Amen. Oh, what a beautiful hymn to sing right before we come to the Word and to think about the subject of love. We were looking at that subject certainly last week. And I believe that it really flows into this week. And many commentators note that when you look at this section, it's really all about love and about the Christian's duty to love and to faithfulness. And that really shouldn't surprise us. That's what this whole letter really is about. It's about faithfulness before God to understand what He's done for us and to remain, if you will, faithful. That we are saved by faith, we are justified by faith, but we are also called to live by faith. And so this is kind of the message we've been seeing all along. And so that's the prescription for these Christians that are facing persecution and troubles. It's the prescription for us as well. Justified by faith, live by faith, and do it unto God's glory. So if you think about it, that's kind of where we've been throughout this letter. Understand the New Covenant in relationship to the Old Covenant, that the Old Covenant was pointing to the New Covenant. Recognize what Christ as our faithful High Priest has done for us. and trust in Him. And if you think, well, that's hard because I've fallen on hard times in doing that and trying to be faithful, I'm encountering persecution and difficulty. Well, that just makes you one of God's children. That's what chapter 11 is all about, right? That just means you're like every other person that served God. Whether it be Abraham, or Isaac, or Jacob, or the prophets, whomever you want to look at, our author says, time would prevent me going into all the examples I could give you. Why? Because they're numerous. The people of God have always suffered for their faith. That's just the way it is. And in fact, Jesus himself said, that they persecute Him as their fathers had persecuted the prophets before Him. It's always been the way it's been. And so the key thing is to stand fast, stand firm, stand by faith, even if it means enduring great challenge. And we looked last week at how chapter 12 plays into that of running the race and kind of girding oneself, strengthening oneself for the challenge ahead and running, but always looking unto Jesus. That's the prescription, right? Look unto Jesus. We can give people commands and laws and legalism all day long. It doesn't change the heart. If there's anything this book is really about, it's all that Old Testament stuff that you were given that was glorious. God gave it to His people, but it couldn't do the one thing He said they most needed, which was transform their heart. It just couldn't do it. It could show them their need of a transformed heart, It could make them cry out to a God who could justify them, but the law itself could never be kept in such a way as to give them a new heart or to circumcise their heart. That's the promise of Jeremiah 31, that what God is doing is that He has a plan, an eternal plan, if you will, that He will circumcise the hearts of His people. That the law, once written on external tablets of stone, pointing to us of what to do, but not giving us the ability to do it, we'll see a greater covenant come. And that greater covenant that will come will be a covenant written not on tablets of stone, but on flesh, on heart, the heart of man. And they shall know me, God says. And so, my friends, as we think about all of this, it's the message of this entire letter. Look unto Jesus. He is who you need. Don't look unto Moses. Moses would have said, quit looking at me. Look to Jesus. The law says over and over again, as we sing a song every once in a while, this is no hiding place. There is no refuge here. There is no safety here. The law brings condemnation. But what it also brings is a knowledge that you need salvation. You need a savior. You need a mediator. You need someone who can reconcile you to a holy and righteous God. And the author, through all these chapters, has explained all of that to us. And so we come now to chapter 13 and to the realization at the end of chapter 12 that we are part of an unshakable kingdom. Praise God. What an amazing way that is of putting it. We're in a kingdom that can't be shaken. It's not here today and gone tomorrow. You know, we think about the prophecy that Daniel had of those kingdoms successively falling and being replaced. But one day that rock that comes and smashes the statue altogether. And it won't be replaced. It's a kingdom that will last forevermore. The kingdoms of this world rise and fall here today, gone tomorrow, no matter how powerful they are. They're gone one day. Nebuchadnezzar thought it could never happen to Babylon. It did. Cyrus thought it could never happen to Medo-Persia. It did. Maybe Alexander the Great thought it could never happen to Greece. It did. Caesar Augustus thought it could never happen to Rome. We're the, we're the exception. It did. And oftentimes we think it can never happen to America, right? This country will be here till the end of time. Maybe. Maybe not, right? That's what we have to realize. These kingdoms are shakable. But the kingdom that we are invited into by God's grace and unto His glory is an unshakable kingdom. There is no replacing it. There is no end to it. It will be there forevermore. And if you are a citizen of that kingdom, then you have reason to rejoice. So the question then becomes, how does a citizen of this kingdom live? It's a reasonable question. And always, Or often, I should say, in the New Testament we find doctrine and then an explanation of how to live out that doctrine. How do we live out these theological realities that are given to us? And people come to this chapter and think, well, that's what's happening here. And I think in some measure it is. But that also means you're going to be really confused about chapter 13. Because the question is, what is it telling us to do? And as you look at this, it begins with love. Let brotherly love continue. We recognize the importance of brotherly love and that this is a calling for the people of God, that they are to live, living out this love as if we are brothers, because in the faith we are brothers and sisters. We talked about this last week. I don't need to re-preach that, I guess. But it's important to think about. And then that love is also exemplified in other ways, isn't it? We entertain strangers, Christians. Again, this isn't just You know, crazy people that we don't know who they are. He's talking about here people that are vouched for, people who are known to the community. If they're strangers to me, somebody from the church says, oh, this guy's a good guy. I knew him when I was at the church in Corinth or some other place. He's a trustworthy brother. And if he needs somewhere to stay, let him stay there. If he needs a meal, feed him. And then we talked about also the fact that if someone is suffering for their faith, they're in prison, they're falling under persecution, don't ignore them, don't forget them, don't cast them off. Now, again, why are these commands being given in light of this letter? Well, I pray the sermon last week was going a distance in answering that. These are the dangers that are happening from a people that don't want to associate with the church anymore. They say, we don't want to be a part of that church because persecutions come to church members. I'm not going to have visiting preachers into my home. I'm not going to be seen as the guy who entertains these people. And I'm not going anywhere near the prisoners because I just might as well write my name on a list for them, you know? And the author of Hebrews says, that's not love. That's not the love that God has called us to. That is not the love that we have in this community as Christians. That is not the love of the new covenant, the love that God has shed abroad in our hearts by the power of the spirit who's been given to us. That's the antithesis of living out that love. Of caring more about yourself than others. That is not esteeming others better than self. That is esteeming me and only me as important. Or me and my immediate family, and that's important too, isn't it? But again, he's saying don't be afraid to associate with the people of God. Now, I think when you think about that, that's not just some random teachings on living the Christian life, but it's directed at this congregation. to say to them that this letter is written to that, listen, we understand things are rough, but that means that you trust the Lord and live out your faith. As we come to today's text, I think it's going to continue to talk about these sorts of things. So I want to read the text. I want to read one through six in its entirety so we have the flow of this section, and then we'll begin to talk about it. Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by doing so, some have unwittingly entertained angels. Remember the prisoners as if chained with them, those who are mistreated, since you yourselves are in the body also. Marriage is honorable among all. and the bed undefiled, but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. Let your conduct be without covetousness. Be content with such things as you have. For he himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?" As we think about this text today, I want us to look at three points. First of all, a covenant commitment. Second of all, a covenant steadfastness. And third, a covenant assurance. And so beginning first of all with this covenant commitment, we've been speaking about love, and obviously it's a theme that continues because it's talking about the marital relationship, which is founded on love. In fact, it's so important to the Scriptures that it's the picture Jesus gives of Him and His church, right, that the church is His bride, that we get the idea of the great love. In fact, Paul uses that relationship as an example for how husband and wife should love each other in submission and in sacrifice for one another. So we see that this is an important picture. Many people, as you read the commentaries on this, say, well, there must have been something going on amongst this people that was a danger of sexual immorality or infidelity, because it says marriage is honorable. And by the way, the way to translate that's not easy. It's either marriage is honorable, a statement, or it's a kind of admonition. Let marriage be honorable. And your translations will tackle that in those different ways. But it's clear what it's saying. Marriage should be honorable. Marriage should be revered. Marriage should be esteemed. And, you know, there's a question then about why is this in this letter? In fact, to be honest with you, if you just kind of work through this whole letter, it almost would seem out of place, which has caused some of the liberal scholars to think this has been inserted later. They'll often say these verses were not original to the letter. We obviously reject any philosophizing like that. But it does lead us to wonder, what is the purpose of this? And many of the commentators say, well, there must have been some kind of sexual immorality. Some even go as far as say, some people were denying that marriage is good, and there was some kind of false religious beliefs entering in. But there's no evidence of that in the letter. It's not dealt with at all, really, up until now. There's only really one mention of something similar to this in the letter, which we'll come back to in a moment. I just, my gut is that's not at all what's going on here. I think that it's dealing with love and commitment, and there's a reason the author is having us think about this. Now, if we want to think for a minute about this letter, our author never stops addressing the main point. This is not a letter like, say, Paul's letter to the Ephesians or Paul's letter to the Romans or one of these letters where Paul deals with a lot of theological questions in the first half and then he launches into these ethical ways of living out that faith in the second half of the letter. It's not like that. I mean, the entire letter has been about this question of what do we have in the new covenant compared to the old covenant? And in light of that, are we going to be faithful to Christ? That's ultimately the question, right? All through it. I mean, you can go through all those early chapters that are laying out by shadow and substance that the New Testament is greater. Everything that you thought was great about the Old Testament is greater in the New, and it was intended to be that way because the Old Testament was testifying to the New Testament the entire time. Joshua great, Jesus is greater. We can go through all those examples, and we'd spend another hour to do it. But the point is simple. That's what it's pointing to. And when you come to that heavy warning at the end of chapter 10, signaling other warnings throughout the course of this text, it launches into chapter 11. What do you need? You need faith. You need to walk by faith. We've already said that this morning. You need to realize that difficulties are common to all pilgrims. And therefore what you need is to walk by faith. And chapter 12 again tells us part of how we do that. You need to expect difficulty and train for it and be ready for it and run through it and look unto Jesus. All of that has been said to us. And chapter 13 is no different. He gives us these six verses that talk about love and living out love. And then where does he go? He talks about the church and living in the church and remembering that Christ hasn't changed. Doctrine should not change. What we believe should not change. It should be handed down generation to generation to generation. A church's belief shouldn't change because their pastor changed. We hold to what we hold to. And one of the reasons, by the way, we'll talk about this a bit next week, why confessions of faith are so important is they put up guardrails. Why is that London Baptist Confession important? It puts up guardrails. So if somebody comes in and starts veering off the path, you can say, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute, that isn't what we hold to. And churches need that. We've talked a lot about Baptist churches in the 20th century. We forgot our heritage of having a confession, and everything went AWOL. It just went crazy, you know. And we have to recognize the importance of these things. But again, after he speaks about that, which is right on with the message all through Hebrews, what does he tell them about? He begins to talk about in verse 9 about the differences between Old Testament practices and what we have in the New Testament. He calls the Old Testament practices things like various and strange doctrines, and that the altar that we have, those who serve in the tabernacle, have no right to. I don't know how you can distinguish between the Old Testament and the New Testament more than to say those priests that could go into the tabernacle of old have no place at this table unless it's by faith in Christ. So again, we see here again this great distinction built over and over again between the covenants. He never stops arguing it. He never stops arguing it and speaks about the sacrifice of Jesus and the sacrifice that that ought to bring out of us, which is not a sacrifice in the mass. It's a sacrifice of praise and love and obedience. These are the things that God desires from us. And then he goes into a gospel doxology and then closes the letter. He never stops arguing about the covenants and about how we ought to rightfully think about them and how that should bring us to Jesus and Jesus alone. He never stops arguing. So why then does he take a pause for a few verses to talk about marriage? I think there is an important reason, and we need to think about it. So in this flow of thinking about what's happening here, we want to say that it's obvious that marriage is important. We want to say that immediately. We're not going to overlook that. In fact, what we'd recognize is that marriage is esteemed throughout the Scriptures. Marriage is held to as a gift from God to man that orders the family and orders society. Where marriage is strong, a country historically will be strong. Where marriage declines, a nation will decline. I don't think that's a coincidence. God gave it as a founding, if you will, or building block of society that marriage is important. Marriage is what keeps a family together and what helps a family have sustenance, if you will, through difficult times. We could go into a lot that could be said about why marriage itself is attacked so often. Why it seems to always be a target. And I think we could find our answer here. From the very beginning of the Scriptures, marriage is held up in this way, right? As a gift from God that should be cherished. For this reason, we read in Genesis, a man will leave his mother and father and cleave to a woman and they shall become one flesh. From the very beginning, in God's creative order, there is husband and wife. So it goes without saying here that we should uphold marriage as honorable, and there's no indication in the text anywhere that they haven't, that this has been a particular problem. I think when you think about those places where we can think in the New Testament there are issues like this, Paul, for instance, goes on at length about these things. So it'd seem weird if this is a major problem here, that he's going to give it just a real quick reference and move on. Seems strange to me. But as you think about this for a moment, we remember the context of this letter. Marriage is a covenant, right, between man and woman, between a man and a woman, in which they are united together. And as the scripture said, we quoted just a moment ago, they cleave together, they become one flesh before God. It's often quoted that C.S. Lewis said divorce, in God's eyes, is like a human being being ripped in half. That's a good way to think about the picture that the Bible gives us of marriage. And so of course it's to be held honorable. And the marriage bed should be undefiled. What does that mean? You shouldn't be committing adultery. There should be no going outside the bounds of this covenant relationship. This covenant relationship is binding two people together and they should remain faithful to this covenant. They should marry together, live together, and yes, enjoy one another in all the ways that the Bible describes that. And they should do the one we're talking about here, keeping the marriage bed undefiled, that should be between them. No third party should enter into that. We recognize this. So that's a command that we recognize is biblical. But if you just think for a moment about this, as he continues, he goes on to say that fornicators and adulterers God will judge. Now thinking for a moment about the importance of marriage and that it's a covenantal relationship, what are these words that are used here? Well, one of them, the very first one that is used here, which is fornicators, is pornos. Now that might be a word in the Greek that you recognize or heard somebody say something about. It's the word from which we get pornography today or porn. It means sexual immorality or grievous sexual activity that is outside of what God has ordained. That's how we would define it, I think. And it's to engage in sexual immorality. And there are places in the Bible that explain what the Bible means by this, but it's saying don't engage in that. That's pretty good advice. Don't engage in sexual immorality. And then the second word that he uses here is moichios, which is a word that means faithfulness. Don't be unfaithful is what I'm saying here. It means unfaithfulness. So it's a command. Don't be unfaithful in your marriage. Don't go astray. Don't leave the bounds of this covenant relationship that you have here. Stay faithful. Stay faithful. I believe, when you think about it for a moment, I'm using the word covenant a lot. Covenant a lot. Faithful a lot. I'm doing that intentionally because I think that's the point here. Yes, is there a command that you should be faithful in your marriage? Absolutely. But is our author also pointing to something else here? And I think the answer is yes. Because when you think about it for a moment, wherever you see Well, let me just move my second point. I think it's what I really want to do here, which is covenant steadfastness, because it really brings us to this point. Immediately, we find this command for sexual purity is, and that's within the context of marriage. Added to that is the very next verse, which is on covetousness. And again, we might think for a moment, well, what is this author dealing with? What is the covetous problem amongst these believers? And if I just ask you, you know, think about it for 10 minutes and come back with an answer, you're probably gonna say, oh, well, they're coveting safety, right? They're coveting a better situation. They're coveting to not be under persecution. That's what they desire. That's what they're longing for. That's what they don't have. I think you'd be right. As you think about it for a moment, this point of covetousness is an important one in the Bible. We can see how it connects to marriage, right? The commandment is, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife. There's other things on there as well, right? But it starts with that. Don't covet what isn't yours. In this covenant relationship that you are in, you have a wife. And God has given you that partner, or if you're a woman, God has given you a husband. And He has given you that wife or husband with the purpose of that person being your helpmate and other half. And that's the person who meets the needs that we're talking about in this text. We recognize that. And so again, what would lead us to think that isn't enough? God says it's enough. Something in our hearts, right? That says, I kind of want something else. I want something more. And always, in that coveting, there's the thinking, I need more, or deserve more, or should have more. However you want to phrase it, that's what it comes down to. And in that, we don't stray far from the Garden of Eden, where it was said that God was a liar. Why did God say not to eat of the fruit? It wasn't because it's for our good. He's protecting something. He's not looking out for my best interest. If He knew my best interest, it would be that I should eat of the fruit and be like Him. It's calling God a liar. And now God tells me that what is best for me is to remain faithful to my marriage commitment and not strive to go outside of that. And I say, but if God knew what I know, could see what I can see, had the desires I had, then he would never put me under this lock and key. I know better than he does in this circumstance. And we may not word it that way, but that's in essence what we say. God is a liar if He tells me that staying in the bounds of marriage is best for me. Because I want something outside of those bounds. And, you know, even for a moment, parking here with covetousness, it's a difficult sin, isn't it? Because Paul in Romans argues that there are ways that we can guard or fence those other commandments. Okay, I can just decide not to have an affair and therefore fence off adultery. I can choose not to bear false witness against others and I can keep myself from violating that commandment. But what Paul says in Romans is the 10th commandment struck him down. Why? It's not external. It's in here and in here. And I find myself violating it. I find myself saying, you know, I wish I had that car instead of my neighbor. I wish I had his house instead of him. I wish I had his salary. I wish I had his wife. Or I wish I had his whatever it is, right? Whatever it is that we covet, we can hide it. I can even come before you all and say, oh, I don't covet anything. All the while, my heart would tell a different story. And Paul said, I realized that it wasn't just about fencing off my external behavior, but what I really need is a change of heart. And the law tells me I need that, but doesn't do it for me. What I realized I needed was Christ. And so as you think about this, covetousness is dangerous. But I think it's also interesting that it goes beyond just sexuality. It goes to the things that are spoken of here. Let your conduct be without covetousness. Be content with such things as you have. Now that could be a wife or a husband. That could be the house that you have. That could be whatever it is you have, your stuff. Be content with it. Be content with it. Now again, why is that? Because I think at the end of the day, we recognize that in being content, there is a testimony that we trust God's providence. I have what I need. And by the way, don't take this as a message against trying to accomplish things in life or to be successful in life. The Bible gives us those things in Proverbs. He's talking about coveting for things though, right? Where you would wish ill or do whatever it takes to accomplish things thinking you need it. He's reminding us here, God has told us, be content with what you have. Because God is sovereign, and the things that you need, He provides to you. He supplies to you. Pray for your daily bread. When He gives it to you, give Him thanksgiving. But you should never get to the point where you're griping because somebody has what you consider a better loaf of bread than you do. That's sin. That is sin. And oftentimes we don't think of it that way. And we overlook our own sin in these things. And so again, in trying to put all this together, we're thinking about, again, marriage and treating marriage as honorable and not coveting in terms of marriage, but also not coveting in terms of life. And why is our author saying these things? Well, I think in the end, we would find that throughout the scriptures, things like coveting is compared to idolatry. Why is that? Well, you know, if my shoulder hadn't got blown out and I'd been a pro baseball player, I'd have been famous, I'd had it all. So what, my life is garbage now? Baseball would have made my life complete? Right? Or, oh, if that one job had worked out for me, but, you know, I had kids and so I never got that opportunity that make and break my... We're amazing at griping about things, aren't we? But what, my life is just thrown away now? Does that have any view of the sovereignty of God and His providence? Again, I think the message that we need to think about here is looking at this entire letter. Sure, I love the church, but suffering? Having a hardship because I'm a Christian? That's too much to ask. Sure, I would be with the church if times were easy and it was good, maybe like it was a few years ago, but here's the thing, there's persecution now. So again, we come back to this, how do we respond to this? Well, I want to draw your attention again to the emphasis on this word pornos. It seemed like a weird word to use, especially in the absence of any testimony that there is this sexual immorality going around. And it'd have us just think back to another part of this letter which is found just really right before this where it talks about Esau in chapter 12. And if you want to look at that, it's like in verses 14 through 16. I mean, it should just be right on the other side of your page or maybe one page before. And the reason I'm making that point is whenever words are used that seem odd in a text, And they're two times used close together. That's a hint that there might be a purpose for using that word. Now, pornos is a word that's used often, but it's not used often in this letter. And when you look back, it says this, Actually, go back to 12. Therefore, strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight the paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed." I'm not going to re-preach this passage, but I want you to just think of the context. You're not running very well. Your faith gas tank is low. You're wobbling. You're in danger of getting injured in this race. Strengthen yourself in faith. Look unto Jesus. Run well. Run fast. Run in a manner that He would have you. Again, what's the problem? A lack of faith, a lack of covenantal commitment to Christ. So what is said here? Pursue peace with all people, and holiness without which no one will see the Lord. Looking carefully, lest anyone fall short of the grace of God." What is the danger? "...falling short of the grace offered in the covenant of grace. Lest any root of bitterness springing up, cause trouble, and by this many become defiled. Lest there be any fornicator, poronos, exact same word, or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright." Now what is Esau doing in that passage? We talked about it a little while ago. But I mentioned then, I believe, that it was an unusual thing that he's referred to as a fornicator. Like that's a strange thing to say about Esau. We don't read of that in Genesis, that he was well noted for his fornication. And it certainly would seem to have nothing to do with the story of how he sells his birthright for a bowl of red bean stew. It seems strange that it refers to him there. I don't think it's a coincidence. I'm going to ask you for a moment to think in biblical theological terms here. But Esau is a fornicator. Esau is exactly what you shouldn't be. Why? He didn't care about the promise of God. He didn't care about the eternal counsel of God. He didn't care about the promise of a coming Messiah. He didn't care about the one who would crush the serpent's head. He didn't care about any of those things. He didn't care about the seed of Abraham. through whom all the nations would be blessed. He didn't care about any of that. He cared only for what he wanted in that moment, which was some food. He's willing to sell everything else away for food. Now we've talked about how all this happens in the providence of God, but He's still given his example of what we should not be. We should not be those that look to temporal things and sell off spiritual or eternal things. That's what Esau did. And for that he's called a fornicator and a profane person, a poronos. He's considered a fornicator, one who was unfaithful. And now we are being told in this text, don't be like Esau. be like one who passes on the glorious covenantal relationship offered because we care about earthly things. Now, I need to say this. I've said this over and over again. The author is saying this to people he believes to be Christians, people he believes to be in the new covenant. It's a warning. Don't make this error. Don't follow Esau. Well, again, it's a strange thing to say. Fornication as your code word for breaking the covenant or showing unfaithfulness. Except guess what? The Bible does this all the time. All the time. Just in the New Covenant, oftentimes sexual immorality is always enlist with impurity and covetousness and idolatry. Ephesians 5, "...but among you there must not even be a hint of sexual immorality, or any kind of impurity or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. For of this you can be sure no sexually immoral person, no impure or greedy person, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." Paul in Colossians 3, "...put to death therefore whatever belongs to your earthly nature, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry." See here we're drawing together sexual immorality, idolatry, and covetousness. What about my third example here, 1 Corinthians? Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God." There's a list of people who are greedy, make idols of money, and who also are sexually immoral. And he says that they have no part. But again, it's these two categories that come back over and over again. Impurity, sexual immorality, and on the other hand, greed and idolatry for the things of this world. Now, all of these texts speak together of this, just as it was exemplified in Esau. Don't be like this. Don't be a people who break a covenant for those things that do not matter. Recognize that that is not what God has called us to. And so the examples of this are numerous, not just in the New Testament, but in the Old Testament. I mean, we could sit here literally all day quoting throughout the entirety of the Old Testament, which argues what? Whenever Israel chases after the gods of its neighbors, God calls them what? Like an animal in heat? He calls them whoremongers. Over and over again God says, Over and over again that imagery is used. I don't think, since this is written to Hebrew Christians, Jewish Christians, that is lost on them. If there's anything over and over again that would describe Israel chasing after the gods of their world over and over again, it's either being stiff-necked, not being willing to bow down to God, or being a sexually immoral people who will not remain faithful to the covenant that they have with God. I think that there is an instruction here. Don't get me wrong. Don't involve yourself in anything that would dishonor marriage. Don't defile the marital bed. Yes, there is a commandment there. We should take that at plain value. And I think don't be covetous. Don't be an idolater of the things of this world. Take that at plain value on the one level. But I think there's something else being said here too. God is a God of covenant. He is a God that expects covenant faithfulness. He is a God who desires His people to remain faithful. And that includes to Him. Learn the lesson of Israel who chase after every false god. Learn the lesson. And learn the lesson here that as the people of God ushered into this glorious covenant that's been described over the preceding 12 chapters, be thankful that you have a place there. Just like in that song we sang, How Sweet and Awful is the Place, why, O Lord, was I allowed to come? Why do I have a place at this table? That ought to be our response. Thanksgiving. Oh God, thank you for this. I will not flee from you. I will not leave. Why would I? What could I go and find that's better than what I have in Christ? And if the answer is Moses or the law, then just refer back to all those earlier chapters, right? We've already walked through all of that. There's nothing better there. Oftentimes people will say the key phrase of Hebrews is, better, right? Christ is better. The new covenant is better. The new priesthood is better. All of that, that's true. So why would you go back to something that unavails, something that cannot save us, something that always itself pointed to Jesus? No, this is a call, I believe, not only for how we live our lives as a people who care about covenant, but also recognizing that our God himself is a covenant-keeping God, a God who loves covenant and calls for us to recognize what He's given us in Christ and to not be like Esau, not to trade it away because we can find a temporal safe harbor in Judaism or in the law. No, that will end in disaster. That will end in disaster. Well, that brings me to my final point, and it will be quick. Covenant assurance, covenant assurance. stand firm in the Lord and trust in Him and He will show you covenant assurance." Now that's what he tells us in our text. For he himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. Now that is a glorious promise. And it seems like a strange promise to quote if the problem is sexual immorality. It seems like a strange thing to quote if it's coveting after things. He will not leave us nor forsake us except that what it's reminding us of is we don't have to fear the things in this world. We don't have to be tossed to and fro by the storms of this world. Yes, you're going to encounter them. In this world you will find tribulation, Christ said, but rejoice, I have overcome the world. And so, yes, we're going to have these difficulties, but He will never leave us nor forsake us. Now, I would just ask you to turn, if you will, to Joshua 1.5. And I want you to just see the context of this passage and how fit it is for the text we're looking at today. Just begin the book of Joshua. After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, saying, Moses, my servant, is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, the children of Israel." Just pause there for a second. Moses is dead. This is what Joshua is learning. Joshua is a great man of God, but he's relied on having a leader, right? God has appointed Moses as the leader of Israel, and he's relied on him. And now suddenly, you're being told, oh, now you're in charge. Under my authority, I'm appointing you, but you're the one now, Joshua. You're going to lead the people. You're going to lead them over the mountain. You're going to lead them into the promised land, and you're going to be the one to lead them in all that I'm going to have you do in that land. The promise is near, and you're the man. Now, I don't know about you, but that's a pretty heavy charge that might make you a little nervous, might make you a little afraid, might make you think, am I sufficient? You might think of Paul when he talks about preaching the gospel and how it's the savor of death to those who are dying and of life to those who are living. And who is sufficient for such a thing? I can imagine Joshua thinks right now, who is sufficient for this? I thought maybe Moses alone was. God continues, "...every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses." Nothing's changed. What I promised Moses, I'm now promising to you. The covenant commitment I made to Moses, I'm now making to you, Joshua. You are the man who's going to do this. "...from the wilderness and this Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the great sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory." The promise remains. The covenant remains. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I shall be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you." See, these are words of comfort, aren't they? Words of covenantal assurance. What God has promised to Moses, He's going to keep. And actually, He didn't first promise it to Moses, did He? He promised it to Abraham. And he kept that promise through all the generations to Moses as the man we thought would be the one to enter into the land. But that wasn't God's plan. It's going to be Joshua. Joshua will be the one to enter. And know this, Joshua, it didn't rely on Moses. It relied on me. I am the one who will bring this to pass, and now you will be my appointed means to bring it to pass. And here's the thing, I'm giving you every bit of land I promised Abraham, every bit of land I promised Isaac and Jacob, every bit of land that I told Moses I would give him, I'm promising it to you. And if you fear this assignment, I'm telling you no man shall be able to stand before you. No man can resist you. This is what Rahab says, right? We've heard what your God did in Egypt. We've heard what your God did to the Amorite kings. If He has promised you this city, it's already yours. That is faith. And what's being told here is, Joshua, you don't have to have any weakness in your faith at all because what I'm telling you is, ahead of time, no one can stand against you. And as I was with Moses, so I'll be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. I'll be with you every step, no matter how dangerous it seems, no matter how shaky it seems, no matter how worried you are about what the outcome will be. No, I will never leave you. It doesn't seem to me a coincidence that that's quoted here. to a people who are shaken, and scared, and frightful, and have no confidence, and think God has forgotten us, and all this will not turn out for good. And they're reminded the Lord promised Joshua, and He promises you the same thing. There's no problem in appropriating this text, because it's the way God treats His people. When they are doing what He wants, He will be with us. He will be with us. He will be with these Christians as they stand in difficult times. He will not leave them nor forsake them. Now, just as Joshua was entering the promise, they're in the promise. And they're being reminded of the same thing. God is with us. Praise the Lord. What can we do after that? Well, we can do what our author does. We can just immediately turn to the Psalms and quote the Psalms because the Psalms are worthy of being quoted here. We may boldly say, don't have to timidly say this, I can boldly say this, just as Joshua could have boldly said this, the Lord is my helper, I will not fear. What can man do to me? Praise God. Now, oftentimes we fear what man can do to us, but we're reminded here not to. We shouldn't fear what men can do. We should remember what God is doing and that He's working all things together for good to those who love Him are called according to His purpose. That is the mission. Now again, I argue And the commentators struggle with this. Psalm 118 is a very strange place to go if you're talking about sexual immorality, right? Why would you be fearing someone? What's the thing here? What's idolatry got to do with this? Clearly it's in the context of a people who are flirting with the idea of being unfaithful to the covenant, being unfaithful to God and slinking away to something else. And clearly a people who are coveting something that the Lord says, turn to me and I will give it to you. What do you want? Assurance? It's in the Gospel. Safety? Well, maybe not physical safety, but eternal security is found in the Gospel. Purpose? It's found in the Gospel. Hope? It's found in the Gospel. Glory? It's found in the Gospel. Don't be unfaithful. Don't turn away. Don't be Esau. My friends, When you think about this just for a moment, it makes sense in the overall context of this letter. We should not be unfaithful to the covenant of Christ, for our God is ever with us. Talk about various phrases you could use to summarize the book. There's one. Don't be unfaithful to Christ and his covenant, for our God is ever with us.