Perseverance Meets the Road

Introduction

Good morning please open in your Bibles to Hebrews 13 that is Hebrews 13. We have made it to our final chapter of Hebrews and this is where the rubber meets the road. That phrase “rubber meets the road” apparently came from a Firestone tire commercial. Firestone was claiming that a tire’s effectiveness is all theory until it actual touches the road and proves its effectiveness. The phrase has morphed into an idiom that means that theory is only prove by practice. We can pontificate about ideas until we are blue in the face, but they are just ideas until they are practiced. At some point, all ideas must “meet the road”.

I believe this is what the author of Hebrews is doing. He is not simply concluding his letter with a series of unrelate life tips before signing off. Rather he is showing his readers that his theology is effective. The idea that Jesus is better than the original audience’s old way of life has practical implications. The doctrine or teaching of perseverance (the idea that Christians endure in their faith until the end) has “skin” it is a doctrine that must be lived. The doctrine must meet the road.

And our author test drives his ideas through a series of positive commands which range in variety. In Hebrews 13:1-6, which we cover this morning, he will cover three topics: the love of one another, the love of marriage, and the love of money. These three topics are not random, but rather they are common reasons that people walk away from the faith. People often walk away from their faith when they are unloved or feel unloved by their church, when their marriages fall apart, or when the allure of material wealth entices them away from the riches of Christ.

So let us kick the tires of perseverance this morning and take it for a test drive. Does our belief that Jesus is better really hold up? Will Jesus be better when the rubber meets the road? Let’s Read Hebrews 13:1-6.

Love One Another v. 1-3

Verse one through 3 begin with the command let brotherly love continue. The original audience was already loving one another with a brotherly or familial affection, but the writer commands them to continue in this love for one another. John writes in 1 John 4:7–12 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” In 1 John 3 John has made it clear that Christians are children of God and therefore brothers and sisters with one another. He is arguing that those who are believers in Christ love one another because Christ loved his children by dying on the cross for their sin. So, if you love God then you must love what He loves. What does God love? His children, therefore, what must you love? Your brothers and sisters in Christ. This is a key part of perseverance. Loving one another is the evidence of our salvation and if we do not continue in our love for one another we are in danger of falling away from the truth. Hear again Hebrews 2:1 “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” and Hebrews 3:12–13 “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” How do we avoid sin and remain in Christ? By exhorting or encouraging one another every day. The way God holds us to Himself is through the love of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

Our author then gives to specific examples of this brotherly love as he encourages his readers to love the stranger and the prisoner. Hebrews 13:2 “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” We are to show hospitality to strangers, and the author alludes to Genesis 18 and 19 in which Abraham and Lot both host angels sent from God. These strangers are traveling to Sodom and Gomorrah and Abraham offers to cook for them and give them rest. It is in this episode that the Lord tells Abraham that he will have his son Isaac. God will bless the entire world through Isaac since one day through his lineage Jesus will be born to save God’s people from their sin. Abraham’s willingness to host these strangers becomes this incredible blessing.

Now, is the text telling us to just let any random stranger into our home. Should we talk a drive down West Broad and just invite the first stranger we see into our homes? I don’t think so. These “strangers” appear to be traveling Christians who are spreading the Gospel abroad and strengthening churches through their teaching ministry. Some may have even carried letters with them like the book of Hebrews or other epistles that make up our NT today. Listen to John again in 3 John 2–8 “Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.” I believe this is a call to care for those who go out for the sake of the name. When we support people like these through our hospitality we are fellow workers of the truth. For those of you who have hosted a summer intern, though they might be a stranger to you, or allow a passing missionary to stay in you home. You are showing hospitality to these “strangers.” And while Jacob and Curtis were not angels, they were a blessing to the homes they stayed in. And as they continue to grow in their faith they prove to be effective in the kingdom of God. When our church host them for a summer our church becomes fellow workers with them for all their future endeavors. Pizza rolls, a bed in the basement, and access to a shower become holy and sacred as God uses those young men for His glory.

Now, there is something similiar happening in verse 3 as we are exhorted to care for prisoners. While prison ministry is a great thing, caring for random prisoners doesn’t seem to be the focus of thsi verse. Rather I believe this verse refers to Christians who have been imprisoned for their faith. Hebrews 13:3 “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 prisoners and those mistreated are those who are in the body with those reading the letter. The body of Christ, the church. These are Christians imprisoned and mistreated for their faith, and this is something the Hebrews are to continue in, their brotherly love is to continue because they were caring for these prisoners. Listen to Hebrews 10:32–34 “But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.” They had compassion on those in prison, those imprisoned as a result of their faith in Christ. These Christians are to continue to care for those suffering for their faith. Why?

Because Christians imprisoned for their faith are not super hero christians that cannot stumble. Christians who endure mistreatment have the same struggles and doubts that you and I do. Suffering Christians are not innately better Christians that you or I. They need our encouragement and our prayers. We must see them as family and live like we are in prison with them. At this time those imprisoned were often left to the care of their friends and family. The prison system did not feed or clothe them well. It was us to their families to do this. And if their families had abandoned them for following Jesus then the church had a unique responsibility to care them. And this tangible care provided inspiration for the imprisoned Christian to remain steadfast and hold on to their confession that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Have you prayed for Martin lately? Reid told us that he fears talking to his wife about Jesus and being baptized. He fears mistreatment, are we with our brother? Are you going to the Father for the sake of these young families who futures are unknown as they are denied visas? Are our missional prayer updates interesting news to you, or do you hear them as family updates? Will we hold on to them as they hold on to Christ, and as Christ holds on to all of us? The love of one another is a means God uses to keep us in the faith.

When I was in high school and my mom was sick I remember wondering if God even cared about me. Was being a Christians really worth it? I thought that maybe and I should just go and smoke weed with my friends because at least it would be fun. And as I was having that internal battle I walked down to my families deep freeze and opened it up. And the deep freeze was full of tubber ware and aluminum carry out containers filled with food. And those pieces of tubber ware and throw away containers I saw the names of the families from my church. And I knew, these people have something that my pot smoking friends don’t have. These people love me and my family, and that meant God loved me and my family.

T/S- The love of one another is a means God uses to help us persevere in our faith. Just as God uses the honoring of marriage to help us persevere.

Love Marriage v. 4

Hebrews 13:4 “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.”

In the Bible marriage is the foundation of all of human society. God creates man in the garden and there is no helper suitable for him. In all of creation none is found to compliment Adam and be his life long helpmate. So, God makes Adam fall into a deep sleep, removes one of his ribs, and uses it to create Eve, the first woman. Genesis 2:24–25 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” This was the first marriage and all marriages since are to follow its pattern. Marriage is a lifelong commitment in which two people, one man and one woman, become one flesh. That is to say, that share a marriage bed, they have sex. The Bible defines all other forms of sexual intercorse as sexually immortality. The only sex that is undefiled is sex between one man and one woman who are committed to one another for a lifetime aka married. The author if Hebrews exhorts his readers to not defile the marriage bed. Our statement of faith reads like this under Article 16- Biblical Manhood and Womanhood “The Bible opposes all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography.”

If you find yourself indulging in adultery, homosexuality, or pornography or any sexual activity outside of marriage the author of Hebrews is saying, DANGER! DANGER! DANGER!. Sexual immorality is serious and will lead many to drift away from the living God. This text is clear, God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. This reality is taken up a notch when consider the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:27–30 ““You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.” When we read that, you must realize that we all sexually immoral. There are none you have lived a perfect life. And the temptation is to let that reality soften the blow and not take this passage seriously. If everyone has done it, then it must not be that big of deal… That is where you are wrong. This is a big a deal for all of us. This isn’t just a big deal for the people who’s sexual sin is different than yours, it is a big deal for all who do not meet God’s perfect standard. Everyone who has been sexually immoral is liable to God’s judgement. So, what do we do? What can sexual sinners like me and you do about our problem?

1 Corinthians 6:9–11 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” When you become a Christian your identity changes. No matter your past sins you become a child of God. These Christians in Corinth used to be sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, men you practiced homosexuality, thieves, greedy, drunkards, revilers, swindlers.. but when they became Christians they were washed, the were made holy or sanctified, they were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the by the Spirit of our God. They not only acknowledged their sin, but they changed. They stopped living like sinners and started living like saints. How is that even possible? How do sinners change? The answer is supernaturally. God causes us to be reborn, he causes us to be made new and after we come to know Christ we are to live like we are united with Him, because we are united with Him.

So what does this mean for Christians who have committed sexual immorality? 1 Corinthians 6:18–20 tells us, “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” Christians must recognize their sin and respond like they are Christians. You must determine to flee from sexual immorality, you cannot give the flesh an opportunity to destroy you. You and I are to live like our bodies do not belong to us, but rather that we belong to Christ who bought us with his own precious blood. The bad news of Hebrews 13:4 is that we have all failed to honor marriage at some point in our lives. But the good news of the Gospel is that Jesus’ sacrifice is enough to cover our sin. So let us then flee from the old ways and run toward the new ways in which we do honor marriage.

And all of us are to honor marriage. Even those who are not married. The singles in our church can honor marriage by refusing sexual immorality in the here and now. They honor marriage by savng themselves for marriage. The preemptively guard a future marriage bed by abstaining from sexual immorality. And if the Lord wills that you never marry, then know that one day we will all be a part of the bride of Christ. The way we honor marriage today will enable us to better honor the marriage of Christ and his church in the future.

The married honor marriage by working to remain married. They must keep their marriage bed undefiled because in marriage, sexual intimacy is a good thing. It is a means to fight off sexual immorality, to have children and grow families, and it is a means to maintain and express intimacy between a couple. Ultimately, the one flesh reality of a couple is expression of the union between Christ and His Church. Marriage is a foundational piece of human society and is necessary for the flourishing of any society or church. As a pastor friend once told me, strong marriages make strong families, and strong families make strong churches.

This is why I do not believe this command is a random tag on to the end of this book. The book of Hebrews is written to strengthen a church tempted to return to their old way of life. The author implores them to remain faithful to Jesus instead. If marriages are threatened then the church is threatened and if the church is threatened the Gospel is threatened. So far, God has been kind to our church and our marriages remain in tact. But I beg you to hear our author this morning. Let us all honor marriage. Because broken marriages will impact all of us.

T/S- This morning we have been reminded how love for one another and love for marriage protects the Gospel and helps us to persevere and in our final section this morning we want to see that we must love Christ more than money.

Love Christ, Not Money v. 5-6

Hebrews 13:5–6 “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.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?””

1 Timothy 6:6–10 “But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” This passage again proves my theory that these are not random tag ons, but rather commands that address common ways that people wander away from their faith. The of money is a craving that some have followed as they wander away from Christ. Jesus reminds us in Matthew 6:24 ““No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” When money becomes our ultimate pursuit then that means God is no longer our ultimate pursuit. The allure of riches entices many, and when we give in to this desire the consequences are disastrous.

Now, this is not to say that the contentment means we cannot strive to earn more money is this life. This is not to say, if your boss offers you a raise that you say, “No thanks, I’m content.” John Owens, a puritan pastor explains, “Contentment with what we have is not exclusive of honest industry, to make an addition unto it, and so enlarge the provision of earthly things for ourselves and our families. Honest industry, even unto this end, is the command of God, who hath given us six days in seven for the exercise of it.” Making money is not wrong, loving money is.

So, where is the line? When do we love money and when are were just seeking honest industry? I believe we can assess this question by asking what worries us. When we worry about money, we are loving money. Even if we don’t have it, worry is a sign you are loving money and not trusting God. Our writer is addressing people who had their possessions taken from them. Hebrews 10:34 “… joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, …” He is urging them to be content and trust that God is their helper. That man cannot harm them by simply taking away material possessions. He is reminding them that even when their things are stolen God will never leave them or forsake them. They can confidently know that the Lord is their helper, so they have no need to fear aka worry.

Does money worry you, even if you are giving yourself to honest industry. When you know you are working as God has called you to work are you still worried about God’s provision? This is the love of money and it can lead us to dishonest industry or and abandoning of the Lord for the sake of material gain. We must remember what Jesus said in Matthew 6:25–28 ““Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,” Matthew 6:29–33 “yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Material possessions are simply kindling for the fires of God’s judgement of this earth. Everything will be burnt away. You brought nothing into this world and you can’t take anything out of it. God’s good gifts are meant to be enjoyed now, but when we don’t have them we can remember that they are all temporary. Only the kingdom of God will last forever, so let us give ourselves to the kingdom that cannot be shaken.

Conclusion