Hebrews 13“LIVING OUT THE FAITH”

‘Practical Applications from Hebrews’

November 30, 2014First Baptist ChurchJackson, Mississippi

USA

November Memory Verses

Matthew 28:19-20 NKJV

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Missions Weekend – Sunday School next Sunday December 7 in FSHW

• Pray for Carols by Candlelight

REFERENCES

• “Encountering The Book of Hebrews” by Donald A. Hagner, Baker Academic, 2004

• “The Message of Hebrews” by John R. W. Stott, Inter-Varsity Press, 1982

Review of Hebrews 1 - 12

• Hebrews was written to Christians who were facing persecution

• Goal to encourage Christians to remain faithful and not return to Judaism

• Explain the absolute supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus Christ as revealer and as mediator of God’s grace.

Living Out The Faith – Hebrews 13

• “Where the rubber meets the road!”

– Implementation

– Where the work begins

– How to put your faith into action

Living Out The Faith – Hebrews 13

• Current Challenges Addressed in Hebrews 13– Immigration (Strangers)

– Marriage (Purity)

– Consumerism (Contentment)

• Editorial in Baptist Record by Tony Martin titled, “These Challenging Days” – However, think about this: for the Christian, this is

as bad as it will ever get. For the non-believer, this is as good as it’s ever going to be.

Faith and Works:Putting Your Faith Into Action

James 2:14, 2614 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds?26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Hebrews 13 Exhortations

• “emphatic urgings to Christians”

• Expressed clearly and forcibly

• Written “short and sweet” – to the point

• KISS Principle – “Keep It Short and Sweet”

Hebrews 13 Exhortations

• Love Even Strangers - 13:1-3

• Maintain Sexual Purity – 13:4

• Do Not Trust Wealth – 13:5-6

• Imitate Lives of Leaders – 13:7

• Avoid False Teachings – 13:8-10

• Leave World System for Christ – 13:11-14

• Offer Sacrifices of Praise – 13:15-16

• Submit to Church Leaders – 13:17

Love Even Strangers

Hebrews 13:1-3 1 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. 3 Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

Love Even Strangers

John 13:34-35 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Love Even Strangers

• Parable of Sheep and Goats

Matthew 25:44-45 44 "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'45 "He will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

Entertain Strangers & Prisoners

• Blessed with the company of angels

• Takes you away from the familiar to reach out to others

• Prisoners in Hebrews – political & religious

– Criminals need Jesus even more

– Buried Treasures Ministry

Maintain Sexual Purity

Hebrews 13:4 4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

• Satan has declared war on Christian marriage!

Do Not Trust Wealth

Hebrews 13:5-6 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

6 So we say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”

• (Deuteronomy 31:6 & Psalm 118:6,7)

CONTENTMENT

• Definition = “acknowledgement and satisfaction of reaching capacity”

• Accepting one’s life state

Ecclesiastes 5:10 10 Whoever loves money never has enough;

whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.

• A conscious decision

Contentment

Imitate Lives of Leaders

Hebrews 13:7 7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

• Heroes of faith – Hebrews 11

• Examples sitting next to you in class!!

The Constant In Our Chaos

Hebrews 13:8 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

• Definition of “TRUTH” does not change

• The Word of God remains true

• His love and grace is unchanging

• The way of salvation does not change

Avoid False Teachings

Hebrews 13:9-10 9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so. 10 We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.

• Satan will try to reinterpret scripture for you

Leave World System for Christ

Hebrews 13:11-14 11 The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. 12 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. 13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. 14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

“… outside the camp”

• Sacrifices were made inside the Temple

• Ceremonially unclean animal parts were burned outside the city walls

• Jesus was crucified outside the city gates

• Our salvation is outside of Judaism

• “… the city that is to come.” The New Jerusalem (Heaven)

Offer Sacrifices of Praise

Hebrews 13:15 15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.

• Sacrifice of praise = the fruit of lips (Words, Singing)

Sacrifices of Praise

• “Sacrifices” and “Praise” seem opposite

• Sacrifice = offering something at great cost to ourselves

• Praise = Joyful as it bubbles from a grateful heart

• Sacrifice and Praise are intertwined in the spiritual realm

Sacrifices of Praise

• Praise does not always cost us something

– Praise to God is easy when life is good.

– We can sing, worship and talk about how good God is when we can see it.

– This type of praise is not a sacrifice.

– When life is difficult and we cannot see His hand at work, praise requires sacrifice.

– We bring a “sacrifice of praise’ when we choose to believe that God is good and can still be trusted.

Sacrifice of Praise

• Hebrews 13:15 says the sacrifice is to be offered ‘continually’.

• Our praise of God is not based on our opinion of His job performance.

• The ‘sacrifice of praise’ comes from a humble heart that has been purified by fire.

– It rises from a spirit that has chosen to honor God in spite of the pain life is causing.

Habakkuk

Habakkuk 3:17-18 17 Though the fig tree does not bud

and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails

and the fields produce no food,

though there are no sheep in the pen

and no cattle in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,

I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Romans

Romans 12:11 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

Sacrifice of Praise & Service

Hebrews 13:16 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

James 1:27 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

1 John 3:18 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

Submit to Church Leaders

Hebrews 13:17 17 Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.

Hebrews 13 Closing Prayer

Hebrews 13:20-21 20 Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21 equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

The Plan of Hope & Salvation

Romans 3:23 NKJV23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 6:23a NKJV23a For the wages of sin is death,

• Death in this life (the first death) is 100%.• Even Jesus, the only one who doesn’t deserve

death, died in this life to pay the penalty for our sins.

• The death referred to in Romans 6:23a is the second death explained in Revelation 21:8.

Revelation 21:8 NKJV8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Romans 6:23b NKJV23b but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 5:8 NKJV8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Revelation 21:7 NKJV7 “He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.”

• Romans 10:9-10 explains to us how to accept Jesus as our Savior.

Romans 10:9-10 NKJV9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Romans 10:13 NKJV13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”

• If you have questions or would like to know more, Please, contact First Baptist Church Jackson at 601-979-1900 or http://firstbaptistjackson.org/contact/