made it to the final chapter in Hebrews. It's always neat to get to the conclusion of a book study. You know, some books that you do, you got Philippians, four chapters, Colossians, I think four or five chapters. And we've done books like that. And right now we're in Proverbs chapter, what, 21. And sometimes, you know, Hebrews 13, that's quite an accomplishment by God's grace to get to this point. Now, what Paul has given us here is an epistle. And so it's a letter. that he wrote and you know in our day you almost gotta explain what a letter is you know it's like an email but you write it with your hand you got a pen I've written letters, but I don't think I've ever written a letter as long as Hebrews 1-13 is. But Paul doesn't think it's that long. He says in verse 22, I've written a letter unto you in few words. So I guess as he looks at this, it's not that much to him. Maybe he's comparing it to some of his preaching. Maybe if he was preaching he'd give them a lot more information. But as you look at this as a letter, if you were back in that day, you're writing a letter, say you're away from your kids, and you've been telling them all the things that are going on, and kind of updating them on those things, you come to the conclusion of your letter, And it's like your final thoughts, they might kind of be disjointed thoughts, you know, take care of this, take care of this, you know, just those last ideas that you want your child to remember in your absence. And so, as Paul comes to the end of the letter now, really that's kind of the idea of what it is. It's just kind of some final thoughts, things that he really wants them to consider. as he gets ready to sign off on this letter. So let's pray, ask the Spirit of God to help us as we look at Paul's final thoughts tonight. Father, we thank you for the grace that you give. Thank you again for the season of prayer that we just have come from, Lord, and the prayer letter that we've read. And Father, we just are grateful tonight for our church. But Father, we ask that as we come to the word of God in this time, as we look at Hebrews chapter 13, Father, we ask that the spirit of God would speak to us tonight through the teaching of Paul. And Father, you encourage us in our walk with you. These are just short statements, short ideas, just to protect us and to guide us. And Father, we gotta deal with some sensitive truth tonight, but it's the truth of the word of God. And I pray the spirit of God would give us grace as we go through these things and consider these things. And Lord God, certainly we need the protection of God in all of these areas. Lord, these are areas of dealing against sin and standing for God and fighting for God. And so to that end, I pray that you'd help us. Father, would you encourage the hearts of our church family? Father, we want to be strong in the Lord and the power of His might. Father, we want individuals in our church that are just faithful to God, obedient to God, consistent with God, thinking as we even talked about this past Sunday, having the mind of Christ united in the faith, standing together for the gospel. And so, Lord God, would you do that in our hearts as a church tonight? And Father, as I speak, I can't speak without your enablement, but I pray the Spirit of God would give me liberty tonight. I pray, Father, that you'd give me a tender heart to our congregation. God, give me grace to proclaim the truth of the Word of God in love. I pray, Father, knowing that I can't speak as I ought to speak without your enablement. And so I ask for that liberty of the Spirit of God as well, Father, that the truth of the Word of God would Go unhindered to our hearts tonight. My heart as well. It's in Christ name. We pray amen Amen. Alright, so we've got the final thoughts of the Apostle Paul. So we're gonna start with tonight be loving. All right be loving It says in verse 1 let brotherly love be As Paul comes to them, he's not saying start loving one another, they haven't stopped loving one another, he's just encouraging them to continue in that. Now our family has been reading through 1 John in our morning devotional time. And as we've read that, it's been interesting to consider that John deals with identifying marks of somebody that is a true believer. Somebody that has the spirit of God. Somebody that loves righteousness. Somebody that hates wickedness. And then this identifying mark of somebody that loves the brother. Supernatural. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away. This is something God did. God put this love for the brother into your life. But as with those other things, loving righteousness, hating ungodliness, and knowing the presence of the Holy Spirit, these are truths that we ought to cultivate in our life as well, that we ought to grow in as we grow in our walk with God. So that's what Paul's dealing with. He's saying, let that brotherly love continue, and he's going to give a couple specific ways to demonstrate that love for your brothers. So he starts with hospitality. Show hospitality to your brothers. Just this past week, you probably are unaware of this, but the Scottish Open took place in North Berwick, just about 30 minutes from here, a big golf tournament. And Steve Anderson, apparently he's been ill. He says he was watching some of that and just kind of imagining us being out there you know and being able to go to that because we could have potentially gone to it. But imagine that we had a ticket to that if on that ticket it was a hospitality ticket that would be nice because that would mean you get to go to a hospitality event. tent and maybe they provide food or they provide drink or if it's hot, maybe a cooling station or something like that. They're basically going to care for you. Back in Paul's day, hospitality was not just food and drink. A lot of times it was overnight lodging and somebody is passing by, they're a stranger, and you're going to put them up in your home. So it says in verse 2, Be not forgetful to entertain strangers. You know, Paul had been the recipient of this, we know, as he traveled. He was a missionary and, you know, he would go to different places. He didn't have somebody to stay and sometimes somebody from the congregation would invite Paul to come to their house and to stay with them. We see that in the Macedonian call that Paul received. They get there, they preach, and Lydia invites them over to her house in Acts 16, verse 14. It says, a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, which worshiped God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened, and she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. And when she was baptized in her household, she besought us saying, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there. And she constrained us. And she just had a deep desire. She said, hey, you've met my spiritual needs. I'd like to meet your physical needs. She was a wealthy woman, a seller of purple, apparently had a large house, probably servants and other things and said, I've got I've got spare rooms and you are welcome to stay with me. Our family, obviously we're in we're in missions and traveling in the United States as we're raising support or as we've gone back on furlough. It's been our privilege many times to come into somebody's house. We don't know these people from anybody, you know, and the world can't maybe understand this idea, but be able to stay with them and just feel like you're with family. And like you've known him a long time, our family, on the other hand, over here, and as a youth pastor, we would open our house to missionaries or to ministers that would come in and stay with us. That's a blessing. You know, it's a great thing. And as a church, maybe at some point God will give us the opportunity to host a mission team and maybe several members of our church could take some of the team and have them stay at their house. That's what Paul's speaking about. He's saying, be not forgetful to do that ministry. And he says, you might get an unexpected blessing. It says, for thereby some have entertained angels. Now, sometimes angels would appear as men, the Bible speaks about that, and I think that's what Paul is referring to. He's looking back to that story of Abraham and Lot. Abraham provided food for the angels to eat as they came by, and Lot provided lodging for them as they came into the city of Sodom and Gomorrah. Now as you think about that, what would it be like? This is a person that has come from heaven. This is not a normal person. To have someone like that come into your home, obviously there would be special blessing associated with those that take such good care of God's messengers. We're just dairy farmers out in Colorado. They live some 20 miles from the church up Mountain Road out in a dairy farm in Colorado. But, you know, my grandparents would open up their home to have missionaries and ministers stay with them. And, you know, my dad's family, all four of the kids went into full-time ministry. And as they speak about that and they think about that, I mean that was part of it. It was that they got to rub shoulders with some godly people that would pray for them and encourage them and they had that opportunity. So I mean there are blessings associated. with those that open up their home for God to use. So as we're able to do that, Paul reminds us, go ahead and do that, take care of your brother. And then love your brother with hospitality, but then secondly, with sympathy, with sympathy. Paul's already told us about Jesus Christ in Hebrews being the sympathetic high priest, Hebrews 4.15. It says, for we have not in high priest, which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but it was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. And it's a great thing for us tonight to say, you know, God knows my needs. He understands everything that I'm facing in my life, everything that I'm going through. He's experienced it. Not exactly what I'm facing, but the same ideas of what I'm facing. And so as my You know, Paul reminds us very specifically about a specific condition here to sympathize with people in prayer. And so, first of all, with prisoners. With a prisoner, pray as if you are in prison. Those that are in prison for Christ's sake, pray as if that is you. Verse three says, remember them that are in bonds as bound with them. As if it's you that are locked up. As if it's you that has had your freedom taken away. Paul very much would know what it's like to be a prisoner. It says in 2 Timothy 2 verse 9, his letter to Timothy, he said, But the word of God is not bound. But he was in bondage. He knew what it was like to hear the door shut, you know, to be chained up maybe to some guards or in stocks, as it were, other things. And I mean, you have no liberty. You can't do what you want to do. You can't serve yourself. You can't get your own food. You can't go out, buy your own clothes or anything. I mean, you've lost everything that you knew and that you enjoyed. Georgie Vins, in our generation, Georgie Vins is back in the 1960s, 1970s, was in prison in Russia. and became the most well known prisoner for Christ in Russia. He became a great voice. He's got an organization now I think called Voice of the Martyrs that is a part of what was his ministry that he started when he came to the United States, but he lost everything and was imprisoned there. for the Lord. I've read recently a book, I think my wife got it for me, about martyrdom and the stories of people that were fed to wild beasts or torn by bulls or burnt at the stake. You read these things and there are people today that we forget are suffering for the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if that ever came into our arena of life, where we are aware that there's somebody that is in a situation like that, and we're doing this a bit tonight because we know somebody that recently, as I shared, lost their son in a car accident. Though that's not happened to us, we ought to be burdened to say, I want to pray as if that is what is happening to me. And so, that's how we should pray. If we know somebody going through a tough time, we ought to pray, as if we are in that same situation for God's grace for them. So pray as if you're a prisoner in this case, and then pray as if you are being persecuted. It says, and them which suffer adversity as being yourselves also in the body. Now the adversity there, Barnes says this in his commentary, The word used here refers properly to those who are maltreated or who are injured by others. It does not properly refer to those who merely experience calamity. It's not just that they had a bad situation, it's that they had a bad situation because they are Christian. And Paul's saying, sympathize with them as if you've lost your job because you took a stand, as if you had this happen to you because you identified with Christ. Imagine that it was you. Now again, the church in China, we've heard in the last year and a half or two years especially about churches being bulldozed, Christian schools being closed, churches being disbanded. And we are aware of persecution that is taking place, so we ought to ask God, God help me to be a more sympathetic intercessor for the persecuted church, not just China, North Korea, Nigeria, the other nations that we know of that persecution is taking place. And so he reminds us, he said, final thought, be loving, all right? Take care of each other, be hospitable. As the persecution comes, stand with one another as if that was you in prayer. And then secondly here, be pure, be pure. Sexual impurity is not a modern invention. It was prevalent in Paul's day. And as their spiritual father, he's just warning them that they be very careful to guard their purity. And so we find as we come to this text that the marriage relationship is a gift from God. It's a great gift that God has given. The Bible says a prudent wife, we've studied this in Proverbs, is of the Lord. We've studied that verse, whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing. and obtaineth favor of the Lord. But on the other hand, you've got religions that downplay marriage as if it is not as great an honor as God says it is. For instance, the Roman Catholic Church teaching that celibacy trumps marriage. You know, that if your celibacy is almost like a higher spiritual plateau, that somebody could stand on. So you think about the Catholic Church. They've got priests that are single. They're commanded to be single. You've got nuns that, again, take a vow of celibacy. You've got monks that not just are celibate, but are isolated in some, you know, cloister somewhere or something like that. And because of that, great sexual impurity has come into the Catholic Church because of that. And we're aware of that. I spoke with a Franciscan monk at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. And you know, he's standing there and he's got that robe on, if you've ever seen a Franciscan monk, it's that brown robe with the belt tied around it, you know, and he's waiting for some religious ceremony that was taking place. He's standing outside and he's getting ready to usher them down this corridor. And I'm just speaking with them and I said, you know, the Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 4, There is a doctrine of the devil that forbids marriage and what I was referring to is this in 1 Timothy 4 verse 1, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry. OK, so one of the doctrines of the devil is that you cannot marry. And, you know, I kind of hoped in my heart that this guy, you know, kind of wanted to get married. You know, that he'd start thinking about that, thinking his religion is kind of restrictive and maybe examine it in the word of God. Why? Because that's a natural desire that God has given. He's put in the hearts So celibacy is not more honorable than marriage. The Bible says marriage is honorable in all. about marriage that, you know, you can't serve God as effectively if you're married versus being somebody that is single. And by the way, Paul spoke about celibacy, but Paul spoke about it honorably in a time of persecution. He said, I think it would be better if you could be like I am at this time, all right? They were a time of persecution, but he certainly promotes marriage even right here in this verse. Now you think about it, Joseph and Mary raised who? Jesus Christ. They were married. You know, he had parents. The Lord himself had parents that impacted his life and had a great ministry for God as the caretakers for the Lord Jesus Christ. John the Baptist, great man of God. He had Zacharias and Elizabeth. King David had Jesse, and I'm not sure that we know the name of his wife, but Uh, you know, he had uh parents so marriage is a great thing, you know, especially for somebody in ministry Uh, it would be good for that person to be praying much about god. Give me a godly mate. Give me a wife Uh that you know, or uh for a girl that wants to go into you know Serving god as a pastor's wife god. Give me a man that has a big heart for god. That's a good thing Why because the bible says one timothy chapter three That a bishop is to be blameless the husband of one wife having his children in subjection with all gravity. So we see again that marriage is honorable in all. And intimacy in marriage is not defiling. The Bible says, and the bed undefiled. So God gave intimacy to marriage. The fruit of that relationship is God's blessing. We understand that. The children that God would give to that home are a great blessing. Psalm 127 verse 3, Children are an heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward. Again, praise God for intimacy that he's given and the fruit of that intimacy being children. Now sometimes if you're watching old, we sometimes watch old movies and things in our house and you know a husband will kiss his wife and Romance is a very important thing that God has given and I won't read much to us tonight, but Song of Solomon chapter 1 verse 2 speaks about kissing. And you know, and it's very appropriate. It's very right within the marriage relationship. But obviously intimacy outside of marriage is unlawful and forbidden by God. And so the Bible says, but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. Okay, so somebody that uses prostitutes or legitimizes adultery or sexual sin is unlawful. So that includes prostitution, pornography, defiled entertainment, sexually perverse relationships. Now our world steps up and says, but we have made it lawful. We say it's okay. We say that it's not a problem. In fact, I mean, homosexuality, I think I'm sure now is no longer on the books, but it was on the books. Even in secular law, there were laws against that. Now, we've got laws in Britain that condone it. Laws that even give a blessing upon it, saying that people of the same sex, for instance, can't get married, and things like that. Well, just because man has sought to legitimize that, what does the Bible say at the end of that verse? What people should do is look back at Sodom and Gomorrah and see a city and remember that God judged that city because that city was sexually perverse. And so intimacy outside of marriage is unlawful. So what is the point of what Paul is saying? Paul is saying be pure. For a young person, keep yourself pure for that future mate. For somebody within a marriage, keep yourself pure within that marriage. And so be pure. And so be loving. Secondly, be pure. And then thirdly, be content. Again, these are just final thoughts. These are just some short ideas. Be content. And so God's law The 10th commandment is summarized in 10 commandments. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. So you're not looking at what your neighbor possesses and saying, I've got to have that. Why? Because it's not lawful for you to have that. Why? Because he possesses it. So anything that you covet, it's either someone else's, it's not for sale, or you can't afford it. Right? I mean, it's off limits for some reason that whatever that object is that you're coveting, if you're committing the sin of covetousness. So what does Paul teach us about contentment? Well, he says, be content Be content not to desire what others possess. It says in verse five, let your conversation, your lifestyle, be without covetousness. In other words, if it's off limits, don't let your heart desire it. Don't look at it longingly if it's not something that you have legitimate access to. For instance, King Ahab. King Ahab would go walking on the wall of his palace, well he would look with desire at Naboth's vineyard. There it was close to the castle, or close to the wall that he's walking on. He looks down on it, and he just, he's gotta have it. He wants it so bad, but it was not lawful. Naboth could not sell it to him, or Naboth would violate God's law that meant that that inheritance was to stay with that family. So there is nothing Naboth could do to sell it to him. Naboth isn't going to violate God's law to sell it to him, but Ahab continues to look at it with covetousness. Think about Achan. Achan as he went into the city of Jericho after the walls fell down. God said everything in that city that is of value, the spoils of that city are mine. Well, Achan should have taken that on board and never have looked at something there and thought, I'd like to have that. Why? Because that was God's. You don't want to take something that is God's, but that was God's. Achan desired it. Instead of dealing with that desire as a forbidden desire, he continued to look at it. As you think about that, covetousness leads to sin like murder, adultery, theft, divorce, bankruptcy. You can list a long list of sins that come from that one root sin of covetousness. He says, be content, be content. Don't look with desire at something that is forbidden. And then secondly, be content to desire what you do possess. Okay, be content. You can say it this way, to want what you have, you know, to be thankful. An attitude of gratitude, you know, goes a long ways to contentment, just desiring the things that God in his goodness has given to us. You know, you look at Potiphar's wife, and Potiphar's wife was discontent. She looked longingly at Joseph. But you know, Joseph was satisfied. Joseph had a good position. He had privileges. He had a good master. He had a good God. And so the Bible story says in Genesis 39 It came to pass after these things that Potiphar's wife, his master's wife, cast her eyes upon Joseph, and she said, Lie with me. But he refused, and he said unto his master's wife, Behold my master, what if not what is with me in the house? He hath committed all that he hath to my hand. What is he saying? I've got a privileged position. He's saying God's been good to me. I'm thankful for this position. I'm thankful for the goodness of my master. There's none greater in this house than I. Neither hath he kept back anything from me but thee because thou art his wife. He said, My master is so good, he's given me everything, but what is not lawfully mine? Okay, which he refers to her because of what she said. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? So what is Joseph saying? He's saying I value what I have. I'm content. He possessed that and he did not desire what was unlawful for him. That's a great position for us to be in when it comes to contentment and to deal with covetousness. God, thank you for what I have and what I cannot have, I don't desire. And so God, thank you. And so be content. That contentment will guard us from a lot of sin. 1 Timothy 6, 6 says, but godliness with contentment is what? Great gain! So in those words Paul is dealing with a lot of things there. Be content with such things as he had. And then fourthly tonight, and this is our final point this evening, be confident. You know, the boys have recently gotten out of metal detecting. They're all getting into it. And it's partly because we've got a housing scheme that's going in near us, 400 new houses out in these farm fields. But, you know, Benson was the first to get into it and he was the first to get out of it. But I think about Benson, you know, he found a diamond ring that's worth almost the price of a car. And once you've found something like that, I think you kind of come to like, what else could you find, you know, that would be of greater value than that? I think that puts a little bit of satisfaction into your life. And and so if you have Jesus Christ tonight, this this deals with that area of contentment and confidence. You don't really need anything else. If you have Christ and that's that's what Paul's dealing with this point ties into that verse about contentment But it goes on beyond that to this idea of confidence And so satan satan likes to say things like god has forgotten about you. He's not going to meet your needs You know, he doesn't care about your desires that by the way with regard contentment delight yourself also in the lord and he will give thee The desires of thine heart. Okay, so God is a God that gives us that which makes us content. We can trust him, but Satan says, you know, God's not good. He's not gonna meet your need. But Paul reminds us that Jesus is always with you. He's always there. It says, for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. I'm there. Now if you've got Jesus, you've got everything you need, right? What could you lack if you have Jesus Christ? Again, he's going to experience some of these things in his life as he's in prison in Rome. He writes the book of Philippians. And in Philippians chapter four, verse 12, he says, I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I'm 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. Okay, Paul says, I'm in prison, but guess what? I'm content. I have everything. Why? I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. I've got Christ. It's because I have Christ I don't need anything else because God provides everything I need. Paul said at my first answer, No man stood with me, but all men forsook me. I pray God it may not be laid to their charge, notwithstanding the Lord has stood with me. Again, he's just, God's with me. And if God's with me, it's okay. Everybody else forsook me. but I'm content. Why? Because God is the one that's with me and God is the one that is going to meet my needs. You know, do you remember the fun of eating out as a family when you're growing up? Maybe as a college student, you come back home and mom and dad say we're going out to eat and you just have this expectation that your meal might be free, not to mom and dad, but to yourself. Why? Because if dad's there, dad's going to pay the bill for you. The thing is for us tonight, if God is there, then God's going to take care of it. And so I can be content and I can be confident. I can be confident because Jesus is with me and he has promised to always, always be with me. And then secondly, Jesus is all, Jesus will always help you. Okay. Jesus is always with you, but Jesus will always help you. Verse six, So that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Jesus is not just present, Jesus is active. He's not just there, but because he's there, he is going to meet the need. The Lord is my helper. Let's go back to that passage in 2 Timothy chapter 4. where Paul's expressing everybody else forsook him. Notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, that by me the preaching might be fully known, that all the Gentiles might hear, and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion, and the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom, to whom be glory forever and ever. Paul was confident why Jesus was with him, and Jesus was helping him. Jesus had helped him, Jesus was helping him, Jesus would help him. Now, let's take this truth and go back in our story, our text here to Hebrews chapter 11. The stories of the great things accomplished by faith with some men of God. Let's think about David facing Goliath. David could have thought this, although he didn't, okay? We're reading back into history, but he could have quoted this verse if he would have known it, and that's this, the Lord is my helper. And I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Right? He's standing there looking at a big giant, a really big giant, but it's okay because God is with him. Daniel in the lion's den, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man shall do unto me. The three Hebrew children cast into the fire. The Lord is my helper. Right? And he will deliver me from every evil work. You know, tonight, are you confident? Is there confidence in your heart? Hey, God is with me. It's all right. And see, Paul's signing off on this letter. He's getting finished. He just has those final thoughts. He says, be confident. Be confident. God is with you. God is going to help you. Be content. Love what you lawfully possess. Don't covet other things. Be pure. Guard yourself. Guard your marriage. And then be loving. Think about the brethren. Be hospitable and be sympathetic. to help meet their needs, all right? And we'll pick this up again. I'm not sure if we'll continue on the same line or not as we conclude, but we gotta start here on the last chapter, Hebrews chapter 13. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the grace that you give to look at the truth of the word of God. And Father, what we consider tonight will both be a blessing to the church and a protection to the church. And Father, we pray, help us be loving as a church. I pray that we'd be hospitable And Father, that we would just seek to meet needs of those that are about us. Help us be sympathetic in our prayers, to really be passionate, to pray for those that are going through a tough time. And Lord, as we pray about that tonight, we pray for the Edgars, that the Spirit of God would minister greatly to them at this time of sorrow. Father, help us to be pure as well. God, we live in a very impure, wicked world. Father, guard the sexual purity of our young people. Father, of our adults, of our church, that God, by your grace, that our church would be pure. God, give us grace not to be covetous, but to be content. And Father, to just love what we possess and not desire what is forbidden, what is not ours, what we cannot possess lawfully. And then Father, I pray that you just help us to know your presence and to be confident that God, you are with us. And in every situation, because you're a faithful God with us, that you're going to help us and you're going to meet our needs. Thank you for helping in this time tonight in our Bible study. Bless it to the hearts of those that heard it. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. Amen, all right, we'll sign off on FaceTime. Or Facebook.