The Enduring Redeemer
Our Great High Priest • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Intro
Intro
Jesus the Savior, Jesus the mediator, Jesus the Judge, Jesus the High Priest. Jesus the redeemer.
You know what I love about Jesus so much, is that he never gives up on us. He sees us at our worst and still seeks to redeem us. My friends it seems like every day something else happens. Another act of injustice. More fighting, more pain, more suffering. More moments of a need for forgiveness and for grace.
Jesus from His vantage point sees everything. He sees what we are going through, and as mentioned last week is calling for us to have faith.
At the finish of chapter 12 in Hebrews, the author talks about a shaking that amongst the Earth and the Heavens. This may sound an odd analogy, but those of you who have ever given a dog a bath, what do they immediately do following the bath, they shake out all the water.
Here in Hebrews describes a shaking where we can see whom has chosen to have faith, chosen to believe, chosen to accept the grace Jesus freely offers.
Yes there will be those who have rejected God. Unfortunately some of those may be our own friends and family. But I want you to know it will not be because God did not pursue them.
This world sure does appear as if it is shaking, and we are in need are in need of patience, and endurance. Its not going to be easy. As we heard multiple testimonies during Point Me to Jesus, today we are going to hear another in a bit. As relentless as the devil is in seeking to tempt and torture God’s children, God is just as relentless in his pursuit of us giving us the tools to overcome. Keeping our eyes on Christ and pursuing what cannot be shaken or overtaken. God’s Kingdom.
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Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
My friends, I want to ask you a question this morning?
Do you desire the reward of Heaven more than your greatest treasure in this world?
Do you desire to be changed? Are you willing to give all of yourself instead of only partially?
If God is calling you to make changes in your life are you willing to?
Do you trust God enough to make sacrifices in your life if god has called you to?
Today we are going to read together final chapter of Hebrews and listen to God’s challenge for believers.
Before we go further, lets take a moment to pray.
As we move into the final chapter of Hebrews, Hebrews 13. This chapter is prescriptive and proverbial with instructions for believers. Similar to chapters before it. The author shares with us the why and how. God gives his followers the understanding.
Let’s look at and examine some individual instructions for believers, while following these principles is not for simply the sake of following blind, but for our own sakes and as followers, these are the best practices. These are ways to help us endure in hard times.
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Let brotherly love continue.
What does brotherly love mean? It applies to more than those who are blood. This expression is metaphorically extended to include those adopted into God’s family.
And if you are not clear brothers and sisters whether they are blood or adopted, fight, disagree, have great struggles with each other. At the end of the day we are family. Those who are new to the faith, or maybe you are here at this church and in this place who is seeking community. Know this family looks out for each other. I’m so thankful to exist in this faith community. You know if tragedy strikes, I have to many people I could call and have certainty they would be there for myself and my family. Thats what it should be like when you are in a faith community, it doesn’t matter or shouldn’t matter how we look, dress, vote, or if you agree on every little issue. We show up for each other and for those who we can help in our community.
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Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
I think many of us would prefer not hear that one, because we can feel the guilt of moments where we have intentionally or unintentionally looked passed strangers because of the personal inconvenience it would be to help.
Church family, I know some of you, and myself included have been burned before attempting to help and find yourself scammed or taken advantage of. But the gospel demands us to endure those moments and continue to be love and continue to empathize no matter what. And as the scripture points us to, you never know what angels you have entertained.
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Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.
This statement goes far beyond ministering to those whom are carrying out a sentence in prison. The author of the text is imploring his listeners to have a Christian heart for those who are suffering both justly and unjustly. The implication is especially to those who are in the midst of rehabilitation. At its core that is the purpose of a prison sentence is for rehabilitation. Should we look down on someone who is in rehab from drugs and alcohol. When I was younger my family would watch a DVD that would spotlight the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. If you haven’t heard them, listen to them this afternoon on youtube, or pick up a copy of the book Fresh Wind Fresh Fire. This award winning choir is made up of people who were known sinners, those who had rolled in the toughest circles, and also even living in the bondage of addiction and prostitution. Each voice singing contributes to its award winning heavenly blend of voices. Church family our church body is made up no different. Just because our sins, or past is not broadcasted publicly, make no mistake when we sing together, we sing out of the redemption we have experienced ourselves also. Yes this verse speaks to our hearts to love those who are working towards rehabilitation, it also speaks to our hearts about speaking out for the sake of those who have been mistreated. Those who are or have been subjected to cruel and unjust treatment. To speak out even if it is unpopular. Going back a couple chapters, we recognize this verse echoes a similar sentiment in chapter 11.
We are to reflect the character of Christ. His character was to not only speak out on oppression and injustice, but in fact to suffer alongside those. We talked about it last Sabbath. Christ had been preparing his disciples for a day when they would suffer for his namesake. He did not attempt to paint Earthly measures as the reward but that to follow Christ meant to suffer. This does not suggest God is not looking to bring comfort to those suffering presently. It means that we serve a Savior who stands with us in the midst of our suffering. Sometimes he stands in and performs a miracle, but He never allows us to go through it alone, whether we see that or not.
I’m not going to skip past the next two verses but I do think the final charge of verse 5 applies to this verse’s assertion as well. Christ says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” and then verse 6
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So we can confidently say,
“The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear;
what can man do to me?”
I want to invite Ms. Amy June Harris.
If you haven’t met Ms. Amy June, she is still a fairly new member to our RSDA church family. She and her daughter joined us earlier this year. Reemember how I said, earlier that we have people in this church who have suffered, who have been through it. Ms. Amy June is one of those people. She expressed to me a while back that she wanted to share some of her story with you all, and now is the time I want to invite her to share.
Thank-you for sharing Ms. Harris, thankyou for sharing what God has miraculously done in your life. He never abandoned you!
I want to go back to verse 4
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Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.
Let me make a couple things clear. This verse is true, but scripture’s teaching on sexual immorality is not without grace. What I am saying is that. The institution of marriage is designed for one man and one woman. That being said, many have not lived up to that ideal and those who haven’t would likely tell you that hardship that not living to that standard has caused. But again, if I could once again refer to Pastor Josue’s message from a few weeks ago about King David. The man lived far from God’s ideal. And God condemns David’s actions and David, and by extension of David’s sin, Bathsheba experienced the consequences of that sin. But you know we give Satan a lot of credit for corrupting things that God has designed, like Marriage and family. Satan continues to create counterfeits. But the reality is God can take things that the devil would use for evil and turn it into something good, especially from a repentant heart.
So if there are those who feel their past doesn’t live in the standard of God’s design, this verse is not intended to make you live in an everlasting shame. No the only thing God wants for his children that is everlasting, is His everlasting life found in Christ Jesus our Lord and our enduring redeemer. It says God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. Praise God for that, we’ve already learned that our judge is also acting as our defense lawyer. Lets also not simply place verse 4 higher or lower on the spectrum of these other verses such as the following.
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Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
The love of money is once again the example. The issue being addressed in our unsatisfaction. Its our hedonism, our singular pursuit pleasure, specifically worldly pleasure. Stop with scrolling instagram and facebook and seeing friends highlight reels or even influencers who are painting life in unrealistic measures. You don’t know about the debt they aren’t posting about, the hurt they don’t advertise, and the brokenness and emptiness they do experience. There is nothing wrong with wandering the world map and seeing God’s creation all over the world and witnessing the various cultures out there as many influencers would glamorize but I also believe the reward of building a family and serving your God in your local church reaps its own rewards that the instagram, snapchat, tiktok, youtube and facebook influencer world may never fully grasp. God’s ideals for the family may not seem as cool, but when I lay down in bed each night I’m counting my blessings.
Verse 7 switches gears a bit from moral instructions to spiritually uplifting ones.
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Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 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.
I like how verse 8 connects two important points.
Verse 7 encourages us to remember our leaders, not for the sake of hero worship. No one is infallible. I tell every person I study with, don’t believe because I said so, believe because of what God’s word says. But there is also the point that many of us do have influential people in our lives, spiritual mentors, men and women whom we respect. Look at the path they have walked, and there is nothing wrong with seeking to emulate that path, by making their faith your faith.
Jesus hasn’t changed, and while the world’s temptations have evolved, I would suggest to you the same devil is behind them, and Jesus’s recipe for overcoming those temptations have not changed either.
That is why it is so critical to choose your mentors wisely. Verse 8 ties verse 9 to verse 7. There are all sorts of crafty ways the devil works to distort truth. It starts by blending a little truth into error. Test every teaching upon the word of God. That is why I preach over and over. Let scripture interpret scripture. Don’t let people take isolated texts without seeking out context. I often like to read about global trends from Barna Research group. Their studies say, Generation Z, is the most open-minded generation of any kind. They are truly open to Christianity. They are also open to weighing what the Bible has to offer with what the world and other religious systems have to offer. So this is why we have to authentic in what we believe. If the Bible tells us to live as the hands and feet of Jesus, and we are not actually living that out, the incoming generations are watching. Gen Z cares deeply about authenticity, and if it sees the church not practicing what it preaches, they’ll look to find what else is out there in the world they see as the real deal.
Those of you who have lived in the truth of the gospel. Those of you who have endured, you live in faith with experience of overcoming what is in the world. Don’t neglect your duties and responsibilities to help mentor and train the next generation. Allow them to lead but don’t just complain when they do things differently. Invest in them, guide them, and even learn from them. If we look at Adventist history alone, it was a young James and Ellen white who took intiative and began utilizing print ministry to help broaden their ability to share the gospel, and at some point, radio ministry became a thing, and television ministry became a thing, satellite ministry became a thing, and now online and social media are being used as tools for ministry. Young people doing amazing things. Don’t squelch youthful enthusiasm for doing things differently. Guide them in that they do not lose the meat of the message of the gospel!
As we learned in chapter 12, there is a shaking, what the world is offering is not going to last. Let us mentor the next generations to not fall but have the endurance to stand.
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For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
My friends what is lasting is still to come. The enduring redeemer is going to redeem humanity and will one day redeem this world. We know what Jesus has been through, and what he has done, and as we have read throughout this book, identifying he truly is worthy.
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Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
God is saying, do not relent in our sharing Christ in the way that we live and in the way we serve others. When people see your good works and the fruit of them, do not be tempted to take the credit for yourself, this is pride and selfish ambition and it is a cancer to the cause of Christ. Let us be like Daniel and Joseph and always acknowledge God and give him the credit for any goodness we have done.
The author concludes his appeal by encouraging the Hebrew listeners to obey their leaders, referring to their deacons and elders, their pastors of their day. Obey, not in the sense, of strict adherence, but have respect word that God had provided to those anointed to their task. The shepherds, the Pastors and church leaders are not infallible, so myself included, so please hold me to the highest standards of accountability. But test my words with scripture and not simply feeling, or guilt. My friends, one thing I’ve learned in ministry, is it is easy to preach easy messages. Its easy to preach messages you already agree with, its hard but still necessary to challenge people to live differently than they are currently living, or to call sin by its right name, or to give grace to the sinner whom it has suddenly grown popular to condemn. Do you think it was easy for the prophets of the Old testament to give hard news to the kings of Israel? For Samuel to communicate to Saul, for Nathan to communicate to David, for Elijah to communicate to Ahab. These were hard things. Now pastors and elders may not be prophets, but God has called them all the same. Before we write them off when they say something we don’t like, test their words through scripture and open your heart to the reality that God is communicating something to you, you may just need to hear.
I’ll close with this, bringing back us back to Jesus, the great high priest who is worthy, whom we have learned we can trust, whose sacrifice was self-less, whose judgment is filled with mercy.
Jesus lowered himself showing He was worthy of being raised above us. He was betrayed, He was whipped, mocked, spat upon, gossiped against, called names and endured every cruelty the world could throw at Him. For what? So that you and I could have but the chance to choose Him and to be redeemed. His sacrifice at the cross spilt the blood of an eternal new covenant, not based upon legalism or ritual but on acceptance of a promise. This promise Jesus shared to an old curious pharisee named Nicodemus.
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“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
My friends Jesus is fulfilling His promise to humanity. He resides in the Heavenly Sanctuary getting ready for his triumphant re-entry into this world to rescue humanity and redeem those who have desired to be saved. Until that time may we follow the lessons the author of the good book has prescribed in living for Jesus now.
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Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Thankyou Lord Jesus! Thankyou for enduring. Thank-you for redeeming us. We don’t deserve it but we do accept it!