CPP Devotional

Hebrews 13:7–16 ESV

7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. 10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. 11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. 15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Fitness Trainer; Kettlebell Coach

Focus is for longevity. It’s about quality of life. Delay the decay.

I’m tempted to be so focused on my heath and nutrition that my heart says, “My life is on track when I’m attending well to my physical fitness. My heart is strengthened when those things are going well.” I think that we all have things that, when they’re on point, our hearts are tempted to say, “My life is on point.”

In other words, there are all kinds of things that strengthen our hearts.

This idea of having my heart established, having my heart strengthened is the language of assurance. It’s that calm assurance that my life is right, and it’s a desire everyone has. We all have it because we were created in God’s image.

The Pastor says to the Hebrews in v. 9? “It is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace.” Why is that, and what does that mean?

One of the main emphases of the letter to the Hebrews is persevering, enduring in the faith. Over and over again he exhorts them to hold fast to their confidence, hold fast to their boasting in their hope, hold fast to the confession of your hope. “You have need of endurance” (Heb. 10:36). We don’t find the words hold fast or endure here, but that’s still his heart’s desire for them.

He gets this message across to them first with three charges in verse 7, remember, consider, and imitate. Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you. He’s pointing them to the past. Who are these leaders? The Pastor doesn’t mention them by name, but the Hebrews would’ve known who he was talking about. These are the people who first brought the Good News of Jesus Christ to these Christians. He’s calling them, like he did in ch. 10:32, to recall the former days when they were enlightened.

When we reflect back on our testimony of faith, our story, we are reminded of the power of God to take people out of darkness and into his marvelous light. And we remember the person or people God used to speak the good news to us. And we never forget it. We never forget those people.

The Pastor is saying to the Hebrews, remember those people you led you to Christ. There were two things of note about these leaders. One, the people who brought the gospel to these Hebrews were first generation Christians. They had received their message directly from Jesus himself. He’s already mentioned these folk in 2:3 when he said, “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This message was declared at first by the Lord (that’s Jesus), and it was attested to us by those who heard (that’s the leaders).” The second thing to note about them is that they’re dead. They spoke the word of God. They’re no longer speaking it. Not only that, but he says, “consider the outcome of their way of life.” That is, “consider the sum total of their lives, consider their manner of life even to the end.”

This is not some nostalgic reflection, “remember how sweet it was back in those days. Those were the good old days.” No, “remember those leaders who spoke the word of God to you. As you remember, make careful consideration of their faithfulness to the Lord even to the end. And imitate their faith.” Don’t grow weary. From beginning to end the clear application of the Pastor’s teaching has been hold firm to our confession all the way to the end. Here again at the end he reinforces their need to endure by pointing to their first teachers who persevered by faith all the way to the end.

Immediately after that we get the establishment clause in v. 8. If we were following the word order of the Greek text. Here’s how it would be translated. “Jesus Christ yesterday and today is the same, and forever.” This verse is not an isolated thought. The same Jesus who spoke the word of God to your former leaders also enabled them to remain faithful to that word all the way through to the end of their lives. I can tell you to imitate their faith because I know that Jesus Christ is the same way today. He is still in the business of enabling his people to persevere in the faith. I emphasized the word order of the Greek text in v. 8 because the emphasis is on “forever.” This word is for us. He hasn’t stopped enabling his people to persevere in the faith. He hasn’t stopped enabling his people to hold firmly to this same word and base our very lives on it all the way to the end.

The confession of v. 8 doesn’t just make v. 7 more forceful. It also forms a connecting bridge to v. 9…

Their leaders who “spoke the Word of God” were able to endure because they had Jesus Christ as their great high priest. Since Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and into eternity, the Hebrews are also able to endure. He has not become less powerful, less loving, less helpful than he was for their teachers. He is just as powerful, present, loving, and helpful.

Trying to mix the gospel of grace with the regulations of the old covenant are diverse and strange teachings. It is not the gospel. It cannot save, and it will not enable them to endure all the way to the end.

He says, your heart needs to be strengthened by grace, not by foods. Trying to gain our heart confidence from anything other than grace of God in Christ is of no benefit. Remember, he’s talking about enduring. As much as I try to be physically fit, my body is given to decay…

Therefore, it is good for the heart to be strengthened, to be established by the grace that is found in this unchanging gospel message.

It’s good for the heart to be strengthened by grace in church planting because when you come alongside to care for people the Lord places in your plant, their cares will become your cares. And if your heart is strengthened by something else, those cares will be too great a burden to bear.

It’s good for the heart to be strengthened by grace in church planting because the cares of a community will become your cares as well. The brokenness of a place will become more and more evident to you. And if your heart is strengthened by anything else, you’ll find it impossible to hold on to hope that the brokenness can be healed.

It’s good for the heart to be strengthened by grace in church planting because the lifecycle of a church i like a roller coaster ride. There will be times that you feel like the life of the plant is hanging on by a thread and if our hearts aren’t strengthened by grace we’ll be looking for a way out. We won’t have staying power.

He giveth more grace when burdens grow greater

He giveth more strength when labors increase

To added affliction he addeth his mercy

To multiplied trials his multiplied peace

When we have exhausted our store of endurance

When our strength has failed ere the day is half done

When we’ve come to the end of our hoarded resources

Our Father’s full giving has only begun

His love knows no limit, His grace has no measure

His power has no boundary known unto men

For out of his infinite riches in Jesus, he giveth and giveth and giveth again

Grace provides staying power.

Grace enables you to hold on to hope for a place.

Grace keeps you from being crushed by the burdens of the people God has placed in your care.

It is a privilege, not a right, to be a recipient of this grace. Because Jesus doesn’t change, his message doesn’t change.