
he has said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Now our
conduct, our character should be free from covetousness, from
desiring something we don't have, from desiring our neighbor's
goods or desiring what we see other people have too much. There's nothing wrong with wanting
some better things, but what this means is an overeager, an
excessive desire for something we don't have. It's an over-excessive
desire for more stuff, for more money, for more possessions,
for more prestige, for more creature comforts. And it's also being
over-anxious about things of this world, about our circumstances
in this world. Now listen, there is absolutely
nothing wrong with wanting a better job, with wanting to have a better
job, to provide for your family. That's your responsibility, to
provide for your family. There's nothing wrong with wanting
a better job. Not at all. There's nothing wrong
with working hard and doing a good job with an eye on getting a
promotion. You ought to do a good job. And
if you get a promotion, that's wonderful. But there's nothing
wrong with that. That's what you ought to do.
And if you have an opportunity to take a better job, by all
means, take it. As long as it doesn't interfere
with worship. As long as it doesn't take you
to a place where you can't worship. If it still would never interfere
with your worship, by all means, take that better job. You can
provide for your family better. You can support the gospel. Those things are great. Just
don't be over-anxious about it. Now that's a hard thing to do.
Don't be over-anxious. Be content with what the Lord's
provided. Now that doesn't mean you sit
there like a bump on a log waiting for the phone to ring, somebody
offer you a job. You go out and look for it. Absolutely
do that. But if the Lord doesn't open
that door, be content. Wait for Him to open the next
one. He'll provide in due time. He promised, I'll never leave
thee nor forsake thee. He'll provide in due time. Just
be content until He opens another door. And trust. Trust Him that He's not making
a mistake. Our Lord, believe me, knows what
He's doing. And He'll give us what's best. I'll show you that in Proverbs
chapter 30. It might be wise for us to copy
the prayer of the man that the Lord says was the wisest man
to ever live. Let's see what he had to say
in this matter. Solomon. Proverbs chapter 30, verse 7. Two things have I required of
thee. Deny me them not before I die. Remove far from me vanity
and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food that is convenient
for me, that is of my allowance. Listen, verse 9, lest I be full
and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? Maybe this job or this
big increase I want might be too much for me. I'll be full
and say, I don't need Him. I've got this job. Don't give
me riches, but don't give me poverty. It says in verse 9 there
at the end, or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of
my God in vain. Maybe the good thing for us is,
Lord, Thy will be done. Give me food that's convenient
for me somewhere in the middle. It's probably best, isn't it? Covetousness is just contrary
to grace, isn't it? An excessive desire for something
other than what the Lord's given us is ungrateful. And it's just
contrary to grace. Someone who's been given God's
grace is a thankful person. And to be just constantly discontented
with what the Lord's given us is ungrateful, unthankful. And
this can only be said to believers. You can't say this to an unbeliever.
The natural man will never, ever, ever be satisfied with what he
has. And having an abundance of things
does not always equate to contentment. Adam lived in paradise in the
garden that God created for him perfect. He wasn't content. He reached for more and he fell.
Lucifer and that whole host of angels in glory were serving
the living God. And it wasn't enough. They weren't
content. They reached for more and they
fell. So having plenty doesn't necessarily equate to contentment. But the believer has everything
in Christ. God has given us every spiritual
blessing in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that makes us satisfied.
and content. I am so content with Him, with
Christ. We have Christ. We have His promise
that He will never leave us nor forsake us. And when we have
His presence, there's contentment in there. Oh, when you feel His
presence, aren't you content and happy? Newton said, content
with beholding His face, my all to His pleasure resigned, No
changes of season or place could make any change in my mind. No
changes, he says, of my present circumstances in this world,
whether it's more or whether it's less, is going to make any
change in my contentment when I'm beholding His face and have
His presence. The Amplified has this verse
read this way. Let me read it to you. Let your
character or moral disposition be free from the love of money,
including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions,
and be satisfied with your present circumstances and with what you
have. For He, God Himself, has said, I will not in any way fail
you, nor give you up, nor leave you without support. I will not,
I will not, I will not. in any degree, leave you helpless,
nor forsake you, nor let you down, nor lax my hold on you,
assuredly not." What more could you ask for?
If you have the Lord Jesus Christ, you have everything. Oh, I pray
God, give me contentment. And He says, God Himself says,
I will not leave you. God won't leave us to the hands
of our enemies. He might leave us in their presence,
but He won't leave us to their hands. He's not going to forsake
the work of His hands. He's not going to withhold any
good thing that's needful to us. He'll not leave us to ourselves. He'll not leave us to our own
sinful nature. He won't leave us to our own
strength, which is really weakness. He won't leave us to our own
wisdom, which is really foolishness. He won't leave us to our own
way. The way that seems good to us because that way is the
way of destruction. He won't leave us to this world.
He won't leave us alone to let this world draw us away from
Him. He's overcome the world. The Lord won't forsake us in
this life. You will not take a step in this
life if you're one of God's children where He's forsaken you. Not
one step. When you lay down your head to
die in death, He'll not forsake you. That's comforting to know,
isn't it? And after death, in judgment,
He won't forsake you. I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee. I believe I'd be content. And
verse 6, because our Lord said that, we may boldly say, the
Lord is my Helper. I will not fear what man shall
do unto me. Because of God's promise, because of His character,
who He is, We can confidently and boldly say, the Lord is my
Helper. Now people say, well, that's
presumption. No, it's not. It's not presumption to believe
God. It's not presumption to believe God's Word. If God said
it, it's never presumption to believe it. The Lord's my Helper.
So I will not fear. I will not be overly anxious.
I won't be overly alarmed about what's going on around me and
what some man's going to do to me. Because the Lord overrules
them. The Lord is my Helper. How helpless are we? Totally. He helped us when nobody else
could or would. The Lord's my Helper. He has
provided help in the past. He'll continue to provide in
the future. The Lord is my Shepherd, so I
shall not want. Now, verse 7. Remember them which
have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God,
whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.
This word remember means to know, means to recognize, it means
to respect and obey. It means to remember in prayer.
And I can't stress to you how important that is to remember
those who preach the Word to you in prayer. Please remember,
if you want a blessing, Wednesday night, spend some time in prayer
for John. Pray for him. No man is sufficient
for these things. And that doesn't just come to
stand right here. That means in the study too. Pray for him.
Pray that God will give him the message. Pray God will give him
wisdom and leadership because he's our leader. It means to
follow their example. to imitate their faith. It means
to provide for their physical needs. And it means to remember
the Gospel that's been preached to you. Please, please, please,
please, remember the Gospel that's been preached to you. Don't walk
out of here and forget it. Don't get a couple of years down
the road and forget what you've been taught. Remember these things.
And he's speaking here of pastors and elders too, who have spoken
the Word of God to you. They've got the rule. That's
what Scripture says. And this word rule, it does mean
to have authority over. But it also means to lead, to
go before as a guide. Look in 1 Peter chapter 5. 1 Peter 5, verse 1. The elders
which are among you I exhort, whom also an elder, and a witness
of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory
that shall be revealed. Now here's Peter's instruction. You feed the flock of God which
is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but
willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind, neither
as being lords over God's but being examples to the flock. Being examples. That's what Paul
said over in Hebrews. Whose faith follow. You follow
the example of their faith. And you follow their lead. You
submit to their rule. And it ought to be easy to lead
sheep, shouldn't it? I'd like to be a person easy
to lead. I'd like for my pastor to say it's easy to be his pastor.
Sheep don't need some big all-powerful ruler to direct their every move.
They'll follow. See, they need a leader. They
need a shepherd to feed them, to lead them, and to protect
them. Now, Paul says here to remember them that have the rule
over you. Over in the same chapter, verse 17, he says, obey them
that have the rule over you. We'd be mighty wise to submit
to the authority of God's servant, the pastor that he's given us,
especially the gospel that they preach. But now listen. This is not blindly submitting
to the rule of someone that wears a suit and stands behind a pulpit.
That's not what Scripture teaches. Now, that is not what Scripture
teaches. Paul says you consider them. You don't do this blindly. You
consider them. You search the Scriptures like
those Bereans and see if these things be so. You consider what? What do you consider? The end
of their ministry. Is the end of their ministry,
Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever? If it is,
then you follow them. You obey them. You remember them.
If their gospel is the whole counsel of God, then you remember
them, you obey them, you support them. If their gospel is the
unchanging, eternal grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, His love,
His mercy, His purpose that never changes, and you remember them
and obey them. That Gospel glorifies Christ
and it's for our good. Scripture doesn't just tell you
that you've got to follow Him so the pastor can feel all important.
It's for our good. He's telling us this for our
good. Look over at 1 Corinthians 11 and we'll quit. 1 Corinthians 11 verse 1. Be ye followers of me, even as
I also am of Christ." Even the Apostle Paul said, don't you
follow me blindly. You follow me as you see I'm
following Christ. No, I praise you, brethren, that
you remember me. Same thing he said over in Hebrews.
I praise you that you remember me in all things, and you keep
the ordinances as I delivered them unto you. That's following
them. That's remembering them that
have the rule O for us. That's obeying them that have
the rule O All right. Practical Godliness. I hope I
have blessed you.