Sunday Morning Service 8:30 AM - "Final Exhortations" Hebrews 13:1-14 ~ Pastor Ryan Nichols

Well, as you can see, Operation Christmas Child is all about spreading the word of God.

to hear. In Jesus' name, amen.

Good morning. For our responsive reading this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 57. Psalm 57. Look at the New American Standard for the responsive reading. If you need a copy, it should be one in a row around you. And as you are turning to Psalm 57, if you are able, please stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word.

I will read the odd verses, if you will follow along with Pastor Jared in the even verses. Psalm 57.

Be exalted above the heavens, O God. Let your glory be above all the earth.

My heart is steadfast, O God. My heart is steadfast. I will sing. Yes, I will sing praises. Awake, my glory. Awake, harp and lyre. I will awaken the dawn. I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples. I will sing praises to you among the nations.

Read verse 11 with me. Be exalted above the heavens, O God. Let your glory be above all the earth. And Father, we do thank you that you are gracious to us and you are the shadow under which we can hide. So, Father, I pray that as we spend time in your word this morning, that your word would speak deeply to us by the power of your Holy Spirit. Lord, minister to us in the places that we need minister to this morning, we pray.

In Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. If you would open up in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews, chapter 13. Hebrews, chapter 13. Well, today we begin winding down the book of Hebrews. We'll probably finish up next week barring anything unforeseen. And so, as we enter this last chapter, I've simply entitled it Final Exhortations. And ultimately, there's four exhortations that he will give to us,

and then he'll close with a benediction. The first three is what we'll look at this morning. The first three is what we'll look at this morning. And so, starting in chapter 13, verse 1, it says this. Let love of the brethren continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember the prisoners as though in prison with them,

and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body. Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled for fornicators and adulterers. God will judge. Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have. For he himself said, I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.

And so that confidently we may say, The Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. What will man do to me? Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you, and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be carried away by various 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. 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. So the first three of the four exhortations that we'll look at will be this morning. The first one that he's going to exhort us to is simply love. He starts off in chapter 13, verse 1, by saying, Let the love of the brethren continue. Let the love of the brethren continue.

Now there's multiple words for love that are used in the Greek language, and typically you would think that this would be the highest form of those words, which is agape, which is that perfect, sacrificial kind of love. It's actually not. The word that's used here for love is the word that's exactly described. That's brotherly love. The word is phileo, where we get our word Philadelphia from.

And so what he says is, I want you to allow brotherly love to continue amongst you, to love each other like family. The other night we had a worship night with one of the groups that I work with,

And as we look at each other within this room right now, we are all family within the body of Christ. And some of you don't always realize this, but there's a whole other service of people here, the second service. And if you stuck around long enough to greet some of them, you would find that they're your family as well. It's kind of interesting. We're in a place right now where I hear people say, I met somebody today,

and I didn't realize they went to our church. Because it's just the way it is with two services. And we're all one family. And what we have to realize is that the family that we're a part of doesn't end at the walls of Calvary Chapel of Ark City. The family that we're a part of extends into the greater church that's within our community and the greater church that's within our nation

and the greater church that's within the world, and ultimately the greater church that has been throughout all the centuries. And we are all family because of the bond of Jesus Christ. And so what he says is, show a brotherly love for one another. And listen, you know how it is with family, right? Like sometimes you love your family, you love being around your family,

and they're your favorite people to hang around, and everything is great because you kind of think alike because you're family. But then there's the rest of your family who you have to love because they're your family, right? You don't necessarily like them all the time, but you love them because at the end of the day, Uncle Harold may be a weird dude, but he's still family, right? And that's the way it is within the body of Christ.

And sometimes we're going to disagree with each other. There are denominations that we don't always see eye-to-eye with on everything, but that doesn't mean that we're not family. Because as long as we have the main thing that's true, the Jesus of the Bible, and the biblical truths that are proclaimed, we're still family. And it's true not only on a big global stance, but it's true in this room here right now.

I hope everybody in this room eventually gets to know each other. You learn each other's names. You find out a little bit about each other's families because at the end of the day, this brotherly love is supposed to continue. And I hope if you don't get anything else out of this message this morning, you get the fact that we're all family and we're supposed to love each other.

And unfortunately, the body of Christ is far too often known for what divides us than what unites us. Far too often, the body of Christ is way too known for what we debate about as opposed to what we agree upon. And so he says, let brotherly love continue. And he gives a couple of ways that that's supposed to take place. The first thing that he says is, do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers,

for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. Don't neglect to show hospitality, to show graciousness, warmth, and acceptance to the people that are around you. I think in today's culture, we would actually have to start by saying, don't neglect to show hospitality to people that you know, right? Because I'm going to say ever since 2020, we've become a very segregated, separated group of people.

And we're all pretty content just to live in our own little worlds and not get outside of our worlds. And we forget to show hospitality to each other, even that we know really well. But he goes farther than that. He says, be willing to show hospitality, even to people that you don't know all that well, to welcome them with open arms and to welcome them with love and graciousness and compassion.

He says, after all, some have entertained angels without realizing it. Of course, one of the biggest stories of that is Abraham in the Old Testament when three strangers showed up to Abraham's encampment one day, and it turned out that one of them happened to be an Old Testament appearance of Jesus, and two of them were actually angels. And he took the time to show hospitality to these three strangers that showed up. Now, I don't want you to build an entire theology off of this and say every time that you entertain a stranger, it's probably an angel.

I've heard people say this, and they're like, you know, I think I've come across three angels in my life that I've talked to. I'm like, probably you haven't. Like, probably they were just really nice people that God intended for you to show some love to. So don't go around, like, seeing if you can figure out who all of the angels are in the world. I tell you that because I know how we are as human beings,

and we build entire theologies off of this, and then we write books about it, and they make it into the Christian bookstore, and they're called I've Seen the Angels. There may even be that book in the Christian bookstore. It feels like the right thing. But it is interesting to think, like, who knows? Who knows who God has sent along into your life to show a little bit of love to?

He says, don't neglect to show hospitality. It's one of the greatest ways to show brotherly love. But then he gives us a second way. He says, remember the prisoners as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated since you yourselves also are in the body. Remember, one of the reasons he's writing this is because of the persecution that was arising.

Many of the New Testament books, especially the general epistles of which Hebrews is one of, many of them were written to encourage the persecuted church. And so when he says, remember the prisoners as if you were chained with them, it's a reminder that there are people in the world today that do not have the freedoms that you and I have, that do not experience the freedom that you and I have. They would love to experience the persecution that we have here in the United States of America, the persecution that somebody got angry with your social media post about Jesus, or maybe they don't want you to paint a Bible verse on a parking spot. They would love to experience that kind of persecution.

Instead, he says, remember as if you were chained with them, because they were actually believers who were in prison for being believers at this point in time. One of the greatest things that you can do is, and I keep them hanging out there, I point this out sometimes, there's some magazines out there from a group called Voice of the Martyrs. And if anybody wants to, if you go out these doors and you go to your right, right before you go out the door on the left-hand side there, there's a bulletin board. And I keep a lot of missions magazines hanging there.

And one of them is from the Voice of the Martyrs. The other one is from Far-Reaching Ministries. I would encourage you, just go ahead and undo one of those magazines and take it with you, please. That's why it's there. And read about the persecuted church in the world today. And as you read their stories, as you read the stories of men and women who love Jesus Christ throughout this world,

imagine what it must be like to live in the world that they live in. Imagine what it must be like to be ill-treated in the way that they are ill-treated for their faith. And then allow that compassion to take a grip on your heart and cause you to want to pray for them. Because do you realize that today you could be with fellow believers in Nigeria supporting them through your prayer life?

You could be with fellow believers in China supporting them through your prayer life. If you would just take that verse seriously and say, I'm going to pray for those. I'm going to remember those who are in prison as if I was imprisoned with them.

persecution because we are all part of the body. Why does he say this? Let me read it to you one more time. Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated since you yourselves also are in the body. Why do you suppose he words it like that? Well, let me tell you why he words it like that. If you go home today and you start working on a project

and you're swinging a hammer, let's say, and you smash your thumb with the hammer, right? That sort of affects everything that you do. You don't just go on with your life and pretend you didn't just hit the wrong nail. You don't just go on with your life and pretend like you didn't just destroy your thumb by smashing it with a hammer. No, your whole body is affected by it, right?

You go and you grab ice and you put it on or you run under cold water or you just sit there and wince for a little while because that part of your body bothers you. And the entire body is affected by one small part that is injured. That's what he means when he says, because you also are a part of the body. And if one member of the body is being affected, then it affects the rest of us too.

Therefore, if we want the entire global body of Christ to be healthy, then show brotherly love by remembering those who are ill-treated in prayer as if you were there with them. Because that's what brotherly love looks like. And so he addresses love. He says, let love of the brethren continue and don't neglect to show hospitality and remember the prisoners as though you were imprisoned with them.

He goes on from there to not only exhort us about love, but he exhorts us about character. And there's two aspects of character that he exhorts us about. The first is character in marriage, if you will, morality. But marriage is the specific thing that he says. He says, marriage is to be held in honor among all. And the marriage bed is to be undefiled for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

He says, the marriage bed is to be held in high or marriage is to be held in high regard. Why? Well, several reasons. First of all, because marriage is a gift from God. Marriage is the very first institution that God gave to men. Do you realize that there's only one thing in all of creation that God said, this is not good. And the one thing he said was not good

is that man should be alone. He said, that's not good. Everything else is good, except for that one thing. Therefore, God gave to man this gift of marriage as the greatest gift that he would give to us. And God provided a wife for Adam so that the two of them could cultivate a life together to be fruitful and to multiply and to support each other. I always like to point out that when God created Eve,

he told Adam, he said, it's not good that man should be alone. I will make a helper that is suitable for him. One of the questions I ask couples when we do premarital counseling, and I love to ask men this because I like to watch them squirm a little bit, is I like to ask, okay, so what does the word helper there mean? How would you describe that? So far, they've all done a very good job.

None of them have gotten a side eye from the girl that they're about to marry because they stuck their foot in their mouth by describing the helper. And then I asked the wife, well, what do you think that that means? And they usually give a pretty good definition, but I would like to tell you what that word really means. That word has great power in it. Oftentimes we think of helper

as if it's the person that carries the tools for us, right? Well, that word helper means that they're subservient in some way, shape or form, but that's not what that word means at all. Matter of fact, that same Hebrew word is used elsewhere in scripture in the Psalms. When the Psalmist David says, I lift my eyes up to the mountains, where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. That's the same Hebrew word for help there. And it carries with it the idea of great strength. Why does God provide marriage? Because we need the strength of each other. We need the strength of each other because it's important. And so he says, hold it in high regard because marriage is from God. But there's a second reason why marriage is so important

because marriage will ultimately be the foundation for culture. How will we have a culture that can be strong? Well, by having a mother and a father who are raising wonderful kids to understand what it looks like, to fear God, to understand what it looks like to have commitment in your life and to understand what it looks like to love someone else sacrificially. So God provided marriage to be the structure upon which culture would be built.

But there's one more reason even why he says, marriage is to be held in high regards because marriage is the most beautiful picture of Christ and the church. Christ gave himself for the church and the church responds with wholehearted commitment to Jesus. And it's a beautiful picture of the marriage relationship, which is why marriage is under attack right now. Marriage is under attack right now, first of all, through neglect.

Brothers and sisters, we need to understand something. And if you're married in here today, I want you to listen really closely to me. You cannot neglect your marriage. The most important relationship next to Jesus Christ that you have in your life is your marriage. I would say the most important thing next to Jesus Christ that you have in your life is your marriage

because that marriage is ultimately so important that you cannot neglect it. You have to pour time and energy into it, just like you would your job, just like you would your hobby, just like you would anything else that you want to be great in your life. It requires an incredible amount of time and energy from you. And so marriage is oftentimes under attack because it's neglected.

But not only is it oftentimes neglected because we don't put the work into it, it's neglected because our culture just doesn't see it as important anymore. Marriage is not seen as an important thing in our culture anymore. Some people say, well, you know, there's the divorce rate's actually going down. The problem is, so is the marriage rate. Many people are just choosing not to get married.

Therefore, you can't get a divorce if you're not married because they're just simply not making the choice because it's not seen as important. And can I say that this a little bit has to do with the church because oftentimes divorces in the church look no different than that does in the world around us. And we have not created in the church an idea of the sanctity, the purity, and the lasting effect of marriage. Therefore, the world around us says it must not be that important.

Even the church can't sustain it. And so it's being neglected in our culture today. But the other way that marriage is massively under attack in our culture today is it's being redefined. It's being redefined as no longer being between one male and one female. We have said anything can be a marriage. And I remember when the church said it's ridiculous to think that,

the church said, if we allow gay marriage, if we allow same-sex marriage, it will affect everything else. It will affect the sanctity of marriage in every other way. Adults will want to marry children. People will want to marry their pets. And everybody went, that's the most ridiculous thing we've ever heard in our lives. Do a quick internet search of it. Wait, don't.

It's amazing, the marriages that are taking place and how they're being redefined in the culture today. It's almost like once you do away with God's standard, all bets are off. And so it's being redefined. And so he tells us, he tells this group of believers, this group of Jewish believers, one of the most important things you can do is not just show love for the brethren, but it's to hold marriage in high regard, to hold it in such high regard if you are married and to hold it in high regard if you're not married so that you pursue someone who you can ultimately spend the rest of your life with.

I have a quick word for you young people. I hear this all the time. Ryan, how do I know who the right person is to marry? And I say, wrong question. Are you the right person to marry? You see, if you would spend more time focusing on being the right person, then you wouldn't have to focus on finding the right person because God will take care of that. Two of the most beautiful pictures of this in scripture

are first of all, Adam and Eve, right? What was Adam doing when God brought him a wife? Dude was asleep, right? God put a deep sleep on him, removes the rib from him, fashions a woman for him and brings her to Adam. All Adam did was take a nap in Christ. If you will, all he did was rest in the Lord and God brought him the right person. I'm also reminded of Isaac.

When Abraham has Isaac, Isaac reaches an age when he hasn't found him a girl yet. And so Abraham sends his servant. He sends his servant to go back to his homeland to bring him a bride. And when he finds the bride and returns the bride to Isaac, what was Isaac doing when he brought the bride to him? Isaac was in a field praying. You see, it's more important to focus on

being the right person than finding the right person because almost every time somebody finds their spouse, they had stopped trying. They stopped fretting about it. They stopped striving in it. They simply focused on being the right person and then God brought them the right person. He says, the marriage is to be held in high regard. And then he gives a second statement

about this aspect of purity and character. And he says, and the bed is to be undefiled. And the marriage bed is to be undefiled. Why? Because fornicators and adulterers, God will judge. Brothers and sisters, I think we now come to what is the greatest plague in our culture today. And that's the sin of immorality. The sin of immorality that is so rampant within the world today that anything that resembles purity

is mocked to a level that nobody even thinks about it anymore. And this is not just true outside of the church. This is very much true inside of the church. And this isn't just single people. This is married people. Because when he gives this statement, the marriage bed is to be undefiled, he's talking to the married people. In other words, there is to be a purity about all of us.

And our senses have been so relaxed to what sin truly is that we've stopped paying attention to what immorality is in our culture. And it's running rampant everywhere. There's a reason why they can continue rounding up massive groups of people that are trafficking children. Why? Why can they keep rounding up groups of people that are trafficking kids? It's because the immorality in our culture is so intense

that they are now purchasing children for the purpose of the use of their own lustful gain. That's what's happening in the world today. We say, well, the Bible doesn't really apply too much to the world today. I think it kind of does. Because he just gave us the main problem that's happening in the world today. Is that the problem is that there is sin running rampant in the world.

And we as the church are as much a part of it as the world is right now. And this is a call to purity for all of us. It's a call to purity for every single one of us. That every aspect of our lives is to be undefiled. Because he says two things, the fornicators and the adulterers God will judge. Those are two different words that talk about two different aspects of sexual immorality.

A fornicator is one who has sex without the commitment of marriage. And ultimately that's what most people want today, right? Why is there a whole group of people fighting for women's, this thing will give me a really big trouble. Why is there a whole group of people fighting for women's rights right now? Fighting for what they call reproductive rights. Because they want to be able to have sex

without the commitment of marriage. Therefore, they want to be able to have sex without the commitment of kids. This is the world we live in people. Because if you even mention abstinence, the entire world goes, like that's gonna work, really? Other than that Jesus situation, it's worked 100% of the time. Nothing on that, Mary, come on. Thank you. Other than that, it's worked 100% of the time.

You cannot contract diseases if you're keeping yourself pure. You cannot get pregnant if you're keeping yourself pure. That's why he says fornicators will be judged. And listen, if you're living in this lifestyle right now, it's time to repent because he doesn't mince words here. The second thing that he says is adulterers. Those are those who are not faithful in their marriage.

He says they'll be judged. Fellas have eyes only for your wife. Ladies have emotions only for your husband. Kids, wait. Wait until God brings the right person. He says, marriage is to be held in high regard. The marriage bed is to remain undefiled. Well, the second aspect of character has to do with our finances. He says in verse five, 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 forsake you so that we can confidently say, the Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. What will man do to me? He says, make sure that your character, that word character is interesting. It means the essence of your nature. In other words, the core of who you are.

Make sure that the core of who you are is free from the love of money. Free from the love of money. The Amplified Bible says, shun greed and be financially ethical. Shun greed and be financially ethical. We read about it all the time. There's constantly issues with financial ethics in the world today. And it gets all kinds of people in trouble. And it always starts with a work of the heart.

It always starts with a lack of contentment in the heart. And so he says, keep yourself free from the love of money. And he tells us how to keep ourselves free from the love of money. Being content with what you have. Being content with what you have. That word content means to be satisfied, to be satisfied. As I've said before, we live in a culture whose economy and advertising system

is built on a lack of satisfaction. You need this new thing. You need more. I don't remember who the millionaire is that was interviewed on this. David Gusick referenced it in his commentary. But this guy who was a millionaire said, how much more do you need to be content? And he said, only a million more. And that's what you find with it. No matter how much you have,

you're always gonna want a little bit more. Because contentment is not a state of your bank account. Contentment is a condition of our heart. You see, some people can have nothing and not be content. Some people can have everything, be content in their lives and say, God's blessed me and they're willing to give it away. When I was at one of the conferences that I went to for Fellowship of Christian Athletes,

one of the guys who was there was talking to us and he said, I've got a donor that supports me. And he lives in Southern California and he described this donor's house and all the just amazing things that this guy has in his house and the fantastic nature of all of the cool things he has in this mansion. He said, I leaned over to my friend that made this introduction to me and I said, this guy's not gonna wanna give me any money. Look at the way he spends all of his money now.

And he says, don't judge. Do not judge based on this. This guy gives away 90% of his income. You see, it's not a condition of your bank account. It's a condition of your heart. Be content with what you have. How do you come to a place of being content? Especially in the culture that we live in today. Well, if you were in the margin of your Bible, right? Philippians 4, verses 11 through 13.

Philippians 4, verses 11 through 13. Because this is what it says. Paul says, I have learned, and that's an important word here. I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. And he lists all the different things he learned to be content in. And the reason why he's learned that is he says, as I have learned that I've learned the secret, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

See, that's not the power lifter's verse. That's the content man's verse. That's the contentment. How do I learn to be content in my life? Well, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. And you learn that. You learn how to do with nothing. You learn how to be content with a lot of things. You learn how to be content when you're cold and when the heater's working just fine.

Because it's not a state of what you've got. It's a condition of your heart. And I've learned, he says, to be content in all things because I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. But let's read this whole thing in context again because it says, make sure that your character is free from the love of money. Being content with what you have for,

how can we be content? For he himself has said, I will never desert you nor will I forsake you. How can we learn to be content in a world where we still need things? We need to be able to pay the bills. We need to be able to pay the mortgage. We need to be able to put food on the table. So if I'm not to have this love for money, how do I also be someone who is content

but takes care of his family as a godly man is supposed to take care of his family? He says, you have to realize that God has made us a promise. I will never desert you nor will I forsake you. That word forsake is a very interesting word there. That word forsake means I will never relax my hold on you. I will never relax my hold on you. And it's interesting, if you read this verse

literally in the Greek, it's not how we would normally speak in English, but I want to read it to you how this word, how this entire verse would be phrased in the Greek. It says this, for he himself has said, and the statement is on record, I will not, I will not cease to sustain and uphold you. I will not, I will not, I will not let you down. Isn't that great?

It's repeated so many times because in the Greek language, you repeat it for emphasis, and that's exactly what he does. God will never leave you nor forsake you. He will never let you down. He will never relax his hold on you because you are firmly in the grip of the God who gave his life for you. And brothers, this is true when it comes to our lives financially,

and this is true in our lives in every other way as well, because we have been told in scripture that God knows his sheep, and they will never be let out of his grip. And once we are in that grip of the loving God, he keeps a tight grip on us, and we can rest in the fact that God is holding every single one of us. He says, and that allows us to confidently say, The Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"

Well, he's dealt with us on love. He's dealt with us on character. And now he's going to exhort us on spiritual well-being. Notice what he says, verse 7, Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you, considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. He says, Remember those spiritual leaders that you have in your life. Respect those godly leaders that you have in your life. Respect those who gave you the word of God.

Respect those godly leaders that you have in your life. Why does he say this? Well, because once again, there were ungodly leaders, and we'll deal with this in just a moment, that were creating a lack of respect amongst some. And so he wants them to be respectful of those godly leaders. You know what the hardest thing to put ourselves under is submission to some sort of a leader in

our lives. It is so hard for us to submit to some aspect of leadership in our lives. And I got to talk to a basketball team here recently, and I got to talk to them about leadership. And I said, you know, the fact of the matter is, if you're going to be a leader, and I know your coach wants you all to be leaders, you have to first learn to be led. Because leaders must first learn

to be led. And it's something that we see all throughout scripture. I want you to think about it. God wanted Moses to be the leader of the nation of Israel. Only Moses didn't know how to be a good leader yet, because he was too obstinate in his own will. He showed that by killing one of the guards. And so Moses spent the next 40 years unlearning his obstinate leadership skills and

learning to be led. Learning to be led by God so that when he came back 40 years later, he was prepared to lead God's people because he had learned to be led. And brothers and sisters, all of us in our lives, all of us in our lives have got to learn to be led by God and to be led by others. I always say this, everybody should have two people, two types of people in your life. You should have a Paul and you should have a Timothy.

And I don't care if you're a spiritual leader or you're just the average person sitting in the pew, everyone should have a Paul and everyone should have a Timothy. You should have some sort of a spiritual mentor in your life who is leading you, who is guiding you, who is the person who's giving you the understanding that you need, the wisdom that you need. And everybody should be discipling someone. I don't believe that there's any believer in Jesus Christ that should not be involved in discipleship, that should not be discipling someone else because we are all called to make disciples. And you should look for those two people in your life. Who is your Paul going

to be? And who is your Timothy going to be? Because if you have those two things and you begin to really understand spiritual leadership, which is why he says, remember, respect those who are in leadership over you. But he puts a caveat on that because what we've seen in the church today is sometimes we see abusive spiritual leadership and then somebody comes along and says, no, no, that's the leader. You've got to follow them even though they're abusive in the way that they lead.

Listen, abusive leadership is not of God. That is not a godly leader who has learned to be led that is now leading you. That is a man who is obstinate in his will, who is prideful in his actions, who needs to be sat down by God. That is not the one that you need to follow. And so what he says is, let me read it to you again, excuse me, verse seven, remember those who led you, who spoke the

word of God to you, considering the result of their conduct. In other words, remember them, but pay attention to how they live their lives. Because as you see the result of their conduct, then imitate their faith. If their conduct does not line up with their words, then it's probably time to find someone else because their faith is not worth being imitated. He says, then imitate

their faith as you see the result of their conduct. The second thing that he tells us under this aspect of spiritual leadership almost doesn't seem to fit, but I promised I'm going to tuck it in and show you how it fits in here in just a moment. Verse eight, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Honestly, we could probably build a whole sermon off of this, I promise I won't. You could probably build a whole sermon off of the unchanging nature

of Jesus Christ. There's a fancy theological term for this, it's called immutability. Immutability, impress your friends with that one later. But the immutability of Christ is one of the greatest character traits that we hold on to about who he is. Because you know how people are. If you've ever worked for a boss, who you do not know what their mood's going to be like every day when they come in, then you know what it's like to have some,

then you know the preciousness of knowing that Jesus never changes. That what you see is what you get. And he's not going to be different. Because he is as unchanging as the rising and the setting of the sun. And that unchangeable nature of Jesus Christ is what we can hold on to. Which is why I can believe that God is good when everything is going really well in my life,

and I can believe that God is good when nothing's going well in my life. Because all of the circumstances may have changed, but Jesus did not. Because he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The third thing that he tells us is, do not be carried away by various and strange teachings. Okay, so how does Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever fit in between? Remember those who lead you and don't be carried away with

various and strange teachings. Well, who is our ultimate leader? Who is the ultimate leader that we are to follow in our lives? It's to be Jesus Christ, right? Who is the one, who is the standard that we hold leaders to? Well, it's the leadership of Jesus Christ. Therefore, remember your leaders. Imitate their conduct and their faith as their conduct is really good. Because Jesus, the ultimate

leader, is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And if Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, then don't be carried away by a brand new or strange doctrine. Because Jesus did not change his mind. Jesus didn't decide something new all of a sudden. Well, I realized this was the teaching of the church and scripture for all of these years, but now I've changed my mind.

No, because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And people ask me sometimes, well, what about other books that were written that maybe or maybe should not be considered canonical? In other words, should be considered in the canon of scripture. And I say, here's my problem with some of the books that want to get entered, that people want to enter in the canon of scriptures. A, Jesus didn't quote from them. B, some of them disagreed

with what Jesus had to say. So why would Jesus want something a part of his canon that disagrees with Jesus, who is the very word of God? That kind of makes sense to everybody? That feels like a logical statement to me. Because Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Therefore, do not be carried away. The idea is someone swept away by a wave. Do not be carried away by various

or strange teachings. That word strange means foreign to Christianity and from pagan religions. Foreign to Christianity and from pagan religions. Again, may I just say, be careful of all the new teachings that come out. Be careful of the new books that come out, the new idea that just comes out. And make sure that it's not actually rooted in paganism with a little bit of a Christian twist

on it. This seems to happen over and over again. And people say, oh my gosh, I've just discovered this brand new thing that nobody's ever seen before. And what you actually find is that it's actually paganism with a Christian title on it. And they say, oh, it's the greatest thing ever. No, no, it's paganism. It's strange teachings. And everybody gets swept away with it. I remember

when the Enneagram first came out. First of all, I was annoyed by it because every girl that I knew was like, so what's your Enneagram number? And I remember, listen, sidebar, this will irritate my wife, but it is what it is. I used to, she'd be like, I want to know what your, this before anybody really knew the roots of it. I wonder what's your Enneagram. I'm like, I can't be put on a scale.

Okay. I'm weird. I have a weird personality. I just, I can't be put in a box. The right dog will not be put in a box. Okay. And so, and so she, she like made me take something online one time. She was like, so she like asked me the questions without me really knowing what was going on at first. Like, wait a minute, are you giving me the Enneagram test? So, well, there's one particular

one that's like, hey, we can't really identify you. So you're a this with this, but really you have no Enneagram number. So anyway, she comes to the end and it says, you don't really fit into one particular category. I didn't need to hear anything else. I was like, of course I don't. None of us do because we've been uniquely created by God. And then when the Enneagram came out,

all of a sudden Christians adopted it. And now there's, this is how Jesus speaks to you if you're this Enneagram number. And then you find out that the guy that actually came up with the numbering system, came up with it through automatic writing, which means that he listened to demons who told him what to write. And he came up with the Enneagram numbering system. And then

you go, oh, now I know why it's weird. And yet we welcomed it. We welcomed it with open arms. And we said, ah, look a brand new way to understand God. No, it's paganism with a Christian title on it. And so he says, don't be carried away with various and strange teachings for it is good, middle of verse nine, for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods through

which those who were occupied were not benefited. It's good for your heart to be strengthened by grace. In other words, it is good to dig in and allow God to show you all of the grace that he has for you. Listen, if we're going to spend all of eternity understanding it, let's start now. And it's good for your heart to be strengthened by God's grace. Instead of by foods by which no

one's benefited, what he means by that is instead of by religious rituals, which do you know good instead of by religious rituals, which do you know good. And he goes on to explain what he means, because remember, these people were tempted to go back to the religious rituals of the Judaic system instead of sticking with the simplicity of Christ. He says, we have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. See, one of the beautiful things about believers in Jesus Christ is we have a different kind of altar. And it's not an altar

that can only be approached by a high priest. It's not an altar that can only be approached by one particular class of people. It's an altar that anybody can approach. And that altar is the cross of Jesus Christ, because at the foot of the cross, everybody stands equal. Sinners in need of God's grace. He says, we have an altar of which those who served in the tabernacle cannot eat because

we have an altar that is guaranteed to us by grace. He goes on to say 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 of the camp. So let us go to him outside of the camp bearing his reproach.

He talks about the sacrifices. Listen, in the Old Testament, when sacrifices for sin were made, they offered what was necessary on the altar, the fat around the kidneys and all that kind of stuff. And they took the rest of the sin offering outside of the camp and they burned it up. Therefore, Jesus, so that he can sanctify us, was sacrificed outside of the camp. Therefore,

we are to go to him outside of the camp. What does that mean? It means we have got to get outside of man's religious systems and simply approach Jesus. What you'll find is that if you are really going to go to Jesus to be your savior, you have to leave all of man's religious systems that say, I have to be made righteous by my works behind. You have to leave all of your works behind

and approach Jesus outside of man's religious systems. And as you do so, you realize something. Verse 14, for here we don't have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come. He says your spiritual well-being is understanding the city that you are truly pursuing. And so as we wrap up here this morning, I have three final thoughts for you. And ultimately they're questions

that only you can answer. And I want you to think about them and kind of pray about them, allow the Lord to do his work. Number one, are you living out brotherly love in your walk? Are you living out brotherly love in your walk? It's a fair question to ask because if we are to continue in it, then we should ask ourselves, am I continuing in it? How am I showing brotherly

love? How am I showing hospitality and kindness and graciousness and warmth to others that are around me? And if you take this little self-exam and you go, you know, there's not a lot of brotherly love flowing through my heart, then perhaps it's time to ask God to show you what that means for you so that you can begin to love the body of Christ like family. So number one, are you living out brotherly love in your walk? Number two, are you cultivating godly character both in morality

and contentment? Are you cultivating godly character both in morality and contentment? And I think a couple of good questions to ask on that are, what occupies the most of your thoughts and what occupies the most of your mind? Because if you can answer those two questions, then you're going to know if you're cultivating godly character. Because I fear that too often

in the world today, what occupies our hearts or our minds and what occupies our time is often the things of the world. And then number three, is your heart being established in grace? Is your heart being established in grace? Are you learning to rest in the unmerited favor of God in your life? Because at the end of the day, brothers and sisters, it's this grace that's

brought us safe thus far, and it's his grace that will lead us home. Amen? Let's all stand.

And if you'd bow with me.

Father, we come to you now, praising you for who you are and thanking you for words of exhortation. Lord, words that challenge us. And so, Father, as we have received these challenges from your word this morning, I pray that you would search our hearts. I pray that you would see things in us that need to be changed, and I pray that you would give us, Lord, that spiritual vision that we need to see those things. Lord, I pray that you would

reveal blind spots. I pray that your light would illuminate dark corners. Father, I pray that you would draw us near to you. And so, Father, be with us as we go out from this place. Move in our hearts, we pray. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.

that he's to give his only son to make your wretched treasure. How great the plane of searing love the Father turns his face away as runes which bar the chosen one he made his sons to glory

he hold the man upon a cross a sin upon his shoulders as chained I hear my mocking voice called out among the stoppers it was my sin that held him there until it was accomplished his dying breath has brought me life I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything no gifts, no power, no wisdom but I will boast in Jesus Christ his death and resurrection why should I gain from his reward I cannot give an answer but this I know with all my heart his wounds have paid my ransom why should I gain from his reward I cannot give an answer but this I know with all my heart his wounds have paid my ransom how deep the Father's love for us how vast beyond all measure that he's to give his only son to make your wretched treasure and Lord God just give you we give you praise we give you thanks this morning Lord God we thank you for how much you love us Lord we thank you for how deep your love is for us Father God and

if there is somebody here this morning that doesn't know just how much you love them I pray that today would be the day they come to that knowledge they come to that revelation Lord and that today would be the day of salvation Father ask your blessing on each and every one of us as we leave here today as we go about our weeks we love you we praise you in Jesus name. Amen. I love you guys. Have a wonderful week.