Now we're coming tonight to the
last chapter of the book of Hebrews. We've been in this book for several weeks
now, and tonight we'll visit the last chapter. But I want
you to go back to chapter one for a moment. We're going to
close this book like we began. close our study as we begin our
study. Paul, whom I believe wrote the
book of Hebrews, his theme and keynote is the
excellency and superiority of our Lord Jesus Christ over every
creature and over all creation. Our Lord is greater than the
angels. To which of the angels said he, At any time thou art
my son, this day have I begotten thee? And to the angels he said,
Let all the angels of God worship him. He's greater than Moses,
as he that built the house is greater than the house. He's
greater than Aaron, he's a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. greater than the tabernacle,
than the sacrifices, than all the ceremonies and the covenants. And here in Hebrews 1, verse
1 through 3, Paul sounds that keynote. This is the way he started
this epistle. God, who at sundry times and
in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets. He did. by Moses, by Abraham,
Isaiah, by all these prophets, hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his son, the more excellent one, the superior one.
And then he describes him, his son whom he hath appointed heir
of all things, his son by whom also he made the worlds, His
Son being in the brightness, being the brightness of His glory,
His Son, the exact image of His person, His Son who upholds all
things by the word of His power, His Son who by Himself purged
our sins and sat down on the right hand of God. And then a
key, I told you, to this book of Hebrews is in the word, this
man, the two words, this man, this man. There have been other
men, but this man. There have been other men, Moses,
Abraham, Aaron, all these men, but this man. This is one of
the keys, the superiority, the excellency of this man. Look
at Hebrews 3, verse 3, and mark this statement, for this man,
this man, Our Lord, the God-man, was counted worthy of more glory
than Moses or any man, this man. And he had to be a man to redeem
us. He had to be God to satisfy and man to suffer. Then in Hebrews
7, you remember, I want you to remember these as we leave this
book tonight, and I want you to remember these verses, Hebrews
7, 24, but this man, He talks about those Old Testament
priests were many and so forth. But this man, because he continueth
ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. He's no ordinary priest. Wherefore,
he's able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God
by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
Then Hebrews 8, right across the page, Hebrews 8. He had to become a man, he had
to suffer, he had to obey the law perfectly that we might have
a perfect righteousness, he had to shed his blood. For, verse
3, Hebrews 8, every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and
sacrifices wherefore it is of necessity that this man have
somewhat also to offer his blood, effectual redeeming blood. By one sacrifice, He perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Or Hebrews 10, verse 12, one
more time. Verse 11 said, All these priests,
every priest, standeth daily, daily ministering, offering oftentimes
the same sacrifices, types, pictures, which can never take away sin
but this man. See what Paul is doing throughout
this book. the Old Testament with its pictures
and promises and prophecies and patterns and tithes. But this
man, this man, this man, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sin forever, sat down, finished his work and sat down on the
right hand of God. This man, that's the key all
the way here, but this man, It brings the Old Testament and
the New Testament together. And then I showed you this, and
this is so essential. The word better. Better. Better, better. Paul uses it
over and over again. Hebrews 3, verse 3. Look at it. I beg your pardon. Hebrews 1,
verse 4. Here's the first one. Better. Hebrews 1, verse 4. being made so much better than
the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name
than they." Our representative had to be better than the angels.
Angels couldn't represent us. And then Hebrews 7, 19. Hebrews 7, 19. But the law made
nothing perfect. Hebrews 7, 19. The law didn't
make anything perfect. But I'll tell you what did and
who did, the bringing in of a better hope did, by the which we draw
nigh to God. Better hope. Then verse 22, Now
so much was Jesus made the surety of a better covenant, better
than the covenant with Moses and Abraham. Hebrews 8, 6, listen,
But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry by how much
also he is the mediator of a better covenant which is established
on better promises. Moses promised Abraham a land
down here flowing with milk and honey. We have better promises
than that. Eternal inheritance, heavenly
blessings, better covenant, covenant of grace, as opposed to the covenant
of works established on better promises, justification, sanctification,
better promises. In Hebrews 9.23, the reason I'm
giving you these is you just, you know, a child of God just
needs a key, just a key, just one word sometimes, just a sentence,
just a key to open a vast storehouse of treasures, if he can just
get the key. And that's what these words are, they're the
key. Hebrews 9.23, listen, It's necessary, it's therefore
necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should
be purified with these, that is, the blood sacrifices. But
the heavenly things, the better promises themselves with better
sacrifices than these. We need a better sacrifice. The
blood of bulls and goats can't take away sin, but the blood
of Christ cleanses us from all sin. Got to have better, got
a better surety and a better covenant and a better promises
and better sacrifices. He is blood. Then verse, chapter
11, verse 16. Come to the, down here to the
end here. It says in verse 16, they, now
they desire a better country. Abraham looked for a city whose
builder and maker is God. Mike's been singing about it,
Zion's Hill, a better country, better country, that is a heavenly
country, wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God,
for He hath prepared for them a city, a city. And then verse 35 down there
talks about a better resurrection. So that's the key, that's the
thing. In chapter 13, let's get over there, in chapter 13, Paul's
laid all of this foundation, covenant mercies, covenant grace. Now he comes to chapter 13 and
exhorts us to glorify our God in several important areas of
our lives. About 10 or 11, I'll try to give
you these so you can Write them down or put them in the margin
of the Bible. Here's 10 or 11 most important
areas of our lives where we glorify Him, our Lord and Redeemer. And the first one is verse 1.
Brotherly love. Brotherly love. Let brotherly
love continue. Now, we are to love all men. As much as life within you live
peaceably, the scripture says, with all men. We are to love
all men. We are not to harbor and hold
hatred in our hearts for anybody. We are to pity even our enemies.
But this love here is a different love. This is brotherly love. This is special family love. This is the love that is between
those who know Christ, who are redeemed by Christ. Now, he says,
let brotherly love continue. It's already there. The love
of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. He
says, let it continue and let it grow and let it grow. You see, love for one another
is the evidence of the new birth. Turn with me to John chapter
3. This is what our Lord says in John chapter 13. In John chapter 13, this is the
evidence that we're His children. He says in John 13 verse 34,
a new commandment I give unto you that you love one another.
As I have loved you, that's the way you love one another, as
I love you. that ye also love one another," now listen, "...and
by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have
love one to another." That's brotherly love. That's the love
of the redeemed for one another. Let this love continue and let
it grow. And Paul says in I Corinthians
13, turn there with me and let's read just a couple of verses.
Paul says if this love is not there, then then we have every
reason to doubt that we have been redeemed. In 1 Corinthians
13 verse 1, though I, even though we are religious, he says, though
I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not love,
I have become as a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal, a noisy
gong, an irritating sound. Though I have the gift of prophecy
and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and though
I have all faith so that I can remove mountains and have not
love, I'm nothing. Though I bestow all my goods
to feed the poor and even give my body to be burned as a martyr
for my religion and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. So love for one another is the
mark and evidence of discipleship and not to love one another is
a mark of apostasy. All right, verse 2. The first
one is brotherly love. The second one is, verse 2 says, "...be not
forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained
angels unaware." These strangers, are not just folks wandering
down the railroad track now. I used to pick up hitchhikers,
but I resigned from that a good while ago. It's a dangerous occupation
now. But he's talking about here strangers
in the brotherhood. He's talking about other believers.
Open your door. Open your door and open your
heart to those who come your way, whom you probably have never
met, but they're believers in Christ. You see, what we have
in the way of homes, and we have comfortable, nice homes, and
we have provisions, we have food, we have freezers full of food,
and refrigerators full of food, and pantries full of food, and
nice bedrooms, and nice homes, and these are comforts and provisions
that God has given to us, and He's given them to us to use. And it is our joy to share these
blessings with other believers. And he says here, don't be forgetful,
don't be hesitant to entertain even those you do not know in
the brotherhood. For thereby some have entertained
angels unaware. When did that take place? Well,
let's read about it in Genesis 18. Genesis 18, verse 1. Now
listen to this. Evidently, I read this again
this morning, and Abraham evidently didn't know who these men were. I don't think they'd visited
him before. But the Lord appeared to him
in the plains of Mamre as 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
your sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant. Let a
little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet,
and rest yourselves under the tree. And I'll fetch a morsel
of bread, get you something to eat, and comfort you in your
hearts. After that, you pass on. Just go on your way. But
therefore, you come to your servant. And they said, Well, so do, as
thou hast said. And Abraham hasted into the tent
unto Saba, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine
meal, and knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth. And Abraham
ran to the herd, and fetched a calf, tender and good, and
gave it unto a young man, and said, Dress it, and cook it.
And he took butter, and milk, and calf. When he had dressed
it, and set it before them, and stood by under the tree, and
watched them eat. And those were angels. Those
were the angels of God. They're the ones who came along
and announced to Abraham the birth of Isaac. You know, our
Lord said over in Matthew 25 that when we're kind to others,
this is kindness and entertaining strength. Matthew 25, turn over
there a moment. He said when we do this, to other
believers, when we share what we have with other believers,
we're ministering to him. That's what he said in Matthew
25, verse 38. And the believers ask him, when
did we see thee a stranger and took thee in? Or naked and clothed
thee? When did we see you sick or in
prison and came to you? And the king shall answer and
say unto them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done
it to one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it
unto me." Hospitality, that's the word.
Hospitality. And this church is one of the
most gracious and wonderful along that line that I know. The first
area, brotherly love. Second area, hospitality, sharing. what we have, what God's given
us with others. All right. Verse 3, now, Remember
them that are in bonds, as bound with them, and them which suffer
adversity, as being yourselves also in the body. All right.
Remember them that suffer. Now, when Paul wrote, Remember
them that are in bonds, there were some believers in prison
The Apostle Paul was one that experienced prison. And through
this particular time, there were other believers who were put
in prison for the gospel that they preached. And even in the
days, in the early days of the gospel in England, there were
men put in prison. John Bunyan was in prison, Bishop
Latimer was in prison, and they could name several men that hussed
Several of those men who were in prison, but we don't have
any knowledge of any today in prison for the gospel sake. Do
you know of anyone? I don't know of anyone, but I
do know. It says, remember them that are
in bonds. I do know some folks. I do know
some folks who have been made to suffer because of the gospel
in being separated from family and friends. and loved ones. I got a letter from a preacher
this week who in the last, just the last few years, and I'm talking
about three or four years, has come to knowledge of the gospel.
He's a man, I suppose, in his early fifties. He's a grandfather.
But he wrote me a letter and told how that he had learned
the gospel of Christ. He was well loved and well-received
in religious circles and preached in churches, pastored a church.
He started studying the scriptures and learned the gospel of God's
grace. And he said, I tried to teach it to the church where
I was a pastor and they run me off. And he said, my family,
not my immediate family, but my brothers and sisters, they
won't have anything to do with me. throughout the neighborhood. He said, I'm the black sheep,
you know, now, because of this gospel. Well, Paul is saying here, you remember
those people and show friendship and love for them. He said, when
he was sitting in prison and wrote to Timothy, and he said,
Timothy, don't you be ashamed of the gospel, and don't you
be ashamed of me, his prisoner. If you know someone who is He's
been made an object of scorn by the religious. You go over
to that person, make friends. And I'll tell you, that's true
in a lot of areas of life. I could give you some examples. There are people who are in bonds
of loneliness. There are people who are in the
bonds of old age, old age by themselves. There are people
who are in the bonds of sickness. There are people who are in the
bonds of weakness. There are people who are in the bonds of poverty. And what he's saying
here is, you do. I'm telling you, this congregation
is a congregation that not only remembers people in prayer, but
they remember people in care. Just don't love in word only,
love in deed and truth. That's what it is. Remember them.
Remember them. And not only because of what
Christ has done for us, that's the chief motivation. The love
of Christ constraineth us. That's the chief motivation for
any works of faith or labor of love or kindness to others. Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another as God, for Christ's sake, forgave you.
But here's another reason. Listen, verse 3. Remember them,
they're in bonds, as bound with them, suffer with them, as being
yourselves also in the body. Oh, you know, over in Galatians,
you don't need to turn to this, I'll quickly find it and read
it for you. Paul said this in Galatians,
he said, if a brother be overtaken in a fall, you that Restore such
a one in the spirit of meekness, considering yourself, lest you
also be tempted." And so, you know, when someone's been dealt
severely with in any way by kin, folks, or friends, or churches,
or by trial, or sickness, or whatever, let's give them an
extra hand and an extra love and extra care, because listen,
it might not be long until we are right there. You are in the
body. It might not be long until you are right there. And that
is motivation too. All right, the next one has to
do with marriage. He said marriage is honorable
and the marriage bed is undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers
have got to judge. Now, let marriage be held in
high esteem. I know there's some in this congregation,
I'm going to speak very frankly with you now, I know some of
you in your past have failed marriages before God saved you,
before you came to knowledge of Christ, you had broken marriages,
broken homes. That's unfortunate. And you have
to You have to stay in the state wherein God saved you. Stay right
where you are. Don't try to fix up anything
that happened 20 years ago. You can't do that. That's gone. And then I know there's some
here who've been married to unbelievers. And unfortunately, those unbelievers
chose to leave you. But what I have to say here is
to believers, a man who says he knows God and a woman who
says she knows God. members of this congregation,
both of them, both of them, say we love Christ. We love Christ. All right, I say this to you.
Don't you dare talk about divorce. Don't you dare even consider
it. Don't you dare. You bring reproach
on Christ, you bring reproach on the gospel, you bring reproach
on your church, You bring reproach on your Savior, and you bring
reproach on yourself, and you break the hearts of your children.
That's right. Poor things. I had two young
people look at me one day whose parents were getting a divorce,
and they looked at me with tears streaming down their eyes, and
they said, what about us? What about us? People who get
divorces don't think what about us, they think about themselves
and nobody else. And I get angry with it. Very,
very angry. And just not going to tolerate
it. See, marriage is ordained of
God. Marriage is ordained of God. God said, for this cause
shall a man leave his mother and father and land or whatever
and cleave to his wife and there be one flesh. That's right. Married in the sight of God,
and they make some promises, don't they? Some vows. I vow
before God Almighty and these witnesses, I'll be to you a true
and devoted husband, true and devoted wife, and stay together.
Stay together. Marriage was recognized by our
Lord Jesus Christ when he went to a wedding in Cana of Galilee.
He went to that wedding and put his approval on marriage. That's
what he did. He performed his first miracle. Marriage is sanctioned
by the Apostle Paul. He said, Husband, love your wives
as Christ loved the church. I hope Christ never leaves his
church, don't you? I don't have any more right to
leave Doris than Christ had to leave his church. They're one.
He's the head and they're the body. That's right. You don't
have that right. No, you don't. Paul said, you
husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church, and you wives
be obedient to your husbands as the church is to Christ. That's
right. I tell you, I read this the other
day, marriage. People say marriage is finding,
a good marriage is finding the right person. Well, I guess. I guess that's right. They've
got a lot of truth to that. Got a lot of truth to that. But
I tell you, marriage A whole lot has to do with being the
right person. Continuing to be the right person.
Consider one another. You see, there are three areas
in marriage that are vital. One is you worship God together.
You worship God together. You marry somebody who knows
your Lord. If you marry somebody who doesn't know your Lord, you're
already in trouble. Secondly, marriage is based on love for
one another. You really love each other. And I'll tell you
this, believers grow in love for each other. They love each
other more now than they did when they were courting. That's
right. They grow in love for one another.
And then thirdly, they consider one another. You can't build
a marriage on self and selfishness and my way. You build a marriage
on our way. This is best for us and our children.
That's right. And so this is, this is keep
your marriage together, trust one another, love one another,
forgive one another, be kind to one another. Do it for Christ's
sake. You got no better motivation.
And I'll tell you for your children's sake. Susan Emrick told me last time
she was home that she teaches a class I believe fourth or fifth
graders, got 23 children and only three of them have two parents.
Isn't that horrible? That's where we're headed. The
breakdown of America, I'll tell you where it is. It's the pulpit,
I know that. I'm not preaching the gospel.
But it's mamas and daddies that don't stay together and raise
their children. There's a breakdown. It's exactly where it is. They're
raised, and I was listening to NPR father going and talking about
some judge up there in New York trying to figure out a way that
you can make children happy by giving them visitation rights
with their mamas and daddies. Share the child, you know, pull
him here and pull him there and push him here and push him there
and tear his heart out. I tell you how you can make a
child happy is give him a home to come to, grow up in. That's right. Marriage is honorable,
but divorce is not. And whoremongers and adulterers
got to judge. All right, here's the next area. That word conversation, I'll
tell you what it means. It means your character, your
manner of life, your character, your manner of life. That's what
that conversation there means. It's your manner of life, your
character. Now, let it be without covetousness and greed and lust
after the things of this world. Be content with what things,
such things as you have. But he said, I'll never leave
you. I'll never forsake you. So we can boldly say, the Lord's
my helper. I'll not fear what man can do
unto me. You know, when the Lord reveals Christ to our hearts,
He puts the material things of this world in their proper place.
Now, they have a place. They have a plan. What we shall
eat, what we shall drink, what we shall wear, like I was talking
about those home and children a while ago. Tennis shoes cost
$80 a pair now, did you? You know that, Rob, don't you?
You sold them. $100 a pair. Jeans? It costs to raise children. It costs to put food on the table.
It costs to operate an automobile. It takes everything. But when
the Lord saved us and revealed Christ to us, He put the things
of this world in their proper place to be used and not to be
abused. To be received with thanksgiving
and to be used, but certainly not to lust after and covet and
crave. Love of money, craving for earthly
possessions and earthly honor is idolatry. It's idolatry. Now these scriptures are important.
I want you to turn to these. These having to do with this
very thing. As using this world and not abusing it, the fashion
of this world fadeth away. But let's look at Luke 12, verse
15. Luke 12, verse 15. And he said to them, Our Lord,
take heed. Beware of covetousness. For a man's life consisteth not
in the abundance of the things which he possesses. Man doesn't
live by bread alone. He lives by the Word of God. By the Word of God. Let me turn
to this one, just read it to you. I can get it faster. And
I want to show you a few more things. Oh, you can jot it down
if you're taking notes. Proverbs 30, verse 7. Listen to this. Proverbs 30,
verse 7. Two things have I required of
thee. Deny me not them before I die. Listen now. This is Solomon writing. Remove far from me vanity and
lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. I don't want either one. Feed
me with food convenient for me. My allowance. Now listen. Lest I be full and deny thee. And say, who's the Lord? or lest
I be poor and steel and take the name of my God in vain." I don't need riches. I sure don't
need poverty. And so he says, just do two things
for me. Deliver me from riches and covetousness
and panting after and lusting after the honor and fame and
power and influence and riches of this world and feed me with
things my allowance convenient for me." Paul said, I've learned in whatsoever
state I am to be content. He said, I know how to abound,
I know how to be a base. Let us be content with such things
as the Lord has given us. And I tell you where the foundation
of that contentment is, it's right here in verse 5. Let your
behavior, manner of life, be without covetous, be content
covetousness, be content with such things as you have. But
he had said, I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you. I'll provide for you. So we can
say, well, the Lord's my helper. We've proved that here. I've
looked over this congregation. We've been together a long time.
We've proved that here all these years. None of us have ever been
without. anything that we need for this
flesh. Then verse 7, let me move on
quickly. Here's another area. Our elders,
our preachers, 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. Now listen, he
says call no man master. Christ is your master. Call no
man father, like these Catholics call the priest father and their
hope is vested in these men and the church. Our hope is not in
any man, it's in Christ. Call no man master, one is your
master. Call no man father, one is your
father, your brethren, your brethren, your brethren. But our Lord has
ordained He's the Great Shepherd, He's the Good Shepherd, He's
the Chief Shepherd, but He's ordained under shepherds, that's
right, and given them authority in the church to teach His Word,
and to instruct His people, and to counsel them, and to lead
them. They're under shepherds, they're called pastors, they're
called prophets, apostles, missionaries, evangelists, elders, pastors,
and teachers. And He says here in verse 7,
you remember them. What does that mean, remember
them? Respect them. I have no trouble with that.
I've always had your respect and your honor and your provision.
Continue to do that with other pastors and the elders, young
elders coming along here. Respect them. Honor them. Provide
for them. What does it mean to remember
them? To listen to them. Take heed to their words. Take heed to their counsel and
to their advice. Pray for them. And verse 17,
skip down to verse 17. Obey them. What does that mean? Obey the gospel they preach. Obey the gospel they preach.
Back to verse 7. Remember them that have the rule
over you, who have spoken to you the word of God, whose faith
follow, considering the end of their conversation. the end of
their manner of life. What is the end? What's the goal? The word end
is the goal. What's my goal? Make a name for
myself? No, sir. What's the goal of this? I spent today working on this,
reading other men, reading the Word, and praying for God to
help me teach. What's my goal in this? I'm getting pretty old. If I'm going to have a goal,
I better decide where it is pretty quick, hadn't I? What's my goal? I'll tell you what it is. I count
all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in Him. That I may know Him and the power
of His resurrection. And the goal of my study and
teaching and preaching and instruction is that you might know Him too.
That's what he says here. You follow them and listen to
that preacher. considering what he's trying
to do, he's pointing you to Christ. I've never pointed you to the
Baptist church, never pointed you to the Sabbath day or the
tithe or the priesthood, I've never pointed you to the baptistry,
I've never pointed you to good works and the law for salvation,
I've pointed you to Christ. To Christ. Now look at verse
8. The end of their conversation is Jesus Christ, the same yesterday,
today, and forever. That's the goal and end of their
conversation. See that, Ronnie? That's it.
That's why you study and preach and you elders do. You want those
to hear you, those that hear you, to know Him. That's the
whole thing right there. Christ is the sum and substance
of a true minister's life, the sum and substance of a true minister's
message, The sum and substance of a true minister's gospel. I'll tell you verse 17 makes
it serious, too. Obey them that have the rule
over you and submit yourselves. They watch for your souls as
they that must give an account. Who do we give an account to?
To Him. And that we may do it with joy.
Father, I preached to them and they heard me. Father, I preached
to them. They wouldn't hear me. He said to Ezekiel, he said,
you're a good watchman. He said, you warn them for me.
If they hear you, they'll be safe. If they don't hear you,
your hands are free from their blood. Verse 9, let me give you
this quickly. Here's another area. Don't be
carried away with different strange doctrines. And our day is full
of it. Guard against doctrines and preaching
that's strange to the Scripture, strange, doubt different and
strange doctrines, strange to the Word of God. Guard against doctrines and preaching
that's dishonoring to the person of Christ. Guard against doctrines
and preaching which confer to free and sovereign grace. Just
don't touch them. Well, he said some pretty good
things. There's some good food in a garbage can, too, but I
advise you not to go there and eat. You might find a few morsels
of pretty good things, but there's a lot of bad stuff along with
it that'll kill you. And a preacher may get up and
say some good things, but it's like finding good food in a garbage
can. Most of what he says is wrong, and that's what'll kill
you. Guard against, don't be carried away, don't be deceived
with diverse, different, strange doctrines that are strange to
the Word, strange to the glory of Christ, and strange to the
message of sovereign, free, redeeming grace. Salvations of the Lord. And there are three key words
here. It's a good thing that your heart be established with
grace. Your heart, that's where this
business takes place. intellectual acceptance of facts.
You can learn doctrines and miss Christ. Conviction, repentance,
faith, redemption, that's a heart work accomplished with the Spirit
of God. Your heart be what? Established,
convinced, persuaded, settled regarding the righteousness of
Christ, regarding the blood of Christ. I know, Paul said, whom
I have believed. I'm persuaded he's able to keep
that which I've committed to him. Don't bother me about any
two or three different ways of salvation. I don't want to hear
it. I'm established. I want to rock Christ Jesus. And let your heart be established
with grace. Free grace. Sovereign grace. Saving grace. Provenient grace. Keeping grace. God's grace. Don't let works
enter in anywhere. And don't, listen, don't be taken
up with meats. See verse 9? meats, and diets,
and Sabbaths, and ceremonies, and holy days, and this didn't
profit those folks that were occupied with them. Go back to
the Old Testament. They had their Sabbaths, and
their tithes, and their holy days, and their diets, and they
couldn't eat this, and couldn't sit there, and couldn't walk
here, couldn't do this. Don't be taken up with that.
It didn't help them any, because they tried to find salvation
in it, instead of seeing that all this is a picture of Christ.
We have Christ. Put it away. Put it away. Oh, we have an altar, verse 10,
we have an altar. Whereof they have no right to
eat which serve the tabernacle. You jot down Leviticus 6, 14
through 16. This is what this refers to.
The reference is, listen, the reference is to the sacrifice
that was eaten by the priest. The sacrifice was killed. Its
body was burned on the altar, its blood was offered, and the
priests, the sons of Aaron, ate the sacrifice. They didn't throw
it away, they ate it. We have an altar, we have a sacrifice,
we have a lamb, Christ himself, and he's been offered, his body
roasted, his blood shed, and we eat his flesh and drink his
blood. We're priests too. We have an altar. But these fellows
that are looking to the old covenant, the old law, they don't have
any right to eat. They don't have any right. For
the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary
by the high priest for sin are burned without the camp. You
can read about that in Leviticus 16. Wherefore Jesus also, they
took that animal outside the camp and burned it. And they
had to wash themselves as they came back in the camp. Wherefore
Jesus, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood,
he suffered without the gates of Jerusalem. Let us go forth
therefore unto him without the camp. Now the key words here,
it doesn't say just go without the camp. We want to leave, quit
the camp of legalism and works and ceremonies and religion.
You have to go without the camp because the camps rejected him.
And he's outside the camp. But the key is, don't just go
without the camp. Don't change habitations or residences. Go to Him without the camp. See
that? There's the key. Let us go unto Him. If He's in
the camp, alright. If He's out of the camp, alright.
He's in glory, alright. Let's go to Him. That's the key.
And if you go to Him, you'll leave the camp. They'll put you
out of the camp, like that preacher wrote to me. He said, He said,
I don't have something to do with them. They don't have anything
to do with me. That's the problem. You wind up outside the camp.
You wind up out if you go to him. Because his enemies will
be your enemies. And his friends will be your
friends. And we have a sacrifice. We're priests. He says here,
listen. By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifices of praise
to God. We don't offer lamb or blood,
but we do offer sacrifices of praise. Praise unto Him continually. Not just good times, but bad
times. Continually. That is the fruit of our lips,
giving thanks to His name. We offer up sacrifices of praise. And listen, to do good and to
give, communicate is to give to others. Don't forget that.
For with such sacrifices God's well pleased. That's right. sacrifice of praise, the fruit
of our lips, rejoicing, communicating with others, sharing what we
have, doing good. God's well pleased with that.
That doesn't save a man, I know that. It's the fruit of salvation. It's the work of faith, it's
the labor of love, it's the patience of hope. Don't forget that. All right, let's close by reading
the the doxology here, and then we'll sing a hymn, Mike. Verse 20, Now the God of peace
that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great
Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting
covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will,
working in you, that we've been talking about tonight. Well-pleasing
have to now read that while we go that's pleasing in the sight
of the Lord God's well-pleased that which is pleasing in his
sight through Jesus Christ. Oh, it's not without him through
Jesus Christ To whom be the glory forever and ever Amen, I hope
that's a blessing to you Now this study on Hebrews Ronnie
has it on tape except for one chapter that we one message and
that's when the when the lights went out. You remember last Sunday?
We don't have that message. That's all in God's providence,
too. Somebody said, preach it again, and next time we'll record
it. All right.