A Better Way
Hebrews 13
Introduction.
One commentary I read said that, with the main point of Hebrews in Chapter 9 and the main application concluding in Chapter 12, that Chapter 13 is merely an appendix to the book.
But how I view an appendix in a book is that they can be helpful, but unnecessary to understanding the point of the book.
As for describing Heb. 13 as merely an appendix, I couldn’t disagree more.
So why is it here? It answers the question: How can I be faithful?
The first several chapters talk about why you should be faithful, the latter chapters encourage you to be faithful, and now we see how we can be faithful!
Your lesson is incomplete without practical application.
Preview.
Morally Right (13:1-6).
Religiously Right (13:7-17).
Prayerfully Right (13:18-25).
Body.
Morally Right (13:1-6).
Brotherly love (13:1).
We could spend a whole sermon on some of these topics that the writer brings up here.
In fact, I have had a sermon on brotherly love that I did last year (or late 2019).
In any event, it is so important for us to remember.
In 2 Pet. 1:5-7, it is listed with the Christian graces, that it is something we need to add to our faith so that we might not stumble.
Paul lists it in the traits concerning what it takes to not be conformed to the world, but transformed in Rom. 12.
Let brotherly love continue!
Hospitality (13:2).
Hospitality is also quite important, and stressed heavily in Eastern cultures.
It is something I feel we ought to stress more, being kind and loving toward strangers, even opening up our homes to them.
That is not easy because we are encouraged by the world to be suspicious of strangers.
It is not helped when we are taken advantage of by them.
But there is no easier show of the love of Jesus than to show compassion upon a stranger.
Look no further than the Good Samaritan in Luke 10.
Visitation (13:3).
Those stuck where they are such as prisoners and shut-ins can’t be as social as they would like to be.
Prisoners, especially those back then, were mistreated.
The visits to such people mean so much, whether they are mistreated or not.
Let us make sure that we pay those people visits and help them when we can.
Fidelity (13:4).
The fidelity here is a sexual fidelity in marriage.
But also any acts of fornication, or sexual misconduct, were to be judged.
This includes many actions, such as pre-marital or extra-marital relations, homosexual relations, incestuous relations or those with minors, and the guilty individual in a forcible altercation.
These are not pleasant things for many of us to think about, but we are comforted by the knowledge that God will judge such people.
On the other hand, if you are guilty of any of those actions as with any of these things, there is a path to repentance and salvation!
Contentedness (13:5-6).
The opposite of coveting is being content.
And Paul talks about being content in whatever state we are in, whether we have little or plenty (Phil. 4:11-12).
We cannot be content with what we have when we are constantly looking at others and saying, “Why can’t I have that?”
That, however, seems to be what this country is built on, the idea that we can work our way into getting what the other has.
Well, maybe it works and maybe it doesn’t.
I’m not saying we need to keep from working for that better future, but always remember that, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” and that He will never leave us or forsake us!
What an amazing and comforting thought!
But we need to make sure we are also ….
Religiously Right (13:7-17).
Obedience (13:7, 17).
Sam talked about the importance of obedience and submission not long ago when we looked at Ephesians 5 & 6.
There is always going to be someone that has authority over you.
If no one else, the civil government of whatever country you’re in has the authority, whether for good or ill.
In our homes, the parents have the authority, and between them, the husband and father has it, as is the Bible pattern.
The writer of Hebrews speaks of those in authority in the church: elders especially, and even the preacher to a certain extent (“Remember those … who have spoken the word of God to you”).
They watch out for your souls, so our job is to make it easy for them: “Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.”
This leads us to our being faithful.
Faithfulness (13:8-9).
Of course faithfulness was one of the main topics of Hebrews, and is covered here as sort of a conclusion.
The doctrines of faith have been delivered and are not going to change.
This is reflected in the idea that Jesus Christ doesn’t change.
His requires were the same yesterday, they are the same today, and they will be the same for the rest of time.
This cannot be used to justify following the OT Law, as the writer of Hebrews spent a good chunk of Scripture telling us we are now under a better covenant.
But it can be used to help us realize that we need not to taking in by false teachings and to follow them.
Let us remain faithful to the one true doctrine presented to us in the Word of God and not believe any new teaching other than what we find written here!
And it is certainly better than the system they used to be under.
Better (13:10-12).
Again, we return to the main theme of Hebrews, that we are under a better covenant than the one given by Moses.
We have an altar just as the Jewish system had an altar.
On the altar in the temple, they sacrificed animals and the priests often ate of some of the sacrifices offered.
But they had no right to eat from the altar that we have, not unless they themselves convert.
That food that we eat every Lord’s Day is the Lord’s Supper.
The Jewish priests had no right to eat of it because they continued to offer sacrifices that were no longer needed as if they were needed.
That food we eat represents the body and blood of the One who sacrificed Himself outside the camp, outside the gate of the city (as we’ll discuss in our Mark class soon).
That fruit of the vine that we drink represents that blood that was shed outside the gate, that which sanctifies us, makes us holy, sets us apart for a better purpose.
That sanctification gives us hope.
Hope (13:13-14).
We find that hope in Christ, when we kneel at the cross, “[going] forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach.”
Our hope is found in His reproach!
He was disgraced up on that cross, publicly executed in a most humiliating fashion.
And yet it is only through that sacrifice, that humiliation, that we can be saved, where we might meet Him and have our sins washed away at Calvary, kneeling at His cross.
Here we have no continuing city—our hope is not found here, but in the world to come.
While we might suffer in many various ways here on this earth as our Lord did, we look forward instead to that world to come where there is no pain, no suffering, no heartache—only happiness and joy forever and ever.
Praise (13:15-16).
We have got to be religiously right when it comes to our submission to our leaders, faithfulness to the Lord, following a better covenant by kneeling at the cross, recognizing our great hope in heaven, and now by offering a sacrifice of praise to our God!
The sacrifices of bulls and goats were mentioned frequently in this book, and we see that they are all fulfilled in Christ.
But many of the actions surrounding the sacrifices are still to be carried out.
This includes the praise that we give to our God, not unlike the peace offering from Lev. 3.
That was an offering of praise and thanksgiving to our God, and we still ought to offer Him our praise and give thanks always!
And in the peace offerings, they were to “do good and share” the meat of that offering to others, not just the priests.
While we don’t have a peace offering as such, we still offer our sacrifices of praise and whatever else we might sacrifice to help others, sharing with them.
Recall the hospitality we are to show others—no doubt this is an expressing of this kind of sharing.
God is pleased with such sacrifices, not of bulls and goats, but of time and money and praise and thanksgiving.
After repeating the need to obey those who rule over us, the writer mentions prayer.
Prayerfully Right (13:18-23).
For Us (13:18-19).
We must always seek the Lord’s favor whenever we do anything.
Recall when Joshua made an alliance with the Gibeonites in Joshua 9 without consulting with the Lord first.
When we pray, when we talk to God about our plans and our wishes, He listens, and He gives us what we need to do the right thing.
This writer is asking for prayers for “us,” whoever they are.
Clearly the first readers of this letter knew this was, but this is a prayer that could and should apply to us all.
We pray for a good conscience, which can only be had when we do what’s right.
We also need to have that desire to live honorably, to do what’s right, following all the things they had just written about in this chapter.
He also wishes to be able to see them again soon, “restored to you the sooner.”
But he prayer doesn’t end there.
For You (13:20-22).
The next few verses are in the form of a prayer for those to whom he is writing.
While we are not the direct recipients of this letter, it would not be a stretch to think that the writer intends for this prayer to be stated for all those who read it.
There’s so much going on in vs. 20 that it’s hard to know where to start, but we see several great distinctions of our God, both the Father and the Son.
The Father is the God of peace who raised Jesus from the dead.
The Son, our Lord Jesus, is also that great Shepherd who guides His sheep (that’s us).
He does this through the “blood of the everlasting covenant,” something he had been writing about for much of this letter.
The writer prays that the Lord will make his readers to be complete in every good work, that is to make them what they ought to be with regard to good works, works that are pleasing in the sight of God.
As the writer stated earlier, that’s what the assembly is meant to help us do, to urge us to love and to good works (10:24-25).
Anyway, regardless of who does the works, it is all through Christ for His glory.
While this is one of the longer letters of the NT, only shorter than Romans and 1 Corinthians, the writer still believes he used “few words” – no doubt a testament to how concise the Holy Spirit can be when conveying such magnificent concepts.
For Others (13:23).
Finally, while the writer does not specifically state this as a prayer, I believe the context of the prayers already solicited and mentioned, that it would make sense to state that the next verse is a prayer for another.
This prayer is for Timothy, specifically.
This is very likely the same Timothy that was a protege of Paul.
He planned to come see them, and it would make sense for them to have prayed for him in his journey.
Let us not forget to pray for others as well.
How sweet it is to offer our prayers on behalf of those we care about, not just for their sake, but for ours, too.
We have the ear of our God, and He will hear us!
Then the writer concludes with some greetings and a desire for grace! Amen.
Conclusion.
In order for us to be blessed by God, we must be faithful to Him.
We have the instructions on faithfulness, why we should be faithful, even examples of faithfulness.
But now we have the nitty-gritty on how we can be faithful to the Lord.
Granted, the entire Bible is needed for all that, but the writer gives us a brief overview of it all here.
We need to be right.
We need to be morally right, religiously right, and prayerfully right.
Let’s be faithful to our God tonight.
One of those things that we needed to do to be religiously right is to allow ourselves to kneel at the cross of Christ.
In just a few moments, we will be singing that song to encourage us to kneel at the cross, letting us know that Christ will meet us there, and reminding us that Christ intercedes for us.
There is room for all of us. Will you come and kneel at His cross this evening?