A Sermon on Hebrews 13:1-19
This transcript of a sermon on Hebrews 13:1-19 has been lightly edited for ease of reading.
Hebrews 13:1-19 “Theology & Life”
I would ask you if you have your Bibles to take them now and turn with me to, in the book of Hebrews, to Hebrews chapter 13. And we will begin in verse 1. We have spent the last 12 chapters talking about the person and work of Christ, and the author of Hebrews has a few concluding exhortations for us before he brings us to the great blessing of verses 20 and 21.
Let’s begin reading in chapter 13, verse 1, and we’ll read through verse 19.
“Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those in prison as you were their fellow prisoners, 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 man 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 ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them. 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 confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy and not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.
Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way. I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon.”
Let’s pray.
Guide us, O God, by your word and by your spirit so that in your light we may see light, so that in your truth we may find freedom and in your will discover your peace through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
INTRODUCTION
So what is the point of all that theology? I’ve heard that question asked before. I’ve asked that question before, and I’m sure some of you have asked that question as you’ve sat in sermons, listening to me talk about theology or Sunday school or Bible studies. The most basic definition of theology is the study of God.
The Bible tells us many things about God, about his work, what he is doing and what he has done in this world. And the theology is a study of what the Bible says.
The Bible says God is love. And so the study of theology goes throughout the rest of Scripture to to find out what Bible says about God’s love and what that means. So theology is information about who God is and what he is doing in this world. Information that is defined by the inspired word of God, by Scripture.
But what’s the point? Is theology there to help us late at night when we’re having trouble sleeping? Is theology pursued merely to justify higher degrees for ministers? Is theology just there so that some Christians can appear smarter than others?
Well, the cynic in you is probably saying “Yes” to each of those questions. But theology pursued properly has a much more basic point.
One of my seminary professors in a theology class began the first class having us discuss what the definition of theology was. And after about an hour, he led us to this three word definition. “Theology is application.” What’s the point of theology? The point of theology is to lead us, by the power of the gospel, to live lives that are changed for God’s glory.
Why is it important to know how the Bible defines things like sin? It’s because we need to know the truth that we are in desperate need of a savior and to be able to embrace the free offer that is given to us from God, the offer of that salvation. The theological truth of the good news of redemption and reconciliation in Jesus is more than mere information. Paul says in Romans one, it is the power of God to change and to save lives.
The author of Hebrews has been teaching us theology for the last 12 chapters. He’s been focusing on an area called Christology, the study of the person and work of Jesus Christ. And now he is shifting to some application because knowing who Jesus is, what he has done, and what he is doing should change how we live and move in this world.
Today, we are specifically going to see how this theology of Christ should change how we worship. It should reorder our loves and it should reorder how we view leadership within the church. While this list is not exhaustive, it is a list of areas that a church undergoing persecution would need to have changed.
REORDERED WORSHIP
First, the truth of who Jesus is and what he has done should reorder our worship. For the believer, the knowledge of Jesus presented in this book should reorder how you approach the worship of God. Verses 9 through 16, in many ways, are a summary of what the author has been teaching us.
He opens this summary with the command, “Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings.” For the original audience, they were tempted to go back to the temple rituals or to add the temple rituals to the truth that salvation comes through Jesus and through Jesus alone. And the author has spent the previous 12 chapters focusing on the truth that Jesus is a better high priest, who has offered a better sacrifice to ratify a better covenant to provide a better cleansing from the guilt and shame of sin.
Better than the Old Testament system could do, better than any other system in this world could offer.
We’ll consider later how the gospel affects interacting with our church leadership. But one of the roles of the elders in the church is to protect the church from false teaching.
In Acts chapter 20, Paul has gathered the Ephesians elders with him to talk to them, to give them one last exhortation. And he says this in Acts chapter 20, beginning in verse 25.
“Now, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again.
Therefore, I declare you to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock, which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.
Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number, men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard.”
Taking his role as protector very seriously, the author takes one more opportunity to explain the greatness of Jesus over the ceremonial and temple rituals. And this comes with a focus on the sacrifices given for sin on the day of atonement.
In the Old Testament system, some sacrifices parts of them would be reserved and shared as a feast, a fellowship feast or a Thanksgiving feast among the people of God. But the sin sacrifices and the sacrifices on the day of atonement were completely devoted to God and consumed by fire. The animals were slaughtered outside the city and any part that was not to be burned because it was unacceptable to God was cast outside the city.
The author reminds us that Jesus was taken outside the city. He was sacrificed on the cross for our sins, for our atonement. But unlike the priest in the temple who could not feast after the atonement sacrifice, we gather around a table.
Because Jesus was cast outside to suffer indignity, to suffer shame, to suffer rejection, to suffer disgrace. And yet he gave the perfect atonement sacrifice. So we gather at a table to celebrate that truth and to have mysteriously communicated to us by the power of the Holy Spirit, the grace of God to those who partake.
We see this grace further as the author reminds us that Jesus was sacrificed outside the city and we join him there when we give up the temptations for acceptance by the world, for acceptance by false teachers. Jesus told the disciples that the world would hate them just like it hated him. When we suffer the world’s hatred of God’s truth, we join in the disgrace of Jesus, a merely temporary disgrace, For we await the glorious city whose foundations are in God.
And so after giving us the summary of what he has been teaching us throughout the book of Hebrews, the author of Hebrews tells us that we should offer a sacrifice of praise to God. We should live lives of holy worship in the presence of God.
All humans worship something. We are beings who are created to worship.
Some may worship the ideas of peace and security. Some may worship the idea of the perfect relationship. Some may worship the idea that stuff that you can buy will fill the hole in your heart. Unfortunately, all of us, apart from Jesus, worship ourselves thinking we know better.
But greater knowledge of what Jesus has done for us, the power of the gospel to save should lead us to worship God more. Not just here in this place, brothers and sisters. But Paul says in First Corinthians 10:31, whatever you do, even if it is as insignificant as eating or drinking, do all for the worship, for the glory of God.
The knowledge of who Jesus is and what he has done should take your worship off of the things of this world and place that worship on to the Triune God. The work of Jesus reorders our worship.
REORDERED LOVES
The work of Jesus also reorders our loves or what we love in this world.
And the author focuses on three three areas.
- The first area of reordered love that the author focuses on is love for the church community.
Why do I address each of you as brothers and sisters in my sermons? Is it for rhetorical power? No, it’s because each of us has been adopted as sons and daughters of the most high God, knit together into a family. This is one of several metaphors that the scripture uses to describe the people of God.
You and I are brothers and sisters through the blood of Christ, and we should treat each other with brotherly love. This love in the in the scripture here involves hospitality.
In the original context, due to persecution and due to the nature of the growing church in the first century, there would have been either circuit preachers who would need hospitality overnight or there would be those who had been displaced by persecution who would need hospitality as well. This hospitality extends to those who are imprisoned for holding fast to what they believe. And so they were called to support those who were suffering in ways that they were in danger of suffering themselves.
How open is your heart and your home to your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ? How much brotherly love do you extend to those who are members of this church, who are members of the body and the family of God? Are you willing to know where people rejoice so that you can rejoice with them? Are you willing to know where people mourn so that you can mourn with them? Are you willing to let other people know where you rejoice and where you mourn so that the body of Christ can gather around you to rejoice with you and to mourn with you?
The author in verse 16 shows us that this hospitality, this support for our brothers and sisters in Christ is part of the worship that we offer to God. It is not merely fancy meals, but it is how we show brotherly love to each other in the church.
- The second reordered love is in the area of marriage.
He goes on to talk about keeping the marriage bed pure, to making sure that marriage is honored by all because God takes marriage very seriously. Why do you think God takes marriage so seriously? Throughout the Old Testament, whether it was the ordination of marriage in Genesis chapter two or the book of Hosea or other places throughout the Old Testament, marriage is a picture of how God related to Israel. And Paul picks up that picture in Ephesians chapter five in his great passage on wives submitting to their husbands and husbands loving their wives.
He says this in Ephesians 5:32.,“This is a profound mystery, but I am talking about Christ and the church.” Marriage is an example for the world of how Christ relates to his bride, the church.
I truly think this is one of the reasons why throughout the history of the world, marriage has been under such attack. It was said by one historian that in first century Rome, men with power had wives to produce sons and had mistresses so they could have fun. There is nothing new under the sun. Our community’s, our culture’s view of marriage is not that modern.
And it has been under attack from the establishment of marriage because the enemy does not want the world to know how much God sacrifices and loves his church, his bride.
- And the third area where our personal loves are reordered is in the relationship our own personal hearts looking to our own personal love, specifically contentment and the love of money.
What does he say here regarding the love of money echoing Paul in first Timothy? He said, “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.”
God in his providence blesses some of his children with a lot in this world. God in his providence blesses others of his children with very little in this world. In Christ, there is a sense in which neither of those matters. In Christ, we have the promises of the riches of God that are our inheritance in Jesus Christ.
Yes, there are times, Paul says, where we are to improve our lot in life if possible. But this improvement is to come while being content in the salvation and the blessings that we have in Jesus. One of the most well-known Bible verses outside of the church is Philippians 4:13. Football players will stencil it across their eye black underneath their eyes. Baseball players will have it sewn into their baseball gloves.
I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Why did Paul say that? Paul preceded that with the statement, “Whether I’ve had a lot or I’ve had a little, whether I’ve been well fed or starving, I have been content in what God has given to me. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” [My paraphrase]
It’s not a mantra to win a sports event. It’s not a mantra that you repeat to yourself as you go in to ask for the promotion. It is a reminder that in Christ we have absolutely everything we need, even if God chooses to take everything away from us.
Our contentment is rooted in the help of God who never leaves us, who never forsakes us. And so paraphrasing Paul, the author of Hebrews says that we can say the Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
The good news of Jesus reorders our worship. The good news of Jesus reorders our loves.
REORDERED RELATIONSHIP WITH CHURCH LEADERSHIP
The good news of Jesus reorders our relationship with leadership, specifically church leadership. Church leadership, elders, deacons and ministers have been given the role to protect and provide for the church.
The church leaders are to protect the church from the attacks of the evil one, which come, as we talked about earlier, through false teaching that can creep into the church. Deacons protect and provide for the physical needs of the church. The deacons protect the church and the church members from the harm that comes from financial difficulty and illness and sickness by exercising generous stewardship among the members of the church, and among the world, as they have ability.
Elders protect and provide in the spiritual realm. The elders and the ministers are called to protect the church from false teaching. The elders are called to provide an atmosphere and resources so that the church members can grow not only in their knowledge, but also in their love for God. And the members of the church can make the job of the minister, the elders and the deacons either very easy or very difficult. How can they make it easy?
Well, first, they can remember their leaders.
Now, when the author calls us to remember the leaders, he’s not merely saying, you know, think about him every now and then. It’s nice to know that they’re thought about. He specifically says, “Remember your leaders who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of the way of their way of life and imitate their faith.”
Your past leaders, your present leaders are rooted on the same gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today and forever. And so we think about, we remember what they have taught.
We remember the example they tried to give to us. Sometimes that was sterling examples. Sometimes it was examples of living lives of repentance because they stumble and fall, too. But apply the lessons to your life, the lessons that you learned from those past leaders.
The second way you can make the work of the leaders easier is to obey and to submit. This is going to rub some of you the wrong way. But your leaders have been entrusted by God with your well-being within this church. And the scary thing sometimes is the second half of that verse for those leaders will be held to account before God for how they led, how they shepherded, how they protected and provided for you.
We don’t lead merely because it is fun to do. We don’t lead merely because we want the power and the prestige of being a minister or an elder or a deacon in the church. We lead because it is a calling that has been placed upon us by God, and we will be held to account for that calling.
We won’t lose our salvation because we weren’t perfect leaders. But the scripture is clear throughout places like First Corinthians and Ephesians that the work that is done for God will be weighed. And if it is found wanting will be consumed.
And thirdly the most important thing he wraps up the passage with “Pray for your leaders.”
The prayer list that’s in your bulletin every week. I really hope you take a look at it. But at the top of our prayer list under prayer for our church is my name, is the name of the elders is the name of the deacons. Are those names just there so that you know who we are so you can treat us special? No, I hope not.
Those names are there so that you can pray for each and every one of us. What is the number one thing you can do for me, the elders and the deacons as we seek to minister to this church? Lift us up in prayer on a regular basis.
For me specifically, pray for wisdom as I wrestle with the truths of the scriptures to bring you these sermons seeking to bring you truth that not only informs but changes hearts and changes lives. Pray that I would be protected from temptation in this world and that I would not stumble and fall.
Pray the same for your elders. Pray that they would have wisdom as they as they approve and seek out programs and curriculum to help you learn more about the God who has saved you.
And the same for the deacons as they seek to wisely use the resources of this church.
Knowledge of Jesus, the knowledge of the gospel, reorders our worship. It reorders our loves and it reorders our relationship with the leadership in the church.
CONCLUSION
So I ask you again, what is the point of theology? Is it to swell our brains or to puff us up with pride? No, brothers and sisters, because the gospel is theology and it is the power of God for salvation. It is the power of God to change lives.
As you learn more about who Jesus is, as you learn more about what he has done, what he is doing to not only secure your salvation, but also to lead you by the power of the Holy Spirit to that glory that awaits us. As you learn more about that, you will be changed. You will change.
God by the power of the Holy Spirit will change your worship.
God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, will change your loves.
And God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, will change your relationship with the leadership of his church.
So don’t learn just for the sake of learning. Learn the truth of the scripture so that you can be changed by God for his glory.
Let’s pray.
To the great and holy God. We are humbled by your truth. Your truth about us and your truth about what you have done because of us.
And so, Lord, lead us to a place where we are changed by you and help us to feel and to know and to live according to the power of the gospel. That is your power for salvation. I pray this in Jesus name.
Amen.
And as you go this week, take this blessing upon you:
The Lord be with you. And the Lord bless you.
We have all these things in hand because he who testifies to these things says, yes, I am coming soon.
Amen. Come Lord Jesus.
Please visit our Facebook Page.
For more sermons in this series please visit our Sermon Archives.