Hebrews 13:1-10

Jesus is Superior (Book of Hebrews)  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  1:00:22
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We are in the final chapter of Hebrews!
Congratulations for hanging around with us for this long.
The book of Hebrews has been a challenging, but rewarding journey through the Gospel according to the Jewish mind.
None of us come from the Jewish background that this audience did.
This is why it presented us with additional challenges along the way. So, it is my hope that our journey has opened the door to understanding this at a new level.
Today, the book of Hebrews brings us a very different note from what we have been talking about.
As I said last week, the author brought to us a summarizing picture of two mountains.
One mountain was superior to the other.
It was a summary of all of the concepts to this point. In essence, it was the end of the teaching of this book.
Much of this book has been explanatory. However, today the author brings us some exhortations.
Define Exhortation:
It means to come alongside someone and strongly urge them to moral growth.
It is written in the sense of compassion, not judgment.
The end of Hebrews gives us a series of exhortations.
Some we will tackle today, and we will finish them up.
It is a change of pace for this book because the book has been all about learning and explaining. It has been very theological and giving theological understanding.
But now, that theology meets action.
You can believe all the right things about Jesus, but if it doesn’t translate into action, you have missed the point of theology.
My understanding of theology is that it brings lifechange.
Hebrews 13:1–16 NIV
Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. 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 carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so. We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat. The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
Pray
As we go into these exhortations, I want to remind you of the context. We will pull into this the context we are familiar with.
But once again, our context is not their context.
They were beginning to feel the pressure of persecution as both Jews and Christians.
Earlier it says that they have not yet suffered to the point of shedding their own blood.
This means that they had begun suffering, but also, it was not to the level it would be.
In fact, to step back, this church was about to experience complete and total rejection by the world.
The author under the guidance of the Holy Spirit is writing this to prepare them for what was to come.
They may have been just a normal church experiencing normal things.
But, things would not remain normal for long.
This is a forward looking book. Yes they had experienced suffering. They probably wanted some comfort for the suffering they had endured.
But they did not receive comfort. They received instructions and preparation for the future.
This is the definition of discipline that we talked about a few weeks ago.
There is a reality that we must remember:
God prepares us for battle before sending us into battle
In this preparation, these exhortations give practical instructions of things they would need to remember, not just in their current situation of moderate suffering, but into the reality of intense persecution that was to come.
Hebrews 13:1 NIV
Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters.
Exhortation #1- Keep on loving one another
In this first exhortation, I think it speaks very strongly as an encouragement, and an exhortation.
Notice it does not say, “Start loving one another” It says “Keep on loving one another”
This is something this church was already living out. This is the encouragement
But the exhortation is riding right behind it: Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters.
This language is a theme that is carried through this book.
Hebrews 2:10–11 NIV
In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.
We are brothers and sisters with each other. But most importantly, we are in Christ.
It is not in each other that we find our distinction.
It is in Christ that we find our identity and distinction.
Our church is great. We have nice people and everything, but that is not what makes RLN great! It is Jesus.
That is why we are connected.
We are not connected on anything else, except the eternal.
Because of this, we are commanded to love one another.
If it was easy and natural, it wouldn’t be something that needed to be commanded.
But, we need the reminder to love one another.
In the face of suffering, it would be easy to become divisive, blaming, wanting to fight battles that didn’t need to be fought.
It would be easy to take your eyes off of Jesus and the eternal and focus on the temporary things, like a government who might break in the door at any moment and arrest, beat, or kill the Christians in the room.
They would need to remember to love
This becomes a theme for the next few exhortations.
Hebrews 13:2 NIV
Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.
Exhortation #2- Show hospitality
This is an exciting and mysterious verse! We usually don’t even think of the exhortation. Rather we think about the angels.
I’ve heard fantastic stories about someone who pulled over to help someone and they disappeared after receiving help. Was it an angel? I have no idea.
I don’t think the idea here is that God is randomly throwing angels into our lives to test our hospitality.
This book starts with the topic of angels and how Jesus is superior to angels.
However, angels are still real and important.
Here is what the Jewish mind would think when this verse was written.
There is one instance in the Bible where someone was hospitable, and it ended up being angels. This is the story of Abraham and Sarah.
The story can be found in Genesis 18. I am not going to turn there, but I’ll give you the idea.
Abraham was sitting around his tent and saw three strangers. He got up, washed their feet, gave them food and water and honored them as guests.
These men ended up being angels sent by God giving the message that Abraham and Sarah would soon become pregnant with a baby.
Abraham didn’t know these guys, but he acted with hospitality.
This exhortation about showing hospitality is a look back to Abraham’s example.
You don’t know who the strangers in your life are.
Treat people like they are sent by God.
This is an extension of the first exhortation of loving one another.
That command says to love others within the body of believers.
This command is pointed at showing love to those who are outside the body of believers.
This is going to get somewhat personal soon, so be ready.
Hebrews 13:3 NIV
Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
Exhortation #3- Remember those in prison
Exhortation #4- Remember the mistreated
This is where we need to begin taking the context of this passage in account.
Is this a passage that says, “You should begin a jail ministry and visit them?”
That is not what this verse brings to the table. This is a church in persecution. Believers were being arrested, jailed, beaten, and in some cases having their property, homes and jobs taken from them.
We might think that sounds extreme. But remember the passage that said, “You have not yet suffered to the point of shedding your blood.”
They had been suffering through persecution at this point. But it wasn’t death penalty persecution. It soon would be though.
I roll back to the “Love one another” command. It carries over into this passage.
Jails in that time were not good places. Our jails give you a bed, 3 meals a day, and television.
Their jails were a holding cell. That is it. People would starve to death if they had no one to care for them while they were in jail.
However, it was easy to neglect this command and leave it to other people
Jails have guards and soldiers.
The person in the cell had been arrested for being a Christian
If a Christian comes around, they are exposed to the guards and soldiers and may be seen as committing the same crime as the person in the cell.
What should they do?
And the mistreated, we ought to treat them as if it were us who were mistreated.
It reminds me of a story Jesus told about a man who was walking out of Jerusalem.
Fell in the hands of thieves who beat him and left him for dead.
Priest and Levite walked by and ignored him.
Samaritan met his needs and then some.
Which person treated the injured man like it was himself in the ditch?
It was the Samaritan.
Here is the problem with this. We aren’t being arrested, imprisoned, beaten, and losing our homes, finances, and jobs because we are Christians.
It is hard to connect the dots to see what our command is in this passage.
I believe an easy understanding of this passage is not to take this in the absolute literal sense.
We should only care about people in jail, or only care about people suffering hardships.
The point of these two commands is the second half of the commands.
When people go through hardships of any kind, treat them as if it were you going through those hardships.
This requires empathy. Put yourself in their shoes.
The next exhortation is a command that doesn’t seem to fall into the “love one another” command, but I believe it does.
Hebrews 13:4 NIV
Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.
Exhortation #5- Maintain sexual purity
In the face of all of the suffering these people endured from persecution, there is a pernicious enemy that lies at the gate, waiting to take us down.
Marriage should be honored by all.
What does it mean to honor? It means to elevate in value and esteem.
Marriage should be seen as highly valued by all!
We get to celebrate the wedding of Rick and Allison today.
It isn’t simply the celebration of the institution of marriage. It is the celebration of God’s unification of two of His people.
Together they become one flesh. Working and developing God’s structure in the home, but further than that, they become a unit that brings glory to God.
Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.
Purity is the Biblical standard presented.
You may say, “Purity is not really practical in our culture. It isn’t the way people live anymore.”
In a way, it is saying that the Bible’s instructions in this matter do not apply any longer.
Here is what we need to know. Context is very important here.
Sexual purity was a massive issue in the Roman culture
There were pagan gods who people would worship with prostitutes.
Sex was a celebrated act in that culture, much like it is in our world.
For us to say, “It is worse in our time” means that we don’t really understand the Roman culture at that time.
What is sexual purity? What is adultery? What is sexual immorality?
We can go into deep discussions and definitions on these topics. But, rather than doing that, I want to tell you what the Bible says sexual purity is. If we know what it is, than anything that isn’t what it is isn’t pure…does that make sense?
In creation, God displayed His will and purpose for all of creation. That includes marriage
God created man. From man, He created woman.
Genesis 2:20–24 NIV
So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
He brought them together and they lose their individual identity and become one flesh.
Sexuality is designed to be in the context of marriage
Sexuality is an expression of love, but also the development of family.
Marriage brings family. Family brings God’s glory and plan to be fruitful and multiply.
Sex within marriage---Good!
Sex outside of marriage— Bad!
Sexuality outside of this context, regardless of what the world says is ok, is not in line with God’s plan
Hebrews 11:13–14 NIV
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.
There are few topics that will make the believer out to be “not of this world”
But taking a biblical view of sexuality is one of those topics.
This is an issue of faith, lordship, and obedience.
Do you believe Him and that His path is best? Or do you believe your path is best?
Is He your lord? Is He not your Lord?
Will you obey Him? Or will you disobey Him?
Quote from Philip Melanchthon
“What the heart loves, the will chooses, and the mind justifies.”— Philip Melanchthon
A pure marriage bed is one way to honor marriage in our church.
There is much that can be said here, but we will continue in this chapter
Hebrews 13:5–6 NIV
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”
Exhortation #6- Keep your life free from the love of money
This is a time and place again, where people were being arrested, imprisoned, beaten, interrogated, and in some cases, they had their possessions, money and jobs stripped from them by their government.
This instruction was given to people who had their things taken from them. They were asked, “The love of your things is not what should sustain you.” You have Jesus and that cannot be taken away.
That is why the second verse says, “I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”
We shouldn’t fear those who can harm the temporary things. Those things will be shaken anyways (last week)
What will remain is what is eternal.
These verses can be reversed to highlight the opposite. This also makes the same point.
Never will (money) leave you? That isn’t true. Money can leave.
Money is my helper, I will not be afraid.— Doesn’t ring true.
Hebrews 13:5–6 NIV
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”
Hebrews 13:7 NIV
Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.
Exhortation #7- Follow your leaders
I am not going to go into detail on this passage. This topic will come up in a greater way next week.
Keep this one marked and we will tackle it in the final sermon of this book.
Hebrews 13:8–9 NIV
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so.
Exhortation #8- Keep your eyes on Jesus
Jesus is unchanging. This is the principle here.
There are teachers and teachings in this world that bring us to conclusions about Jesus that are wrong.
He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
There is a word, “new”. This word has all sorts of glamour, glitz and excitement.
I hear people share about how they scour the scriptures and somehow they find something “new”.
This is not where we go to discover something new.
We may discover something that we didn’t know before.
We may discover something that we have not applied before
We may become a new person.
But Jesus is the same.
His teachings haven’t evolved. His message of salvation has not changed.
He is an anchor.
There were likely some temptations by the people to do a couple of things, especially when the persecution got hard.
First, create a safe path back to where they were before.
Some of these folks likely accepted the teaching of the Gospel, but “just in case” kept the door open in Judaism.
Second, others may have tried to marry Jesus and Judaism together to bring the same message.
One last time, the author talks about the 1st and 2nd covenants with God.
He says, “You can either be sustained by the grace of Jesus, or be sustained by the keeping of your religious traditions, but not both.”
Hebrews 13:10–14 NIV
We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat. The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.
We must go outside of the Old Covenant to experience grace
Jesus is not in the Old Covenant. He created a New Covenant
Salvation by grace is found in no one but Jesus.
Hebrews 13:15–16 NIV
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
Rather than an offering of an animal for the abolition of our sin, we offer a sacrifice of praise.
Praise comes from a mouth that professes His name.
And don’t forget to do good and share with others. This pleases God.
The sacrifice is not longer brought by us and is for us.
The sacrifice that is brought is not for us, we now bring it for others.
Conclusion
I want you to see this. We live in a broken and sinful world. All of these exhortations are directed at the lives of the church.
It is easy for us to stand and say, “Look how sinful the world is!”
We can shake our heads and say, “The culture is moving in the wrong direction. We need to change them.”
Here is the thing, the world is sinful.
Would we expect unsaved, unchanged people to be righteous? Of course not!
Why would we be surprised that the world is sinful. We shouldn’t.
It doesn’t make sin right. But it shouldn’t surprise us
It does no eternal good for us to fight the culture battle and tell the world how wrong they are.
This passage is massive because it calls for righteousness in the body of Christ.
We cannot engage the culture and win. I’m not saying that Jesus is not powerful enough.
I am saying that is not the battle we have been called to fight.
No entity has ever taken on culture and won.
Culture cannot be changed. Culture can only be created.
We are called not to change the world. But to be changed people in the world.
It is when we hold ourselves to the standard of righteousness that our King has called us to, do we begin creating the culture within the church that looks like Jesus.
We create our own culture of alignment with Jesus.
When Jesus says, “Love your enemies”, we obey Him and love those we consider our enemies
Our culture says to destroy our enemies.
Think in terms of politics.
Think in terms of religion
Think in terms of issues plaguing the world (wars, education, economics).
Do we love our enemies?
If the voices we are listening to are telling us how to overcome our enemies and oppose them, then they are voices that are contrary to Jesus.
Change has to begin within the church.
Then the culture of the church impacts the world around it.
We need to create our own movement.
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