Listen to the Word and live out the Word 

Hebrews 13:1-25; 6/26/2022; BCBC/IOUC; Rev. Paul Wang

 

 Introduction

At the end of Paul’s Hebrew writings, he found that the final point of spiritual life is to listen to the words, and more importantly, to live out the words, rather than rhetoric and disagreements.   Taking the heart of Jesus Christ as the heart should not just be talked about, ​​but must be lived out!  Let’s look at the first point:

 Always keep brotherly love

We talked a lot before, but Paul said that we should start with love!  At the end of 1 Corinthians thirteen he said:  “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Cor. 13:13)”  Why does Paul say that?  First, witness the love of the Lord.  John said: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:10)”  This is the biblical basis for why we love and love each other.  As a descendant of Adam, a sinner, is incapable of love.  Ask what love is in the world, and let people make a promise of life and death.  But apart from Jesus Christ, there is no love.  Paul said, let’s learn to love one another by hosting brothers!   Before Pastor Cao Sanqiang was imprisoned, every time he came to Dallas, I had the honor to receive him.  It might have been an unintentional move at the time, but now that I think about it,   God actually made me feel as if I had received an angel!  Thank God so much!

Second, do the goodness of the Lord.  If we say that receiving tourists is a kind of passive love, then caring for and remembering those who are bound and suffering is an active act of the Lord’s goodness.  The same is true whether from the perspective of general revelation or special revelation.  When we heard that Pastor Cao Sanqiang was sentenced to seven years,   and his mother was among us, would anyone care and greet her more?  For this, I am very grateful to Pastor Li for bringing Mama Cao to our midst.  Every time I think about it, I feel grateful that God gives us the opportunity to do good deeds often.  Beggars on the roadside, neighbors,   unintentional encounters, and a year’s budget, can there be room for us to take the initiative to do good?  Our short mission this time is to spread the gospel to the “passers-by” in Europe.  Some of us have been moved by the Holy Spirit and are willing to pay for a free coffee or beverage cart to go with evangelism!  God values such goodness!

Finally, keep the covenant of the Lord. Our God is a covenant-keeping and loving God.   He really values his own covenant and his covenant keepers!  Of all the covenants, God values the marriage covenant the most, because we are the bride of Christ.  Paul said: “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. (Hebrews 13:4)” In today’s world, divorce has become a relatively common thing.   In traditional churches, divorced people are generally not allowed to lead the worship or do public pulpit ministry.  The principle of our church is to focus on confessing and repenting,   believing that the Lord’s grace is sufficient for us!  Of course, I don’t want to comment on the right and wrong of various practices, but my exhortation is: please don’t choose divorce easily.  Not for anything else, but because we can’t bear to hurt the Lord who loves us!  Let’s look at the second point:

 It is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace

The Reformation theologians expressed our heavenly way in five soles: Scripture alone, Christ alone, grace alone, faith alone, and the glory of God alone.  Martin Luther said, “A life of obedience to the law cannot take away sin, because no one can fulfill the law… Only by the grace of God can sin be taken away.”   First, stick to orthodox faith.  It is the grace of God that we can serve God in an orthodox church today.  With so many religions in the world, why did you choose Christianity?  Even under the “big umbrella” of Christianity, there are many heresies, cults, or some extreme sects.  The “strange teachings” in the scriptures refer to those that deviate from or depart from the teachings of the church.  Sometimes, it may not be easy to tell the difference. But at least God is responsible for meeting the needs of the church body through the weekly supply of spiritual food from His church.  Therefore, listening to the sermon, attending Sunday school, discipleship, prayer meeting, etc. every week in the church is so important to each of our brothers and sisters!  If we live out the spiritual food provided by God, it is enough to meet our spiritual needs!

Second, endure all kinds of suffering.  The background Paul deals with here is the suffering of Jewish Christians at the time through their faith in Christ.  Thirteenth verse,  “Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. (Hebrews 13:13)”  The passage “outside the camp” in the text is a pun, referring on the one hand to the sin offering “being burned outside the camp” and on the other hand to Moses “pitching his tent outside the camp” after the incident of the golden calf ( Exodus 33:7).   Faith has a price, agree?  In the past, it may have been that we were all taught in the Antichrist, with Christ as the enemy.  Now, we are already a new creation.  The disturbance of Satan, the panic of Antichrist, the temptation of the world, and the entanglement of our old self all constitute the source of our suffering.  But please believe that Christ has conquered the world!

Finally, offer a living sacrifice from the bottom of your heart.  God values our hearts, we already know that!  What is our heart?  You might as well touch your heart and ask yourself:  My heart, are you loving the Lord my God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength?  Are we doing things in the Lord’s heart?  Paul said:  “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. (Hebrews 13:16)”  To do good is to live out the likeness of Christ according to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  To share with others is the worship of God.  One refers to tithing, and the other refers to other offerings.  Jesus said that where our treasure is, there is our heart.  Let’s look at the third point:

 Willing to do everything right

What is the right way? Paul said: “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17)”  First, pray for one another.  As the founder of the church, Paul still said to the brothers and sisters: “I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon. (Hebrews 13:19)”  This is my shortcoming, where I need to repent, please supervise me. There is always a misunderstanding, that is, don’t bother others to pray for me!  Thinking that this will make you more loving and spiritual, but obviously you are wrong!  I hope that our church can be a church where everyone actively shares prayers with each other, and as many people as possible attend church prayer meetings.  Prayer is the most important ministry of the church.  Prayer is invisible, but it is the most powerful weapon!  A person who does not pray will definitely not please God!

Second, to equip one another.  Equipping others is a rare spiritual character, agree?  This is the difference between the church and the world.  I must become less; He must become greater. These are our core values.  Paul said:  “Equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 13:21) .” This requires us to let go of our jealousy, jealousy of others’ gifts, and narrow-mindedness, and turn to what pleases Christ.  This hurdle is not easy to overcome, only with the heart of Christ!

Finally, exhort each other.  According to our old self, who would listen to the advice of others?  When old Adam reigns in our hearts, no one will listen!  Only ask for God’s mercy!  When Paul exhorted people, he also said “weakly”: “Brothers and sisters, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for in fact I have written to you quite briefly. (Hebrews 13:22)” Paul was well aware of the weakness of the human heart, and he was also sympathetic to the stages of growth of the brothers and sisters.  It also gave me a reminder to speak softer, slower, and wiser. May the Lord give His mercy!

Conclusion

Well, dear brothers and sisters, it is comforting and encouraging that the message of Hebrews stops at listening and living out the word!  Because of the Lord’s love, we love each other; because of the Lord’s grace, we rely on the Lord to move forward; because of the Lord’s word, we work together!

 

we pray together….

 

Hebrews 13:1-25

1 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. 3 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.

4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5 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.”

6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.  What can mere mortals do to me?”

7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

9 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. 10 We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.

11 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. 12 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. 13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. 14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

17 Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.

18 Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.

19 I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon.

20 Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21 equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

22 Brothers and sisters, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for in fact I have written to you quite briefly.

23 I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you.

24 Greet all your leaders and all the Lord’s people. Those from Italy send you their greetings.

25 Grace be with you all.