This chapter is going to conclude the book of Hebrews, which had one great theme throughout this book of Jesus Christ.
Of course, we saw at the beginning of the book how Jesus Christ is so much greater than any of the Old Testament prophets.
He's so much greater than the angels. He's so much greater than any other name other than heaven.
Jesus Christ, the name that's exalted above every other name, we saw those various comparisons.
Then we saw how the whole Old Testament is just a picture. It's just our schoolmaster to lead us to Christ.
All those sacrifices, all those rituals, all those ordinances, the divers, washings,
all those different things that the Bible talks about was only a picture pointing us to Jesus Christ.
Then we saw just some great preaching in chapters 9, 10, 11, 12,
where the Apostle Paul just really hits home with some applications of these truths and preaches to us a little bit.
Now in chapter 13, I love this chapter. Just reading through the Bible,
it seems like my favorite chapter is always the last chapter of every book.
God said the end of a thing is better than the beginning of a thing.
With so many people, they start something and they don't finish it.
They start some kind of an endeavor that they're going to take.
Sometimes people just get depressed. Part of the reason why people are so depressed
is because they have so many loose ends, so many things that they've started and they didn't finish.
And God says, I like to see things finish. I like to see things through.
The Bible says in Philippians, he that hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
See, when God starts something, God also always finishes what he starts.
And I love chapter 13, the way God closes this out. Look at verse number 8.
Hebrews chapter 13, verse number 8.
This is the verse that you can almost make the theme verse of the book of Hebrews, I think.
But it's definitely the theme verse of chapter 13.
It may even be that the key to unlock the entire book of Hebrews is found in Hebrews 13, 8.
Probably the greatest verse in the entire Bible.
Jesus Christ, the same, yesterday and today and forever.
Boy, it'll change the way that you look at God when you realize that Jesus Christ has always been the way he was.
He's always been the way he is right now. He is now the way he used to be.
He's going to be the way he was back there. And the way he's going to be, well, that's the way he is right now.
That's what you have to understand about God.
We're living in a day when Christianity has become very shallow. Let's face it.
Most churches are so shallow that they only have an understanding of pretty much the New Testament.
And that's where they spend all their time. That's where they get all their doctrine.
But this whole book is written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come.
The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 10,
Now these things, and he's referring to the first five books of the Bible.
He's talking about the story of Moses. He's talking about the Red Sea.
And he says, now these things were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come.
So God says, look, I wrote the first five books of the Bible for you, sir, in the New Testament in the last days, so to speak.
So don't tell me that part of the Bible is not written for me and just this couple books are written to me and the rest is written to somebody else.
Look, Jesus Christ is the same.
If God hated something in the Old Testament, if God got angry about something in the Old Testament, I would guess that he'd get mad about it right now.
I would guess that if it was a sin back then, it's probably a sin right now.
And if it's a sin right now, it was a sin back then.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Now let's look at this chapter with that in mind, that Jesus Christ is always the same. He never changes.
Look at verse number one.
The Bible says, let brotherly love continue.
Now this is talking about loving your brother, for example.
This could be in the family.
You know, I realize that Christians are called brethren, but let's take it literally here.
This is talking about the love that you have with your family.
Look at the next verse, it says, be not forgetful to entertain strangers.
So now we're talking about strangers.
So in the first verse, we're talking about brothers.
Second verse, we're talking about strangers.
And in the third verse, the Bible says, remember them that are in bonds.
Here's a third category.
These are the people who have some kind of bondage in their life.
Maybe they're incarcerated.
Maybe they live in a slum and a ghetto and a dive somewhere.
Maybe they're stuck in a nursing home somewhere and that's their bondage.
But God's bringing up three classes of people here.
Brotherly love, that's the people that, maybe that's our fellow church members here.
Maybe that's the members of our family.
Maybe that's our friends.
Maybe that's people that we would naturally care about.
And then on top of that, there's strangers, which maybe we wouldn't care so much about
because we don't know them from Adam.
They're just some kind of a stranger.
And then there's people who maybe we don't want to know anything about.
Maybe we don't want to be associated with because they have some kind of a bondage in their life.
You know, I remember what Paul said in, let me think what chapter this is.
2 Timothy chapter 1, when he says,
The Lord gave mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus,
for he oft refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain, Paul said.
He said, my friend Onesiphorus, he said, he wasn't ashamed of my chain.
He didn't try to hide from me when I was in Rome.
He said, when I was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently and found me.
I wasn't popular when I was in Rome, Paul's saying.
I was in jail. Everybody hated me. I was on death row.
And here, this guy was my friend.
The people in Asia forsook me, he says in the same chapter,
but Onesiphorus sought me out and he wasn't ashamed of my chain.
What am I trying to say with all this?
I'm trying to say, are you the same in how you treat everybody and your love for everybody?
Are you just loving toward those that maybe can do something back for you
or somebody that you would naturally care about
because they're attractive or because they're somebody that can do something for you
or you have some kind of a common interest?
No, God says, we need to be loving toward strangers.
That's why I love soul winning. That's why I love door-to-door soul winning.
Because you might say, well, I just give the Gospel to people at work and friends and loved ones.
God's saying here, look, Jesus Christ is the same.
That means, why don't you take the same Gospel that's good enough for your friends and your loved ones,
why don't you take it to that stranger that's never heard the Gospel?
Why don't you take it to everybody and, of course, vice versa?
Don't just go soul winning to strangers. Get your loved ones saved.
Get the brother saved.
What about those that are in bonds? God says, remember them that are in bonds.
Let me show you a great passage from the Word of God.
And this kind of ties in with these first three verses,
but turn back to one of the most classic passages in the entire Bible, Ezekiel chapter 3.
Look at Ezekiel chapter 3. I want to show you this.
It's all going to make sense in a few minutes where I'm going with this, but look at Ezekiel chapter 3.
This is toward the end of the Old Testament, one of those big three books right at the end of the Old Testament,
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel.
Ezekiel chapter 3.
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel.
We're looking at Ezekiel chapter 3, and we're going to begin reading in verse number 14,
one of those classic passages out of the Bible.
Let me read this for you. The Bible says,
So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit.
Now, does it sound like Ezekiel had a very good attitude here?
He says he was bitter. He says he had the heat of his spirit.
He was angry. He was in a bad mood.
Look at the next verse.
But the hand of the Lord was strong upon me.
Let me just insert this right here.
I'd rather hang around with the guy that's maybe a little bit bitterness in the heat of his spirit,
but who's got the Spirit of God on him,
than some guy who's just the most loving.
Oh, he's so nice. He's so gentle.
But he wouldn't know the Holy Spirit if it slapped him in the face,
because he's so liberal, because he doesn't know the Bible,
because he doesn't get anybody saved.
But that's beside the point.
Look at the passage.
Then I came.
So here's Ezekiel the preacher. He's got kind of a bad attitude.
He's kind of mad. He's kind of angry.
He's kind of bitter.
But, man, the Holy Spirit's all over this guy.
Look at verse number 15.
Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel Aviv,
that dwelt by the river of Tebar,
and I sat where they sat.
Boy, let those words sink in.
He says, I was mad. I was upset.
I was sick of the Israelites, such a stiff-necked people.
I'm trying to preach to them, and they just can't get anything through to them.
But then he says, I went to them of the captivity,
the people who had been captured by the Babylonian army
and taken captive to the country of Babylon.
They're sitting by the river of Tebar,
and he says, I just went there.
I didn't preach to them. I didn't say anything.
I just sat where they sat.
It seems like he was there for quite a while.
It seems like he was there for days.
Okay, here we go. It says seven days.
And remained there, astonished among them.
Seven days.
You see, it did Ezekiel good in this story
to get with those people that were in bonds,
to get with them and just sit where they sat.
Even if he wasn't doing anything,
just to sit there and just to be there
and to be astonished with them.
He was among them.
Why don't you go down to the nursing home
and sit where they sit for a while?
It might change your attitude
about the way that you view your life.
It might take away some of the bitterness
that you have in your heart
when you sit where they sit for a while.
How about go down to the jail and sit where they sit
and see if that's where you want to be sitting.
And it might change your perspective of things.
It might make you feel a little bit differently
about your situation.
It might increase your love for people.
Boy, I spent the last three years of my life
every weekend and sometimes throughout the week
going up to the south side of Chicago to Inglewood.
And we're talking about one of the worst ghettos in America.
We're talking about high crime,
murder capital of the world.
And you know what I did?
I went there and I sat where they sat.
And it changed my perspective of a lot of things
and I loved those people.
And I would go and I'd walk into those apartments sometimes
and the odor was just unbearable.
I mean, you couldn't even stand hardly to walk in
because of just the smell.
And I'd look up many times and see cockroaches
just walking across the wall.
I mean, these big cockroaches.
Sometimes crawling across someone's body
while I was talking to them.
And I saw just the filth and just the disgusting,
just the beer bottles everywhere,
the liquor bottles everywhere.
And just filthy laundry, just stacks of filthy laundry
that had never been cleaned.
Old food that's just left to sit out
because people just only do what they feel like doing.
And I saw the kids that grew up in these homes.
I saw the kids who were born into this home
through no fault of their own.
Their mom's a prostitute.
Their mom's a hooker.
Their dad's a dope dealer.
Their dad's just some kind of a guy who moves
from woman to woman and from house to house
living off of women.
If you sit where they sit,
it'll change how you feel about people who are in bonds.
It'll change how you feel when you drive by
and maybe just be disgusted with that neighborhood.
You know, there's people in there
that Jesus Christ died for, and he wants us to love them.
He wants us to get the gospel to them
and not just worry about ourselves all the time,
but say, no, I'm going to go.
I'm going to sit where you sit, and I'm going to love you,
and I'm going to get you saved,
and I'm going to help you get your life on track
so you don't end up the same way your parents did.
But look, after he sat where they sat,
because sitting where they sit's not enough.
We could go there. We could sit there.
We could go to the ghetto and sit there.
We could go to the nursing home and sit there.
We could go to the jails and sit there.
We could go to the nuthouse and sit there.
But look at the next step.
Look at verse number 16.
One sweep sat where they sat.
The Bible says,
And it came to pass at the end of seven days,
that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
Son of man, I have made thee a watchman
unto the house of Israel.
Therefore, hear the word at my mouth,
and give them a warning from me.
Look at verse number 18.
When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die,
and thou givest him not warning,
nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way,
to save his life, the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity,
but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Wow, that's a pretty filling verse, isn't it?
He says, you know what, if I tell you, Ezekiel,
to go preach to the wicked and warn them where they're going,
so that you can save their life
so that they don't die and go to hell,
but they can have eternal life.
He says, if you don't warn them, they're going to die.
You say, well, you know, I just kind of believe
that whoever's going to get saved
is just kind of going to get saved,
that God's going to reveal himself.
If they're seeking after God,
look, there is none that seeketh after God, the Bible says.
None. No one seeks after God.
He sent us, as he sent Ezekiel, a watchman,
to warn them of their wicked ways
and to warn them what's going to happen to them.
And he says, if you don't speak to them, they will die, for sure.
I mean, it's a sure thing.
If you don't speak to them, who's going to speak to them, Ezekiel?
And if you don't speak to them, they're going to die,
and then they're going to go to hell.
But he says, if you don't speak to them,
and they die, and they go to hell,
he says, their blood will I require at that.
He says, I'm holding you responsible to get people saved.
Now, there's a positive, obviously,
that's what usually we talk about, man,
the he that winneth souls is wise,
and winning people to Christ, and getting the rewards.
But, you know, the Bible also says,
but to him that knoweth to do good,
and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
He says, if you don't do something that I told you to do,
that's a sin, too.
And we learned about it in Hebrews, chapter 10,
that God will judge his people, his own people.
And then we learned about it in chapter 12,
how God will discipline and chasten and spank his people.
His blood will I require at thine hand.
Boy, that verse, I remember when I first read this
in the Bible as a teenager, boy, that haunted me.
Oh, I can't even tell you, I can't even,
as a preacher, I can't put into words
what God can put into words when he says,
his blood will I require at thine hand.
Just when I realized, not because I was afraid
of facing God or something like that,
but just when I realized that I was responsible
to get people saved.
Wow.
But then look at the next verse, it says,
yet if thou warn the wicked,
and he turn not from his wickedness,
nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity,
but thou hast delivered thy soul.
God says, look, if you tell them,
and they reject Christ, it's not your problem.
It's not on your hands.
And God is saying here,
I didn't ask you necessarily to always win people to Christ,
sometimes you're just there to warn them.
And then you've done what you're supposed to do.
You say, well, I went soul-willing
and nobody got saved.
Let God take care of that.
You've got to go out there and warn them.
They get saved, praise the Lord.
And we ought to pray and beg God to get people saved,
but you understand what I'm saying.
Not everybody's going to get saved, let's face it,
that you give the gospel to.
But you've delivered your soul, God says.
But let's turn back to Hebrews chapter 13.
I wanted to show you that,
just because it's such a great passage in the word of God,
and it jogged my memory when I was reading here
about remembering them that are in bonds.
And look at the next verse, I'm sorry, the next word,
as bound with them.
That's what we're talking about.
I sat where they sat.
He's saying, I want you to remember them that are in bonds
like you're in the same situation.
Look at the next words.
As being yourselves also in the body.
Wow.
That's talking about empathizing with people
who have it worse than you.
Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them,
and them which suffer adversity
as being yourselves also in the body.
So what's God saying here?
Be consistent.
Be like Jesus Christ, the same.
Yesterday, the same today, the same tomorrow.
God's saying, I don't care whether you're at home,
act like a Christian at home.
Be the same at home as you are at church,
as you are at work.
Don't go to work and just disrobe of your Christianity
and just act like the world,
and you talk just like the world,
and nobody has a clue that you're a Christian.
Nobody has a clue that you're saved,
because you just sound like everybody,
you dress like everybody, you act like everybody,
you're just the same as they are.
But then, boy, you come to church,
and, boy, you can talk the talk,
and it's amen, praise the Lord, hallelujah.
You know, you're dropping all the words,
you know, hey, brother, how you doing?
And it's all this kind of stuff.
And then you get home, and it's just
Christianity might go out the window again,
and it's just, you know, the television comes on,
you're watching all the filth,
and you're streaming and yelling at your kids
and calling names and everything like that.
But be the same.
I love somebody who's just real.
I like to just talk to somebody who feels like they're real,
like they're not putting on a show,
like they're not a fake.
Be the same.
Jesus Christ said,
I'm the same yesterday and today and forever.
That's the greatest attribute about God.
He says, the same.
Look at the sentence in verse number eight.
I love this.
It's not even grammatically correct,
because there's no verb.
It's almost like there's an equal sign, okay?
That's what I like about this.
Because he doesn't say, Jesus Christ is the same.
Wouldn't that make more sense?
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
God says, no, that's not how I wrote it.
Jesus Christ is on this side of the equation, the same.
Jesus Christ, the same.
That's the essence of who I am.
That's all, that's what I am.
It's just, it's all, who knows what an appositive is,
if you know English, okay?
An appositive is when you just state something
and then you just rename it right after,
and it's separated by a comma.
It would be kind of like if I said,
Steven Anderson, our pastor, it doesn't so.
The Steven Anderson and our pastor,
our pastor would be appositive there.
And it's renaming the subject.
And I think that's what God is trying to say here.
He's saying, I'm just renaming myself.
Here's a little nickname that you can call me, the same.
I love that phrase, the same, the same.
Jesus Christ, the same.
When? Yesterday, and today, and forever.
Jesus Christ, the same.
You would say, I want to be like Jesus.
Be the same.
Be the same at work, be the same at home,
be the same at church, be the same.
Be the same as we saw in verse one,
towards your family.
Be the same like in verse two, towards strangers.
Be kind to people that you don't even know.
Win people to Christ that you don't even know.
And verse number three, be the same to those that are in bonds,
the people that can do nothing for you,
but the people who it's unpleasant maybe even to be around.
But be the same in your love toward them also.
Look at verse number four.
We're continuing chapter 13,
which is just all about this one phrase,
Jesus Christ, the same.
Verse number four, marriage is honorable in all.
Look at the key word there, all.
I love God's use of superlatives in the Bible.
God uses these big sweeping words,
all, the same, yesterday, today, forever, eternal.
This is the way God is.
God is this God of extremes, heaven, hell.
And God is saying here, marriage is honorable in all.
That's very consistent there.
And the bed undefiled.
But whoremongers and adulterers, God will.
There's the consistency again.
It's going to happen.
Will judge.
So what's he saying here?
Marriage is always honorable.
It's always good.
You know, there are some perverted religions out there
that would teach you that there's something indecent
about what goes on in the bedroom of a married couple.
That's ridiculous.
It's nonsense.
God says marriage is honorable in all.
But, here's the other side of the coin,
whoremongers and adulterers, God will judge.
So within marriage, it's great.
It's acceptable.
It's godly.
It's righteous.
It's holy.
Outside of marriage, it's ungodly.
It's abomination and so forth.
Now, marriage is honorable in all.
Don't take what's honorable, marriage,
and don't rip it apart with what's called divorce.
You know, that's what God's saying.
Well, my marriage is not.
My marriage is bad marriage.
So it needs to end.
No, God says marriage is honorable in all.
Your marriage is the right marriage.
The person that you're married to is the right person
that you're married to all the time
because what God has joined together,
let not man put asunder.
God is the one that ordains marriage all the time.
But, whoremongers and adulterers, God will judge.
People who are whoremongers who sleep around
or adulterers who fornicate with someone else's spouse,
you can't get away with that.
You never get away with it.
You say, well, I think I'm an exception.
I think I might get by with it.
I've been getting by with it so far.
Look, Jesus Christ is the same.
God will judge whoremongers and adulterers.
Look at verse number five.
Let your conversation be without covetousness
and be content with such things as ye have,
for he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
God's saying here, when it comes to covetousness,
when it comes to what you want,
you know, the finances perhaps or monetary things,
you know, just the physical things that you want and have,
God says, don't be covetous.
What does covetous mean?
A lot of people don't even know what that word means
and it's one of the Ten Commandments.
The Ten Commandments is thou shalt not covet.
Covet, God quotes himself in that Tenth Commandment.
He changes it to another word sometimes, desire, same word.
He says, thou shalt not desire thy neighbors,
ox or his ass or his wife or whatever.
And it's saying here,
covetousness means you just want something that you don't have.
You're not content with what you have.
You know, you turn on the TV and you see all the commercials,
you see the billboard and you just have to have everything you see
and you're never satisfied with what you have.
Now, people, the more money they get, they're never satisfied.
You think Bill Gates is satisfied with the amount of money he has right now?
Probably not.
He's probably just going for more, more.
You think Donald Trump is satisfied today?
I don't think so.
He needs to get a decent haircut, by the way.
And I can't understand this.
Both Donald Trump and Bill Gates have the same haircut.
They must go to the same barber.
And they're paying this guy way too much.
They could do a better job if they just blindfold themselves
in a dark room with a butter knife and try to give themselves a haircut.
But neither Bill Gates nor Donald Trump has a decent haircut.
Has anybody else noticed that?
They don't even know how to comb their hair.
You think they're satisfied?
No, they're not.
They can't even get a decent haircut.
But God's saying here the same.
Always be content with what you have.
Never be coveting things that you don't have.
Why?
Because he had said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
God says, I want you to be content with me, with the things of God,
and not always need the world's pleasures.
I think of the Apostle Paul in Philippians chapter 4.
He said, not that I speak in respect of want,
for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content.
I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound.
Everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry,
both to abound and to suffer need.
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Often quoted verse, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
What's it talking about?
It's talking about being able to go through the lean times.
When you're in jail, as Paul was, when you're beat up, as Paul was,
when you have nothing, he said, I know both how to be full.
He said, I know how to be hungry.
I know how to have a full bank account.
I know how to have an empty bank account.
And he's saying here, in whatsoever state I am, I'll be content.
Let your conversation be without covetousness.
What do you think of when you think of conversation?
What do you talk about?
Is this what you talk about when you get together with your friends?
Oh, man, I can't wait until I get blank.
You know, you hear people talk like, oh, man, did you see the newest blank?
Oh, I want to get me a blank.
And that's, is that what you talk about, God's saying?
Your conversation is full of covetousness?
Be content with such things as you have.
Now, I also don't think that it's a coincidence that in verse number four,
he talks about marriage is honorable and all, and the bed undefiled,
but homongous and adulterous God will judge.
And then he says, let your conversation be without covetousness.
It sounds like we need to be content with the spouse that we have
and not be coveting someone else's spouse,
because why else would God talk about these things right there in a row?
I think God's making that correlation there.
And then the Bible says in verse number six,
so that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper,
and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
Remember them which have the rule over you,
who have spoken unto you the word of God,
whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.
Now, as we get closer to this central verse, Hebrews 13, 8,
boy, verses seven and nine are surely going to be extremely related
to this verse number eight.
Now, to understand verse number seven,
you have to look at it in parallel with verse number 17,
because they're both talking about the same thing.
It says here, remember them which have the rule over you,
who have spoken unto you the word of God,
whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.
Now look at verse 17.
Obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves,
for they watch for your souls as they that must give account,
that they may do it with joy and not with grief,
for that is unprofitable for you.
Now, let me say what this is talking about.
It's talking about pastors.
It's talking about a pastor,
because the Bible talks about the elders that rule well,
are worthy of double armor.
And what God is saying here is that you're supposed to obey the pastor,
but a lot of pastors will say, like, you've got to obey me.
That's not, look at verse seven.
He says, obey them which have the rule over you,
who have spoken unto you the word of God.
It doesn't mean that you have to obey me.
Like if I say, listen, you need to move over here,
and you need to buy this car.
Look, I'm not going to tell you what to do whatsoever,
because that's not right of me to do that.
What God is saying here, because I'm preaching the word of God to you,
you need to obey the word of God that I'm preaching.
Are you supposed to obey me when I say something that's not of God,
that's not from the Bible?
No, that's not what it's saying at all.
A man in his house is the boss, and his wife is supposed to obey him.
His kids are supposed to obey him.
That's his castle.
Every man is the king of his castle.
I believe that.
I'm not going to go to somebody else's home
and tell them this is what you need to change in your home.
But I will preach the word of God.
And God's saying, I want you to obey the preacher.
Is there anything he said that tells me to jump, ask how high on the way up?
No.
Obey him because he's preaching the word of God,
and when he preaches something out of the Bible,
you need to obey him and submit yourself to what he's preaching,
even if you don't agree with it.
If it's from the word of God, of course.
But look at the end of verse number 7.
Faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.
So God is saying here, follow the man of God, considering the end.
Look at the result of the way he lives his life, is what God's saying here.
And I don't mind preaching about this because I am the pastor.
It doesn't really matter if I am or not.
I'm just preaching what the Bible says.
It says look at the end result of the pastor
and decide if that's the type of end result that you'd like to have.
Would you like to see people saved or whatever, fill in the blank.
Whatever it is, you should say, well, I want the result,
so I'm going to do the formula that leads me to that result.
That's why he says Jesus Christ is the same in the next verse
because he's saying, look, if he does it for the pastor,
if he gives the pastor the desired result, when he follows the word of God,
he's going to do the same thing for you because God is not a respecter of persons.
God doesn't look at me a certain way and look at you a certain way.
He says anybody who obeys me is going to get the same result.
Jesus Christ, the same.
And he says you can look at people of the past
and follow their example that had the result that you want to get
and you're going to get the same result, period,
because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
So the bottom line is here's the application for me as the pastor.
Here's how I need to apply this when I read that.
Here's how I apply that to myself.
I say I need to lead the way.
I shouldn't get up here and preach something
and not try to lead the way in that area.
I shouldn't be saying go soul wedding, go soul wedding,
and then I'm barely out soul wedding or I'm not out soul wedding at all.
If I found out that somebody's going soul wedding more than me,
man, I want to go out and soul wedding more than them.
Like they want four people to the Lord today?
It's like you're not going to get...
You'll wait and see by Sunday.
But the point is as a pastor I'm not just supposed to just coast along and whatever.
I'm supposed to lead the way
because I'm supposed to be trying to set the pace
so that I'm supposed to be having results.
I'm supposed to be having people saved and people baptized or whatever.
Results so that you can have something to follow.
Look at verse number 9.
The Bible says,
Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines,
for it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace.
Look at that word, established.
That reminds me of the same.
I'm just established in this case on what I believe.
He says be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines.
What does doctrine mean?
Doctrine means teaching.
It means what we believe about the Bible.
Don't be carried about with divers and strange doctrines.
Why?
Because Christ never changes.
That's why our doctrine should never change.
That's why it bothers me that people are starting to teach something
totally different about the Word of God
than what was taught to me when I was a child
and what everybody believed when I was a child,
that Jesus is the Word.
We rang that bell on Sunday morning.
We preached it from the Bible.
We proved it from the Bible
that Jesus Christ and the Word of God are one and the same.
But somehow people just change what they believe
and change their doctrine and they demote the Word of God
to just being, well, it's written by God.
It's written about God.
No, this book is God.
That's the way I was always taught.
That's the way I believe.
And that's the way I believe till I die
because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
And the Bible says in the beginning was the Word
and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
Hallelujah.
And of course we showed many other scriptures on Sunday morning
to that effect.
Don't change what you believe.
I mean, once you see something in the Word of God
and you see it and it's just plain as the nose on your face,
establish it.
God says it's a good thing for the heart to be established.
Nail it down.
You don't have to reopen that issue.
Every time some diverse and strange doctrine comes on,
every time some Jehovah's Witness or Mormon shows up at your door,
don't try to decide whether Jesus is really God or not.
Look, we know Jesus is God.
That's what the whole book of Hebrews is about.
Don't reopen these issues.
You see it with your eyes.
Don't just say, well, I heard, well, Pastor Anderson said it.
No.
When you see it in the Bible, nail it down.
Establish it and say, well, this is what I believe.
That's what it says.
I don't have to reopen it all the time and decide,
well, is that really true or not?
I'm not really sure because this guy said this
and I heard Joel Osteen or some TV preacher smiled at me
and said, you know, he believes something totally different.
And I'm like, no.
Jesus Christ is the same.
Our religion should not be changing with the times.
It should just be the same all the time.
I used to be able to preach the same sermon 100 years from now
when I'm 124 years old and be able to preach it
and have people listen to it and say,
boy, that just reminds me of how Pastor Anderson used to preach when he was young
because it's just the same.
Same book, same thing.
Look at verse number 10.
Let's move on through the chapter here.
I love Wednesday nights because I'm always knocking this piece of paper over.
I don't really know where it is.
I can't even read it half the time.
So my outline is just laid out right here.
I always know .1, .2, .3, .4, .5.
It's all right here.
But look at verse number 10.
We have an altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
For the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary
of the high priest for sin are burned without the camp.
Same with the Old Testament sacrifices being burned without the camp.
Wherefore, Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood,
suffered without the gate.
Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.
You know what God's saying here?
He says, I've always been an outsider.
I suffered outside the gate.
Jesus wasn't in the end crowd.
He wasn't the popular crowd.
He says, no, I was outside the gate.
If you want to be where I am, Jesus says, come outside the camp where I am.
He says, let us go forth therefore unto him without the gate bearing his reproach.
You know what reproach means is shame.
It means a stigma.
It means people look at it with disdain, with disgust.
They don't like it.
It irritates them.
It bothers them.
When you love God and you serve God and you're where Jesus is,
you're always outside the gate.
You're always outside the mainstream.
You're always outside the crowd.
You're always outside the popular group because Jesus Christ has never been popular.
He says, they hated me and they'll hate you also.
He says, marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you.
Ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake, Jesus said.
He said, they called the master of the house Beelzebub.
What are they going to call you?
He said, they called me Satan.
That's what Jesus Christ said.
They called me Satan.
What do you think they're going to call you if you follow me?
He said, well, nobody ever calls me Satan.
Then you're not living for God.
Listen, if everybody loves you, literally, if everybody loves you,
then you're not right with God, period.
If everybody loves you, you are not right with God.
That's just the fact you say, well, that's weird.
It's not weird because the Bible says, marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you.
The Bible says, whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
That's a pretty strong statement because this world, let's face it,
is very much opposed to the things of God.
It's very much opposed to this book.
I was going to read this before the service, but I'm just going to go into it really quickly now.
It kind of fits in with this point, but this is in Afghanistan,
and my wife is my news assimilator.
She goes through all the news, and I don't want to mess with it sometimes,
but she goes through and she finds all the interesting things for me to use,
maybe as a sermon illustration or whatever.
This is an Afghan convert, I don't know if you heard about this,
to Christianity from Islam, and he converted from Islam to Christianity,
and he's facing the death penalty.
Of course, there's a big outcry about it, and President Bush is trying to step in and so forth.
But the parts that I liked about this, this is how I know,
because you're thinking, well, Christian is such a broad term.
Is this guy really a Christian?
I mean, is this guy saved, or is he some kind of Catholic, Episcopalian or something?
Yeah, you don't know what he is, right?
Is he Baptist, whatever.
But this is how I know that he's an independent fundamental Baptist,
just by reading this, because it says here,
an Afghan man facing a possible death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity
may be mentally unfit to stand a trial.
A state prosecutor said Wednesday, listen to this,
we think he could be mad.
He's not a normal person.
He doesn't talk like a normal person.
This is how we know that he's our style of Christianity.
This is how we know that he's with, I mean, he's one of us.
He's with us.
But I use that point to illustrate that you're never going to be totally accepted.
You're always going to be outside the gates with Jesus, if you're with Jesus.
You say, everybody accepts me.
Then you're wrong.
Billy Graham.
Yeah, I said Billy Graham.
Okay, everybody hear that?
Okay, Billy Graham.
I'm not afraid to talk bad about Billy Graham.
Last time I seen him, he was wearing a dress.
He was wearing the full-blown Catholic garb, and he preached a sermon.
This is the last time I seen him.
I saw him on TV on September 11th, or maybe September 12th,
when they're doing this memorial service.
This is what he said.
He said, all the victims from the Twin Towers, they're all in heaven.
I'm thinking to myself, okay, so how tragic of a death you die
determines whether you go to heaven or hell?
So I guess if a plane runs into your building, no matter who you are,
no matter what you believe, you're going to heaven because you died in a blaze of glory.
I mean, the guy just says whatever people want him to say.
Whatever people want, he'll give it to them.
He'll tell them what they want to hear.
If he's with the Catholics, he'll tell them what they want to hear.
If he's with the Mormons, he'll tell them what they want to hear.
He'll never tell me what I want to hear, unfortunately.
I tried it, but he will never tell people, I guess, what we want to hear,
but he just pleases everybody.
He's on TV.
You know, everybody gets excited about him.
Nobody has a crossword to say about him.
Even independent fundamental Baptists won't even say anything about him.
He's a compromiser.
He doesn't preach the Gospel.
He's a liar out of hell, but nobody will touch the guy.
You think he's of God?
I doubt it because he just never will take a stand on anything.
He just tells people what they want to hear.
His daughter is a preacher.
Okay, what does that tell you?
I mean, somebody asked him, they said,
what do you think about your daughter?
Obviously, men are supposed to be preachers, okay, in case you didn't know that.
But what do you think about your daughter being a preacher?
Do you have a problem?
He says, well, if your daughter is a preacher, this is what the news guy said,
if your daughter is a preacher, you must think it's okay for women to be preachers.
Is that right?
That you think that women can be ordained as preachers?
And this is what he said.
Well, that would depend on which circles I'm in.
That's literally what he said verbatim.
He said, you know, that would depend on which circles I'm in.
So what you believe depends on what circles you're in.
You're nothing like Jesus, Billy Graham, because Jesus said Jesus Christ the same.
I'm the same in this circle as I am in this circle because I'm the same.
And remember, that's Christlikeness is summed up in these two words,
Jesus Christ the same.
Those are great words. I love it.
Step outside the gate sometime and see what it's like to be where Jesus is.
That's the moral of the story here.
You're never going to be in the mainstream of Christianity.
You're never going to be in the mainstream of Baptists.
You're never going to be in the mainstream of independent fundamental Baptists.
You're never going to be in the mainstream, maybe even in this church.
But you just have to be outside the gate sometimes if you're going to be where Jesus is.
You have to go outside the gate where he is and suffer reproach with him.
That's where the excitement is.
It's the same thing as getting out of the boat, as we preached about a few weeks ago.
Getting out of the boat of the normal, boring, lame Christian life where the mainstream is
and being where you're the only one that's out there all the way out there.
That's what it means to be outside the gates with Jesus.
The Bible says, For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
You know, maybe we don't fit in here, God's saying in verse number 14.
But you know what? We're going to fit in real well when we get to heaven
because we're outside the gates with Jesus, and up there he runs the show.
And God's saying, We don't have a continuing city here. Don't worry about it if you don't quite fit in.
Don't worry about it if you're a little bit of an outsider.
Just don't be an outsider when you get up there.
Fit in when you get there.
And the Bible says, By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually.
That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name.
But to do good and to communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifice is God as well.
Please, I'm hurrying for the sake of time.
Obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls,
as they that must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you.
So what God's saying is that the pastor one day is going to give account to God for what you do in your life.
And so when I give an account to God, I can either do it with joy and say,
Faithful Word Baptist Church is like the greatest church in the world.
People are getting saved. People have cleaned up their lives.
People are reading the Bible. They're praying.
I mean, this is a great church.
And boy, how am I going to feel if I get to heaven and Faithful Word Baptist Church is just this powerhouse of soul winning,
just this powerhouse of separation, just this great church.
Do you think I'm going to be like, Man, is it my turn yet to talk to Jesus?
I want to tell him about my church.
Or do I want to be like, Hey, you go first.
I think you were here before me.
I think you died like five seconds before me.
Why don't you go talk to him?
I'm still thinking about my excuse.
I'm thinking about what I'm going to say.
But God's saying he doesn't want to do it with grief.
He wants to do it with joy.
But look, for that's unprofitable for you because you're the one who's going to miss out on the rewards
because if he did what he's supposed to do, he's still getting rewarded.
He may not look forward to that appointment where he has to explain how he dropped the ball.
But you're the one that's really suffering when you don't live right.
Not necessarily me because God's real big on personal responsibility.
He does hold leaders accountable, but he holds the follower accountable, too.
And so personal responsibility is extremely big with God.
He says they must give an account that they may do it with joy and not with grief,
for that is unprofitable for you.
And then he says, Pray for us.
It's like, Man, pray for us.
I've got to be responsible for you.
Anyway, that's what I kind of read that as the first time I read it.
But it says, Pray for us, for we trust we have a good conscience and all things willing to live honestly.
But I beseech you to rather to do this that I may be restored to you the sooner.
Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus,
that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant.
And I think it's interesting here that, of course, everybody knows Psalm 23.
The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restored my soul and on and on.
God calls Jesus Christ here.
So the Bible says in the Old Testament, the Lord is my shepherd.
Here in the New Testament, God calls Jesus the great shepherd.
Boy, that's a pretty high title that God gives to Jesus Christ.
Again, just the theme of the book of Hebrews, exalting Jesus Christ.
The great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
make you perfect in every good work to do his will,
working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ.
You know, perfect we learned, of course, means complete.
That means you have the whole package.
Not that you never sin, not that you never make a mistake,
but as it said in James chapter 1,
that the trying of your faith worketh patience,
but let patience have her perfect work,
that she may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
So being perfect means you're entire, you're complete,
you're not lacking anything in your Christian life.
But notice the word that comes out twice in that same passage where he's saying,
this is how you be perfect, this is how you be the complete package,
working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight.
And then look at that, make you perfect in every good work.
You're not perfect, you're incomplete in your Christianity,
unless there's some kind of a works that you're doing for God.
You say, well, I don't do this.
I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't cuss, I don't look at pornography,
I don't this, I don't that, I don't that.
God says, look, that's not perfection,
it's seeing how you can empty yourself of everything.
Why don't you replace that with what you are doing?
How about I used to do this, now I go soul winning,
now I go to church, now I read the Bible, now I memorize the Bible.
God is saying here, in order to be perfect,
you have to have some kind of an outward working
of what you've received on the inside
and of all the things that you've given up
should manifest by some kind of a work,
like going out and knocking doors, man, or going out and doing something.
And sitting around reading your Bible is great,
and I'm all for it, and I do a whole lot of it,
but you don't want to get spiritually obese
where you're just eating the Word of God, eating the Word of God,
eat it and then use it and burn it off and work for God,
preaching the Gospel to every creature.
Then you say, well, maybe I shouldn't read the Bible so much.
No, I'm saying eat as much as you can and work as hard as you can
and just do it all.
That's the maximum of everything is what I'm trying to say.
But the Bible says here,
And I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation,
for I have written a letter unto you in few words.
Suffer the word of exhortation means, listen,
when somebody tells you that you've done something wrong,
when somebody tries to straighten you out on something,
you need to take it.
That's what it means. Suffer means allow,
and exhortation is when somebody tells you you need to straighten up.
Don't be one of these people that's so touchy
that when somebody tells you that you're wrong
or when you hear something from the pulpit that says that you're wrong,
you bristle.
God says, no, suffer the word of exhortation,
for I've written a letter unto you in few words.
Know ye that our brother Timothy is sent at liberty,
that means he was in jail, and now he's out of jail,
with whom, if he comes shortly, I will see you.
So as soon as Timothy has just gotten out of jail,
and he says, if Timothy decides to go where you are,
and I'm not really sure where these Hebrews are that he's writing to,
to be honest with you, probably in Israel,
I'm assuming they're in the province of Judea at this time,
and so he's saying Timothy just got out of jail,
and when he goes down there, as soon as he leaves,
I'm coming with him to come see you.
Salute all them that have the rule over you,
and all the saints.
And we talked about this on Sunday,
or when did we talk about it, last Wednesday,
about how everybody who is saved is a saint.
That's why he's saying salute them that have the rule over you,
it's talking about the leaders and all the saints, salute everybody.
They of Italy salute you.
Grace be with you all. Amen.
And that is the end of the book of Hebrews.