Hebrews 13: Preaching/Teaching

Finishing!

Final words about finishing:

There was a guy, Blake Brewer that we used to work next to when we worked with college students. His dad died tragically. But in this tragedy he left some final words. And he has lived his life out from these final words.

In this book of Hebrews the author has painted a great picture of how Great Jesus is:

List the things he is greater than:

Moses

Angels

Old Covenant

Now he wants to give us his final words

The first final word is:

#1. Our lives must practically embody good news (1-6).

I got a really bad hair cut one time from a college teammate and one thing I can guarantee you is no one on else on my team was getting a haircut from John Keys.

Briefly talk about the good news:

Where these Hebrews going to live out the gospel or where they going to go back to living like they did before Jesus.

Are you going to continue to live for Jesus.

The author is about to give the audience some basic exhortations of what we are to do.

Remember we don’t do these things to earn the favor of God we do these things because we have the favor of God.

We never want Christianity to become about rules: there is freedom in Jesus but it is not a freedom to do whatever we want it is a freedom to serve God with everything we have and are.

He gives us a list of things that we are striving for if we want to finish strong.

We are not called to be perfect but we are called to have God’s standard in our life.

We need to be known for our love

Hebrews 13:1 NASB95

Let love of the brethren continue.

This is what Jesus said would show the world that we are his disciples in John 13:34-35.

The greatest way we can show love to the world is if we love like Jesus loved us.

This is hard, why because people are messy and he tells us in this first verst that we are to continue to do this. It is not hard to love sometimes but we are to love for a lifetime.

He then gives a practical way we can love:

Being Hospital

Hebrews 13:2 NASB95

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.

He is most likely referring to Abraham here. Abraham actually hosted Angels in the book of Genesis.

Are you knowing for your love?

Are you hospitable?

Remember suffering Christians (the persecuted Church!)

Hebrews 13:3 NASB95

Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body.

Some of the audience’s friends actually went to jail because they were believers.

VOICE OF THE MARTYRS-Richard Wurmbrand

We need to remember our brothers and sisters who are in chains today as well.

We must exalt God’s design for marriage

Hebrews 13:4 NASB95

Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

Marriage is God’s design it has been from the very beginning. Marriage is one of the greatest, toughest gifts God has given to us.

The world does not hold marriage high

Cohabitation before marriage is at an all time high

Divorce is high: in and out of the church

If this is God’s design we need to embrace it, we need to teach it to our young and we need to seek after having a Godly marriage.

He then give the motivation: Adulterers and fornicators will be judged.

Don’t love money

Hebrews 13:5 NASB95

Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”

Being rich or poor has nothing to do with content. But we need to guard our hearts from the love of money.

What’s amazing about this practical ways to embody the gospel these are not rocket science. They are very simple ways that we are called to embody the good news of Jesus Christ.

Application: out of these very practical ways of embodying the gospel:

Which is your strongest?

Which is your weakest?

Final words about finishing:

#2. We must sit under good teachers that exalt Jesus.

Hebrews 13:7 NASB95

Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.

Teachers are called to have a faith worth imitating.

Do you remember someone’s life who you actually wanted to imitate their faith?

Teaching is a huge responsibility the Bible tells us because even teachers are far from perfect.

But you are to be under good teachers.

I read this and I am reminded a faith worth imitating is not about being perfect, but it is about having a life that walks with Jesus.

Is your faith worth imitating?

Hebrews 13:8 NASB95

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Making Jesus great is non negotiable to our message.

The author is giving practical things to walk away with but if this is not central nothing else matters.

If you have been in church for awhile and the teaching you have been hearing about Jesus is getting smaller and not bigger there is a problem.

Hebrews 13:9 NASB95

Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited.

Right teachers remind us to check everything by the Bible.

A couple of weeks ago we talked about five non negotiables about Christianity. One of them was:

We are saved by grace.

There was a teaching about a rule for food. This teaching had no benefit.

When people are dealing with life and death issues and an issue about food is more important we are in danger.

A couple of weeks ago Nathaniel and Aiden went to a tournament in Dallas and they talked with their teammates about the Bible. And they came back and were like dad they said their were a lot of lost gospels.

Hebrews 13:17 NASB95

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.

I did this out of joy.

When I graduated college I wanted to minister the gospel yes because I was called also because i literally had so much joy that i could not do anything else.

But ministry is tough I could share with you a lot of horror stories about things that have happened to me that have happened to friends, but I want this to be one of the joy’s of my life.

Hebrews 13:18–19 NASB95

Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things. And I urge you all the more to do this, so that I may be restored to you the sooner.

Pray for your leaders here at RCC.

So many people who were leaders are no longer.

Final words about finishing:

#3. We must allow the gospel to fuel our lives (10-14, 20-21).

Hebrews 13:10–14 NASB95

We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.

Jesus is our great motivation

In this book we have seen that Jesus is greater. Now the author is about to give us some things to do. But as we do these things we have to remember that why we are doing them. We are doing them in response to what God has already done for us.

Hebrews 13:20–21 NASB95

Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Application:

Hebrews 13:15–16 NASB95

Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

We made it through

My hope and prayer as we went through such a great book is that Jesus is greater in your life?

1-6-

(1-6) Exhortations and why:

Brotherly Love continue

Show hospitality

Why some have entertained angels

Remember the prisoners

Respect marriage

How: Purity

Don’t love money

How: Contentment

Why: God will not leave you nor forsake you.

Remember your leaders (8).

Don’t be lead away by false teachings (9)

Offer up to God a sacrifice of praise (15)

Do not neglect to do what is good (16)

Obey your leaders and submit to them (17)

Pray for your leaders (18)

If we are not living out the gospel we cannot say verse 6 boldly or confidently.

Our hope is not in the worldly kingdom but in the heavenly Kingdom (14),

What does it mean to go to him outside the camp?

Motivations to follow God for a lifetime:

Why we should love continually

1-We may have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it.

The reasons we should remember the prisoners is because we are suffering with them (3). Richard Wurmerbrand-Persecuted Church.

They were actually seeing their friends in jail

The reasons marriage respected by all is because God will judge the immoral people and adulterers (4).

The reasons we should be free from the love of money is because God will never leave us nor forsake us (5)(

We see the motivation of the gospel throughout the passage:

Strengthened by grace (9).

We are sanctified by his blood (12)

Brought us up from the dead through the eternal covenant (20).

Multiple times the author commands us to obey our leaders and their teaching.

There are 12 or 13 different commands or exhortations of what we are supposed to do!

Two things have to be in line if we want to follow Jesus for a lifetime

The gospel is our foundation

Biblical teachers and teaching