Her Old Testament lesson comes from the book of Leviticus, Leviticus chapter seven. Leviticus chapter seven, hear now the word of the Lord. This is the law of the guilt offering. It is most holy. In the place where they kill the burnt offering, they shall kill the guilt offering and its blood shall be thrown against the sides of the altar. and all its fat shall be offered, the fat tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys. The priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering to the Lord. It is a guilt offering. Every male among the priests may eat of it. It shall be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy. The guilt offering is just like the sin offering. There is one law for them. The priest who makes atonement with it shall have it. And the priest who offers any man's burnt offering shall have for himself the skin of the burnt offering that he has offered. And every grain offering baked in the oven and all that is prepared on a pan or a griddle shall belong to the priest who offers it. And every grain offering mixed with oil or dry shall be shared equally among all the sons of Aaron. And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings that one may offer to the Lord. If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the thanksgiving sacrifice unleavened loaves mixed with oil unleavened wafers smeared with oil and loaves of fine flour well mixed with oil. With the sacrifice of his peace offerings for Thanksgiving he shall bring his offering with loaves of leavened bread and from it he shall offer one loaf from each offering as a gift to the Lord. It shall belong to the priest who throws the blood of the peace offerings and the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for Thanksgiving shall be eaten on the day of his offering. He shall not leave any of it until the morning. But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow offering, or a free will offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifices, and on the next day what remains of it shall be eaten. But what remains of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burned up with fire. If any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering is eaten on the third day, he who offers it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be credited to him. It is tainted, and he who eats of it shall bear his iniquity. Flesh that touches any unclean thing shall not be eaten, it shall be burned up with fire. All who are clean may eat flesh, but the person who eats of the flesh of the sacrifice of the Lord's peace offerings, while an uncleanness is on him, that person shall be cut off from his people. And if anyone touches an unclean thing, whether human uncleanness or an unclean beast or any unclean detestable creature, and then eats some flesh from the sacrifice of the Lord's peace offerings, that person shall be cut off from his people. The Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to the people of Israel saying, you shall eat no fat of ox or sheep or goat. The fat of an animal that dies of itself and the fat of one that is torn by beasts may be put to any other use, but on no account shall you eat it. For every person who eats of the fat of an animal of which a food offering may be made to the Lord shall be cut off from his people. Moreover, you shall eat no blood whatever, whether of fowl or of animal in any of your dwelling places. Whoever eats any blood, that person shall be cut off from his people. The Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to the people of Israel saying, whoever offers the sacrifice of his peace offerings to the Lord shall bring his offering to the Lord from the sacrifice of his peace offerings. His own hands shall bring the Lord's food offerings. He shall bring the fat with the breast that the breast may be waved as a wave offering before the Lord. The priest shall burn the fat on the altar but the breast shall be for Aaron and his sons, and the right thigh you shall give to the priest at the contribution from the sacrifice of your peace offerings. Whoever among the sons of Aaron offers the blood of the peace offerings and the fat shall have the right thigh for a portion. For the breast that is waived and the thigh that is contributed, I have taken from the people of Israel out of the sacrifices of their peace offerings and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as a perpetual due from the people of Israel. This is the portion of Aaron and of his sons from the Lord's food offerings from the day they were presented to serve as priests of the Lord. The Lord commanded this to be given them by the people of Israel from the day that he anointed them. It is a perpetual do throughout their generations. This is the law of the burnt offering of the grain offering of the sin offering of the guilt offering of the ordination offering and of the peace offering which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai on the day that he commanded the people of Israel to bring their offerings to the Lord. in the wilderness of Sinai. This is the word of the Lord. all of these offerings and sacrifices and Leviticus is working through all of this because of what God does for his people in the sacrifice. The sacrifices and the offerings are laid out, there's a very clear order and actually I'll just briefly summarize it for you because it's really important for understanding actually what we do as well. Because first you bring the burnt offering and the whole animal is burned on the altar in the fire. The burnt offering is given entirely to God as a way of saying we are yours, we are here to worship you. Then the grain offerings and the sin and guilt offerings are brought with a portion burnt in the fire and then as you heard a portion is then given to the priest which communicates our need for a mediator. There needs to be one who intercedes for us with God, and therefore this is also, as you heard, this is also then how the priests are fed, because their meat, they don't necessarily have much in the way of their own flocks and herds, so their meat comes through the sacrifices, the offerings of the people. And then finally you bring the peace offering, where a portion is burnt in the fire, a portion is given to the priests, and the rest is cooked and eaten by the worshippers. This is where, in the Old Testament, we oftentimes just think about the offerings, the sacrifices, what they offered to God, but the last part of the offering, the peace offering, was where all God's people had a big cookout. And when you gather for the feasts, you have basically, they're offering all of these burnt offerings, and the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings, and the peace offerings. The fat of the peace offerings is burned in the fire, and then a portion is given to the priests so that they have something to eat too, and then all the worshipers gather and eat together because we have peace with God. And so we come to Him and we eat and drink and rejoice together before Him. The New Testament will show how Jesus is all of the above, because he is the burnt offering, he is the one who was offered in death, and through whom we approach God. This is where, in the Old Testament, you would never approach God without a burnt offering. Just never. You see it over and over again. Every time Israel ever gathers for worship, they always start with burnt offerings, because they understand, in order to approach God, we need to bring Him something. And that's where, of course, you're all thinking, OK, so next week I'll bring the cow. But no, Jesus is the burnt offering. Jesus is the one through whom we approach God. But He is also the grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, He is the great high priest who intercedes for us with the Father and he is the peace offering through whom we have peace with God and we partake of him at the Lord's table as we partake of the peace offering who is Jesus himself. Now you could easily imagine how this discussion of the offerings could be misunderstood. And Psalm 50 sort of addresses a common misunderstanding. Because sometimes, in the Old Testament, it's easy for us to think this, it was actually easy for them to think this too, all you have to do is bring the right sacrifices, and you got yourself a get out of jail free card. So, I can sin as I please, and then if I bring the right sacrifices, I'm home free. And Psalm 50 is like, no, you're missing the point. doesn't need our sacrifices. If we are intent on living contrary to what God has said, there is no sacrifice that can atone for sin. In fact, we heard earlier from Hebrews a few weeks ago, if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving a knowledge of the truth, there is no longer a sacrifice for sins. In fact, Psalm 50 had taught this hundreds of years before. It's why Psalm 50 speaks of offering to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving which Hebrews will refer to as a sacrifice of praise, it's not just the thank offering which Leviticus talks about. It's not just going through the motions of bringing the animals, but it's offering thanksgiving as your offering, drawing near to God with a whole heart. The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me. To the one who orders his way rightly, I will show the salvation of God. Our New Testament lesson comes from Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13. Hear now the word of our God. Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison as though in prison with them and those who are mistreated since you also are in the body. Let marriage be held in honor among all and let the marriage bed be undefiled. For God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. Keep your life free from love of money and be content with what you have. For he has said I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we can confidently say the Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me. Remember your leaders those who spoke to you the word of God. 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 led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods which have not benefited those devoted to them. We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city but we seek the city that is to come. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God that is the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience desiring to act honorably in all things. I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner. Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus the great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant equip you with everything good that you may do his will working in us that which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. I appeal to you brothers bear with my word of exhortation for I have written to you briefly. You should know that our brother Timothy has been released with whom I shall see you if he comes soon. Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings. Grace be with you all. This is the word of the Lord. So what does it mean then for us to continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God? Hebrews puts that in two different ways. There's the fruit of lips acknowledging His name, and then do not neglect to do good and to share what you have for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. The sacrificial system of the New Testament does not require the death of animals. Rather, it requires the putting to death of our own selfish desires. The sacrifices that please God are the words and deeds that flow from the cross. you can bring a sacrifice that pleases God, but only because Jesus has offered the once-for-all sacrifice that has made us right with God. We saw last time that Hebrews has called us to let brotherly love continue. And we saw in verse 7 that he reminds us of our leaders, those who spoke the word of God to us. In the book of Hebrews, he doesn't use the term elder or bishop or deacon. He just uses the word leaders. New Testament vocabulary wasn't really standardized, but they're the same people. They're the elders, pastors, deacons. Those are the leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. And he says, consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. If you think back, Hebrews chapter 11 gave us a picture of this in the hall of faith. And church history ever since continues to show us. Over the last couple thousand years, there have been many such leaders. You can look back and see faithful preachers who stood firm in the midst of trial and proclaimed Christ. And Hebrews calls us, consider consider the outcome of their way of life, consider the results of their preaching, the results of their lives, consider what God has done through them, and imitate your faith. You're not called to imitate everything about your leaders. No pastor is perfect, no elder, no deacon, but rather, Hebrews says, imitate their faith. Imitate them as they show you Christ. And the reason is because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Yesterday, when your leaders were tested, the gospel of Christ was their refuge. Today, when you are tested, the same gospel is your hope. And forever, this same Jesus Christ, the Son of God, will endure and the teaching that you have heard will continue to be the teaching of the Christian Church. And that's why in verse 9, Hebrews says, do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings. And the contrast should be clear. There's this one teaching that endures. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. And then there are these coming and going teachings, these diverse and strange teachings. So when strange teachings arise, remember the word of God that was spoken to you by your leaders. Now in Hebrews day, these strange teachings, he gives something of an example of them. For it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods which have not benefited those devoted to them. It's a reference back to the Jewish feasts and to Jewish ideas about food more generally. And the idea is that, it's actually Psalm 50, once again. Psalm 50 had said, you're missing the point of what the sacrifices are all about. And so that was also happening in first century Judaism, and Hebrews has been dealing with people who have been tempted to go back to Judaism. And so Hebrews is saying, don't. Don't go back. The Old Testament feasts were designed as sacrificial meals in which the worshippers partook of the sacrifices, all of which pointed to Christ. And now that Christ has come, now that the great sacrifice has been offered to the Father, the Jewish feasts, the Old Testament food laws, no longer have the same meaning. So if somebody tells you that Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles, the Day of Atonement These are special days and participating in these feasts are the way to spiritual growth. Hebrews is saying, no, that's not the point anymore. Hebrews says that the heart is to be strengthened by grace, not by foods which have not benefited those devoted to them. The Jewish idea of grace had become too earthly. They had lost sight of the heavenly city. And that's why Hebrews says in verse 10, we have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. And he's not just talking about the Lord's Supper. After all, if Hebrews was just saying, you need to leave all the Jewish feasts behind and come to the Lord's table, he would merely be substituting one earthbound ritual for another. That's why he says, we have an altar. Now, does that remind you of anything Hebrews has said before? Actually, we heard it earlier in the service, that we have a high priest. Hebrews has said we have a high priest, we have an altar, we have one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. Why on earth would you want to hang out around an earthly altar, partaking of earthly sacrifices, when you can enter the heavenly holy of holies and partake of the heavenly sacrifice? We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. And yes, we do partake of that altar here in the Lord's Supper. But don't confuse the Lord's table with the Lord's altar. We have a table here. The altar is in the heavenlies, and it's why I say, lift up your hearts, and you say, we lift them up to the Lord, because we ascend into the heavenlies to partake of that altar. The altar where Jesus offered his blood before the Father is in heaven. If you think back earlier in Hebrews, we saw that people sometimes think that, oh yeah, Jesus shed his blood on the cross, and when we talk about the sacrifice, that's it. But Hebrews points out that Jesus took that blood into the heavenly holy of holies. Because, of course, the Old Testament pattern was, it's not just the slaughtering of the animal, but then you take the blood of the animal and you sprinkle it on the altar. And if Jesus is the sacrifice, if he's all of the sacrifices, then Jesus, when he offered himself, he took his own blood and sprinkled the heavenly altar because the heavenly altar had to be cleansed with a better sacrifice than the old sacrifices. Jesus basically presented his blood before the Father as the way that we might be able to enter now the holy of holies in the heavenlies and come to Jesus. as long as your eyes are fixed on earthly bread and earthly tables, then you do not yet see as you ought. As Hebrews says, we see Jesus crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death. We see Him. And because He has brought us into the heavenlies through the veil that is His flesh, we now behold Him by faith. Now verses 11 and 12 explains why those who serve the earthly tent cannot come to Christ's altar. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Doesn't that all just make sense? I know, we're not used to this language. It's all nice and good. Hebrews seems to assume, oh yeah, you know exactly what I mean. Okay, so let's unpack this a little bit, because what is he saying here? Hebrews is saying, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Yesterday, in the Old Testament. The body of the sacrifice was burned outside the camp for the sin offering. It's a reference to, on the Day of Atonement, how the animals slaughtered for the sin offerings, whose blood would be used to make atonement, they were not to be eaten, they were to be taken outside the camp and burned with fire. The idea of the sin offering was that the sin of the community is transferred to the animal, and you take this sin-laden animal outside the camp and you burn it with fire. as far away from God's presence as you can get. The picture really is, you're sending the animal to hell, figuratively speaking. And Hebrews says, this is why Jesus suffered outside the gate, outside of Jerusalem. because He was the sin offering for His people. He was taken away from God's presence, away from the temple, away from the city of God, in order to sanctify His people through His own blood. Jesus is the sin offering. And since Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, we also must go to Him outside the camp and bear the reproach that he endured. Hebrews is simply drawing on what Jesus told us. If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me outside the camp, outside the city, outside the respectable place. the holy place. The call of discipleship is the call of the cross. You are called to bear the reproach that Christ endured. A servant is not greater than his master. If they taunted me, they will taunt you. Hebrews is talking to people who have been excluded from their Jewish communities, who have been shunned by their synagogues. And Hebrews says, you must be willing to surrender your ties to the earthly city. Verse 14, for here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. We are pilgrims. Now, there's a difference between a pilgrim and a nomad. A nomad has no permanent home, lives in a tent, that tent is his home. But we are pilgrims, because while we have no lasting city, we do have a city. The heavenly city, the city that is to come. If you have trusted in Christ, then you have been alienated from the earthly city. Your primary citizenship is no longer America or South Bend. You're no longer citizens of the earthly Jerusalem. Your identity is now bound up with Jesus, your heavenly king. His city is now your city. shows us what kind of sacrifice we can bring to our God. As Hebrews says, through Him, through Jesus then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God. That is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. Now, this is where on the Day of Atonement, That sin offering that was taken outside the camp, that was the foundation of every other offering on the Day of Atonement. Without the sin offering on the Day of Atonement, the whole sacrificial system comes crashing down. And even so, without Christ's atoning sacrifice in the heavenlies, where He offered His blood before the throne of God, you could not bring any sacrifice. If you think about it, how can we bring a worthy sacrifice to God? Even of ourselves, we can't. But because Jesus is the burnt offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the peace offering, because He is all of the above, therefore, you now, through Him, may offer up a sacrifice of praise the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name. And the sacrifice of praise begins with the lips. It starts by thanking God for the great sacrifice that we have in Jesus. But the sacrifice of praise is not exhausted by our lips. It's, after all, the fruit of lips that acknowledge the name of Jesus, and that fruit continues from what we say into what we do. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. You, because you are in Jesus, you can now please God. Wait, pastor, but aren't all our righteousness even filthy rags? Apart from Jesus, yeah. But in Christ, you may now please God in what you do. Certainly, those who are trying to win God's favor by doing good are doomed to failure. And God doesn't say, hey, okay, I'll bring you in by grace, but then you got an annual performance review coming up every year. No. The way you please God is by being who you are in Christ. Jesus, the Son of God, has, through His sacrifice, brought many sons to God. And God is pleased with you because He is pleased with Jesus. He's pleased with you because you are looking more and more like Jesus. He's pleased with you because Jesus has brought you to Himself. And because of that, He accepts your sacrifices even though your sacrifices fall far short of what he deserves. I mean, think about those little pictures that your children drew when they were little. What value do they have? They're probably never gonna be hanging up on some great museum someday, but how delighted you were when they brought that little picture. How pleased you are when your child freely shares their toys with others when he finds something that needs to be done and does it without being asked. Well, our Heavenly Father is pleased with you as a father with his little children. God is pleased with you when you do good and share what you have. as we heard earlier in the chapter, when you show hospitality to strangers, when you honor the marriage bed, when you remember those who are mistreated and in prison, when you keep your life free from the love of money. Because these things are evidence of His Spirit within you. It's how you show that you are the children of God. And as you live as this kingdom of priests offering spiritual sacrifices to God, verse 17 says, obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account. So how do you avoid those strange teachings that we were hearing about earlier? Remember your leaders, the ones who taught you the word of God, verse 7. And here, Hebrews says, obey your leaders and submit to them. Your leaders are charged with the spiritual care of the flock. We're going to have to give an account to God for how we have cared for you, how we taught you. And Hebrew says that we keep watch over your souls. We live in a democratic age where everyone looks out for number one, Hebrews says that your pastors, your elders, your deacons, are to keep watch over your souls. And that language of keeping watch has that watchman aspect, the eschatological aspect. There's a way in which we're thinking about, as we're all heading towards the heavenly city, how are we walking together and how can you make it a joy, as Hebrews puts it, for those who are leading you? It's actually why I rejoice when you call me up to talk about something that's troubling you. I want to know how to keep watch over you well. And so when you come to us as your elders, when you come to the deacons with various needs and talk about the things that you're struggling with, that helps us to do what Hebrew says. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. Sure, if you're stubborn and headstrong and refusing to pay attention, insisting on following strange teachings, then we will lead with groaning. But, I'm delighted to say I groan very little around you. You have been a joy to Shepard because you do come and talk about stuff that's troubling you. And that means we can keep watch over your souls well. When you're following Jesus, that's what causes us to rejoice. When you want to follow Jesus, when you're saying, I don't know how to follow Jesus, even that causes us to rejoice because you're saying, I don't know how. And so we walk. And that's why we ask with Hebrews, pray for us. For we are sure that we have a clear conscience desiring to act honorably in all things. I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner." Obviously the reason why he's writing an epistle rather than preaching a sermon is because he's not there. But he says, pray for us. Pray for your leaders. We need wisdom. And your prayers are powerful. Paul says in Philippians 1.19, listen to how he says this, I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance. And the word translated deliverance is, this will turn out for my salvation. If you would have wise and faithful leaders, pray for us. At the same time, leaders must strive to, as Hebrews puts it, act honorably in all things, having a clear conscience before God and man. Hebrews concludes with a blessing and a final appeal. Having just spoken of your leaders, this final blessing reminds us that Jesus is the great shepherd of the sheep. May the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good, that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. The God of peace is the one who equips us with everything good that we may do his will. And he has begun this by raising our Lord Jesus from the dead. And so he works what is pleasing to him in us through Jesus Christ. But he can't quite finish with the amen. He has one last little thing he wants to say. And having finished his sermon, as it were, he gives him a couple pieces of information. He says, you should know that Timothy has been released. with whom I shall see you if he comes soon. This is the closest we get to figuring out who wrote the book of Hebrews. It's somebody who was a friend of Timothy's. So probably somebody who knew the Apostle Paul as well. That's about as close as we get. And then he gives his final greetings, again, to the leaders. So this is part of the reason why, to the leaders and the saints. He uses the term leader instead of elder, but it's basically to the elders and the saints. And then he says that those who come from Italy send you greetings, reminding us of the way in which, okay, the church in the first century was going through a whole, I mean, organizationally, they're still figuring things out. They were, even though they may not have known each other, oh, you're writing a letter to the church where you came from? Okay, send our greetings. We want to be connected. And it's something you see wherever you go in the world today. Wherever you go, when you find a body of believers, you just found your family. You just found your people. And that's the way that Jesus has taught us to live. So let's pray and ask God to do that in us. Father, have mercy on us and help us. Help us to offer to you the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, the fruit of lips that acknowledge your name. Help us to do good and to share what we have because we know that pleases you, our Heavenly Father. And so we ask that you'd help us to be that sort of people that speaks of your great mercy and love and that lives it out in the way that we walk together. Help us, Lord, because we are weak and frail, and we need your grace. And so we pray in Jesus' name, amen.