Hebrews chapter 13. We ended there this morning in
the book of Hebrews chapter 13 in verse 5 and 6 about contentment. We was looking a little bit about
that this morning. Let your conversation be without
covetousness and be content with such things as you have. That's a prize. So many people
sought after contentment. But the only ones that have a
good ground of contentment is those who have the Lord Jesus
Christ and have His promises. Have His promises. I'll never
leave you or I'll never forsake you. I was telling Wanda back
in the kitchen area about this one lady that said she had agonized all of her adult life were contentment. And she said, I never could find
it. And she said, I resolved to be content without it. It
sounds contrary, but resolved to be content without it. That's
strange, isn't it? But I know what she's talking
about. As long as you're seeking it, something, you know, especially
if you're seeking out your contentment as a feeling, it's not a feeling.
I'm not talking about some feeling we have. Oh, I feel so content
and relaxed. I'm talking about a lifestyle
and a heart that's content with the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's
what the writer is talking about here. Be content with such things
as you have, for He has said, I will never leave you or forsake
you. And if we have Christ, as I said
this morning, then if we have Him, then we've got everything
and we can be content. reading a story a pastor told
about a man in his congregation back in 1800s when they used
to have to catch the trains, the passenger trains, to ride.
This merchant said he just got on board a train and he heard
this young voice hollering, Conductor, hold up! I can't run! I can't
run! And here comes this little cripple
boy. He was on crutches. He was a little cripple boy.
And he said he knew he was very well-dressed. His dad and mom
must have been somebody. But he sat down by him and talked.
He said he was singing a song about contentment. And the fellow
said, I was so taken up with this little fellow, about 12
years old. And he said, I sat down and said, you know, I introduced
myself to him. And he said, you seem like you're
very content. And he said, well, I got Christ
the Savior. And he said, well, how still, he said, that you're
so swiveled up. And I noticed you having trouble
getting on the train. And he said, my father told me
that my Lord sent this to me. And he said, the Lord always
sends that which is best. And he said, how can I not be
content with His best? So ain't that amazing? If we
have Christ, that's it, isn't it? That's contentment to have
Him. I quoted your mother this morning,
David, about what she said about people aren't content because
they're not content with Christ. When you're content with Christ,
you don't have to keep grub digging after all this stuff, do you?
David in, wearing yourself out just to have this stuff. But
that's what we're talking about this morning here in verse 5
and verse 6. Let your conversation be without
covetousness, and be content with such things as you have.
And He gives the reason for that, for He saith, He saith. Now you'll find a portion of
this quoted back in different places in the Scripture. You
won't find it just like this, but the first thing you'll notice,
Every word of this, you and I, brothers and sisters, should
grab ahold of in our hearts. He said. He hath said. I mean, it's even more than the
Holy Spirit moved upon the Apostle Paul and inspired him to write
this. We know all Scripture is given
by inspiration of God. But don't you see something even
more than that in this? This is something that He said. For He hath said. Not through
the Apostle Paul, not through Moses, but He said, I will never
leave you and I will never forsake you. You can take each word of
this, I. Boy, isn't that personal? It
comes down to I and you, doesn't it? I will never forsake thee. I'll never leave thee. Not just
the church. We know He'll never leave His
church, bless His name. But each member, this is taken
personally. I will never leave you, and you,
and you. My individual people, I love
you. Never leave you. And notice this
here. Boy, this is the eternal promise. Notice this. I will never leave
you. Never leave you. Boy, if He leaves
us, If He left us, we'd be in a pitiful mess, wouldn't we?
You talk about loneliness. You talk about defenselessness.
Sometimes we feel like He's forsaken us, but He's never forsaken us,
because His promise says He'll never leave us, nor He'll never
forsake us. We sang that old song sometime,
that soul that on Jesus hath a lean for repose, I'll never
No, never desert to His foes. That soul, though all hell shall
endeavor to shake, I'll never, no, never, no, never forsake."
That's a lot of negatives, isn't it? Never, never forsake. And that's His promise. That's
what He personally promised. And it's an eternal promise.
As long as you're on this earth, He said, I'll be with you. As
long as you're living your life, I'll never forsake you. I promise
you that personally. Boy, if we can just get that
Word, live upon that Word in our hearts, that'll help us.
That'll help us with this world and the things of this world.
And notice something else about that is this. Notice this involves
the Lord's will. I will. I will. We sing that old song sometimes,
I am not skilled to understand what God has willed. That's not
altogether true, is it? We do understand what He willed.
And here's one of the things that He willed. I will never
leave you nor forsake you. And that's a sovereign will,
is it not? God our God, brothers and sisters,
He has a sovereign will. And when I say sovereign will,
I mean He's free in it. He's independent in it. He does,
according to His will, work in the armies of heaven and among
the inhabitants of this earth. He worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will. And here He gives you this promise
and He says, I will. I will never. forsake you. I will never leave you. Have you ever known the Lord
Jesus? Have you ever known God our Father to fail? Have you
ever known Him to let one of His promises fall to the ground?
He said a mother may forsake her suckling job, but I will
never forsake you. And you look back on your life,
some of you have been on the road now for quite some time,
haven't you? Has He ever failed you? Just one time, can you point
to one time where He ever failed you? When in some of the long
valleys, haven't you went through some long valleys? Dark valleys? Didn't you get through that valley?
Did He forsake you? You've been in some struggles
with the devil in your mind, filled with doubts and fears.
Did He forsake you then? He that did not forsake you in
the past will not forsake you in the present. And He's promised
He'll never forsake you in the future. I will never leave thee,
and I will never forsake you. Listen to these passages of Scripture.
Listen to Deuteronomy 31 and 6. Be strong and of a good courage. Fear not. nor be afraid of them,
saith the Lord. For the Lord thy God, it is He
that doeth go with you. Listen to this, He will not fail
thee, He will not forsake thee, and the Lord, He it is that goeth
before thee, He will be with thee, He will not fail thee,
neither forsake thee, fear thou not, neither be dismayed. And the only reason is, I am
with you. I will not fail you and I will
not forsake you. Listen to 1 Samuel 12 verse 22. For the Lord thy God will not
forsake His people. Why? For His namesake. For it
has pleased the Lord to make you His people. Listen to Psalms
37 verse 28. For the Lord loveth judgment,
and forsaketh not His saints, they are preserved forever."
The seed of the evildoers, He said, I'm going to cut them off,
but I'm preserving you. I'll be with you forever. And
listen to one more in Isaiah 41, 17. When the poor and the
needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue felleth
for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel, will
not forsake them. So that's a faithful promise
isn't it? The Lord will not leave us and
He will not forsake us. The only thing that will free
us from covetousness and leave us with absolute contentment
is to live in the reality that God in Christ is our all and
all. He's everything. His presence
is with us. Christ provides for us. And it's Christ that protects
us. I will never leave thee and never
forsake thee. Now let's go on here because
we wanted to look at some more verses here in verse 7. Look
at this. Look in verse 7. Remember them.
This is their pastor. Speaking of their pastor. Remember
them which have the rule over you. and have spoken unto you
the word of God, whose faith follow, consider the end of their
conversation." Now, he mentions this three times. He mentions
these pastors three times in this chapter. Look in verse 17.
He first says, Remember them, and now he says, Obey them that
have the rule over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for
your souls. as they that must give account,
that they may do it with joy, and not with grief. For this
is unprofitable to you. And look in verse 24. Salute
all of them that have the rule over you. Greet all of them. This is what the Apostle Paul
is telling them here about their treatment of their pastors. He
tells them to remember. And in verse 17, He tells them
to obey them. And then He tells them to greet
them. Be sure and greet them. Remember them. Oh, remember your
pastor. I tell you what, if I could say
anything this afternoon, what I desire from you more than anything
else in my heart is for you to keep me in your affections and
keep me in your prayers. I can live without any finances.
If you didn't support me, I could live without that. The Lord's
made a way. But I tell you what, if I thought
I wasn't in your prayers, that you didn't remember me through
the week, I think that I would despair. Paul said here in this
chapter, remember me. Remember Me. Remember them that
have the rule over you. And then He says, Obey them and
submit yourself. Oh, what an obligation the children
of God have to their pastors to listen. To listen to their
pastors and believe and practice what He tells them. Just as God,
I said this this morning, just as God has ordained civil authority. And He calls kings and governors
and so on and sets them in these offices. You know who sets pastors
in their offices? It's the Lord, isn't it? It's
God. I never thought about this until this morning, but you know
God doesn't even call deacons. The church calls the deacons.
The church sought them out, but who seeks the pastors out? It's
God, isn't it? He seeks them out and sets them
over a congregation. And then He says, Obey them that
has the rule over you. A person who does not love and
respect and listen to the pastor and consider what he says cannot
expect the blessings of God upon him. Now he can't. Because He says here, if you
don't listen to them and you don't obey them, When they preach
to you, then that's unprofitable for you. It will not profit you. God is not going to call a poor
man to preach the gospel and keep him down, keep him seeking
his space for a message and then send him into the pulpit with
stammering tongues and a heavy heart to preach that message
and then let somebody rise up against him and talk evil to
him and disrespect him and then turn around and bless that guy
for doing it. He ain't going to do it, is he? He just ain't
going to do it. That's what Paul is saying here.
Remember them and obey them that have the rule over you and submit
yourselves. And he says here lastly in verse
24, to greet them. To greet them. I want you to
speak to me every time you come in here. If you don't speak to
Greg, just pass him by. But you come and greet me. Say,
hey pastor, it's good to see you. Greet them. That will help you and it will
help me, won't it? Greet your pastors. Greet them.
Wherever you see them. Whenever you see them. That's
the congregation's responsibility to their pastors. Just a portion
of it. But look here back again in verse 7 at the responsibility
of the pastor. And you'll see why the congregation
really needs to remember him. Look in verse 7. Remember them
that have the rule over you, who have spoken to you. What? their opinions, who have preached
to you their convictions, who have told you what they would
prefer. No, no, but have spoken unto you the Word of God, the
infallible Word. A preacher that preaches his
convictions and his opinions and speaks out of his own heart
has no business in the pulpit. A preacher that will not study
God's Word and try to find the sense of it and pray and ask
the Lord for feed to feed his people, he shouldn't be in the
pulpit. But here's why the congregation must listen and consider what
he says, because he's speaking unto you the Word of God. That's why. That's why. And notice verse 17, look at
this. Boy, here's a heavy, heavy weight. "...Obey them that have
the rule over you, and submit yourselves for this reason, they
watch for your soul." Man, that's a heavy weight, isn't it? They
watch. They stand up on the wall while
you're sleeping. And they look out over the horizon
and they keep watch for the enemy. And they've got to trumpet to
their mouths. And they're ready to blow when
they see the enemy coming. And the enemy is the enemy of
your soul. And your pastor, while others
are sleeping, are watching and they're praying. And they come
to the pulpit and they warn you that there's something more important. They encourage you that there's
something more dire than your body. And that's the salvation
of your soul. They watch. They watch for your
soul. Boy, I tell you, pastors see
things. You'd have to be a pastor. Pastors see things. Pastors hear
things. Pastors feel things. Pastors
are burdened over things, concerned over things that nobody else
knows absolutely anything about. And you can't explain it. It's
just there. They're watching. The pastor
is a watcher. He's a watchman set upon the
wall, watching for a man's soul. And boy, notice this in verse
17. The last portion of verse 17.
As they that must give account. They of all people must give
account. Boy, I tell you, that's a weighty
thing, isn't it? I tell you, the Lord has to call a man to
preach. He has to give him the messages to preach. And he has
to uphold him as he preaches. If he don't, he'll faint. Because
he knows, I know, that somebody is listening to me. Somebody's
going to believe what I tell them. Somebody's watching my
life. Somebody's patterning their self
to some extent after what I say and what I do and how I live. And I'm going to have to give
account for what I say and how I've lived before you folks as
well as before God, I must give account. I don't see how these
preachers that are preaching this social gospel, preaching
a bunch of silly stuff, I don't see how they face themselves.
I don't see how they live with themselves in their own conscience.
If they think about, I've got to give account of what I've
told people today. How do they sleep? Man, I go
home and my heart is heavy. Have I told the truth on God?
Have I told sinners the truth? Have I told them the truth about
the way of salvation? I've got to give account. You see why He's saying here,
remember them and obey them and greet them. You put yourself
in the place of these pastors and you can see why they need
you to remember them while they need your prayers and their affection. They must give account. Oh, pray
for us, Paul said. We trust we have a good conscience
in all things, willing to live honestly. Remember them that
have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of the
Lord, who faithfully follow their example, considering the end
of their conversation. considering the end. Look in
verse 8. Jesus Christ the same yesterday,
today, and forever. Aren't you glad that your Savior
never changes? He never changes. There's no
need for Him to change, is there? We try by His grace to be better,
don't we? He doesn't have to try to be
anything. He's perfection. His attributes are eternal. And
you know something? The world doesn't change. We
don't change. We looked at that this morning.
And our needs never change. And we need a Savior who never
changes. Nothing's really changing, is
there? We said this morning, our forefathers,
they rode in old stagecoaches. roadin' buggies, and we ride
in nice cars or jets. They had to send a message by
word of mouth or by slow mail, snail mail. And man, we can get
our cell phones, call anybody all over the world. But you know
nothing has changed. Nothing has changed. Nothing
has essentially changed. The heart of man hasn't changed.
Everything that's going on in the world hasn't changed. We
need a Savior who never changes. He saves like He's always saved. Why change? Nothing changes. So there's no need or no use
for Him to change. Somebody tell us, well, we've
got to change because the old way is not working anymore. It
ain't changed. Nothing's changed. The Bible
says here in verse 9, look at this. Be not carried about with
divers, with different doctrines, various and strange doctrines.
For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace. Don't be carried about with these
strange doctrines. You know the Bible is a book
for all time, ain't it? And Christ is the Savior for
all time. The Bible describes Christ back
in eternity. It describes Him when He was
born this earth, and now He's in heaven, and He's never changed. He's never changed. And He knows
what we need. And what is it? What did He say
in this verse? Grace. It's a good thing. Don't be carried about with various
doctrines, with change. Nothing has changed. It's a good
thing that the heart be established with grace. That's what we need,
isn't it? What do we need? Grace. Saving
grace. As soon as Adam fell, what did
he need to save? Grace. Nothing else could save
him from the fall. And as soon as you and I are
born into this world, what do we need? Grace. Grace. That's why we say salvation
has never changed. From the Old Testament all the
way through the New Testament. Shannon, nobody will ever be
saved any other way but by grace. By grace are you saved through
faith and that not of yourself. It's a good thing that the heart
be established with grace. Can anything else save you, dear
soul? Is there anything else that can save you besides His
grace? Anything? Anything you have to add to it?
It's a good thing, isn't it, that you can reduce your salvation
right down to this one thing, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace will save you. The Bible talks a lot about grace,
about electing grace. At this present time, there is
a remnant according to the election of grace, and if by grace, it
is no more of works. If it is of works, it is no more
of grace. If we go all the way back to the foundation of the
world and beyond, what is it that the Lord knew there that
we were going to have to need to be saved? Grace. Grace. What brought our Savior down
from heaven? What brought Him down to us? What brought Him
down to Calvary's tree to bear our sin and shame? You know the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though He was rich, yet for your
sake He became poor. Grace! What was it that sent
the Holy Spirit to you when you were dead in your trespasses
and sin and brought you to Himself? What was that? that like I said
a minute ago, refused to take no for an answer. He came to
fetch you and He brought you. When David sent those men after
Mephibosheth, he was crippled and he couldn't walk. And he
didn't want to come to the king. He was afraid to. He was the
son of a rebellious Saul. And you know what David did?
He sent some men after him. You know what he said? You fetch
him. You fetch him. And he comes there
and he just fell down in front of the king prostrating. And
he said, Who am I? And the king said, I love you,
man. I love you. And you're going to sit at my
table. That's grace, isn't it? When Christ brings us from the
kingdom of darkness and sets us down at His kingdom, at His
table, and says, You're eat of me and drink my redeeming blood. That's grace, isn't it? Nothing
else can bring you to Him but grace. What's going to keep you?
What's going to keep you in this hellish, devilish world? This
perverted society? Devils on every hand. What's
going to keep us? Is it not grace? It's a good
thing. And we could say it's an essential
thing that the heart be established with grace. By grace are you
saved through faith. What's going to keep us watching
and waiting? and seeking the Lord. Grace. Grace. It's a good thing that
the heart be established with grace. Not with meats. He says you're not with meats.
Boy, those Jews had their saying, taste not, touch not, handle
not. Had the meats they could eat
and the meats they couldn't eat. Things they could drink, things
they couldn't drink. What good did that do their souls? Nothing. Did them no good. That's what
he says here. Not with meats. It's a good thing
that the heart be established with grace. Not with meats, which
have not profited them that have been occupied therein. And then he says we have an altar.
We have an altar. Now this is not the Lord's Supper.
Not the Lord's table that we come to on occasion. But this
altar is Christ Himself. We have an altar. And that's
Jesus Christ. He is the offering. He's the
sacrifice. He's the priest who offered the
sacrifice. And He's the altar that He offered
it upon. And He says, yeah, we have this.
We have this. We have something to eat that
when we eat we live forever. And that's His redeeming body.
He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life abiding
in Him. An altar. We have an altar. And
He says here, and boy this was a thunderclap old Luther said
against these Jews. They have no right to eat which
serve the tabernacle. Those who want to be saved by
what they do and what they don't do, those who want to be saved
by the ceremonial law or any law whatsoever, they have no
right to eat of Jesus Christ. The only people that have a right
to eat of Him is poor, miserable sinners. May I eat? If you have nothing else to give
your life, if you trust in nothing else but Him, you can eat of
Him. And He says here in verses 11 through verse 13, look at
this, For the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought
into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin are burned without
the count. Wherefore Jesus also, that He
might sanctify the people with His own blood, He suffered without
the gate. Let us go forth, therefore, unto
him without the camp, bearing his reproach." Where do we find
Christ? The same place they found Him,
outside the world's religion. You won't find Him in the temple,
Paul said. You remember what they did to
Him there? They whipped Him and tucked Him outside the city,
and that's where they killed Him. You won't find the Lord
Jesus Christ in today's religion. Do you know it? You're going
to have to go outside the camp. You'll find the Lord Jesus Christ
outside of man-made religion and man-made commandments and
His convictions. If you want Christ, that's where
you'll find Him. That's where you'll find Him.
The Lord Jesus was rejected by this world and its religion,
and He suffered without the camp. So there's one place that we
find Him, and we'll have to go out to Him. And when the world sees you going
out to Him, boy, that's a reproach on them. But here He said in verse 14,
and we'll close with this. For here we have no continuing
city." What about Jerusalem? What about Jerusalem? No, he
said, that ain't our city. They ran us out of that place.
Ain't that what he said? That's where he was arrested,
wasn't it? We have no continuing city in this world, brothers
and sisters. No place. Can we say that about this country?
We don't have a country. This is not a religious country.
Well, it is a religious country. We're not settling here. This
country is ready to fall. I mean, you can see it in the
road. It's headed down the Lord and done pulling back. We're
not seeking to restore this country. I wish God would send a revival,
but whether He does or don't, this is not our country. We have
a country. We have a city. And you know
what a city is like. There's people there, isn't there?
You say, I'm going to the city. You want to be around people.
We were talking a minute ago about going to Alaska and back
in the wild. I don't like that, Wayne. I sort
of like the city life, don't you? Because there's people there. In heaven, it's a city because
there's a lot of people there. And when you go to the city,
it's because you want to be around people and associate with people.
Those that go to heaven, they go there to associate and commune. and to be around God's people.
And the Bible says there is much people there. And you go to these
big cities, if it's a good city, the way the old cities used to
be, especially back in the Bible times, boy, they had protection. They had walls, didn't they?
I mean, you go out in the country and you could kill people all
over the place. They had no protection. But when you went into the city,
man, they were sportified. And is the city that we're going
to not fortified? Is the Lord not there to protect
that place? There'll be nothing to enter
that city that defiles it. There'll be no sin of any kind
to enter that city. It'll be a city of righteousness. And that's the city we're looking
for. A city which hath foundation, whose builder and maker is God. And that's the only thing that
ain't gonna be shaken. Everything else is going to be shaken, but
not this blessed city, the city of God.