We are in the third day of national mourning following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second. Many people are feeling in need of God’s comfort and encouragement and hope and peace in their grief and sadness. We can find all these things in the Letter to the Hebrews and particularly in the final chapter.

The message of the Letter to the Hebrews can be summed up in four words. Jesus IS THE GREATEST! Especially for any Christians who might be weary or discouraged or tempted to wander from their faith. Jesus is the greatest! Jesus is greater than the Angels. Jesus is greater than Moses. Jesus is greater than the Old Testament. Jesus is greater than that enigmatic priest Melchizedek – indeed Jesus is the greatest high priest. And the sacrifice Jesus has made is greater than all the sacrifices in the history of the Temple put together. Jesus’s sacrifice is the greatest sacrifice of all – his giving of himself once for all on the cross for our salvation. Jesus is the greatest. And the amazing salvation He has bought for us is the greatest!

We last looked at the letter to the Hebrews at the beginning of 2015. Let me remind us of some of the inspiring truths we learned then.

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

In a world which is changing ever more quickly, it is so reassuring to know we worship and God who will never change – who is always the same for us. That follows two wonderful promises which our unchangeable God makes to us.

Hebrews 13:5 “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (quoting Deut 31:6)
Verse 6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Quoting Psalm 118:6-7)

Whatever the world throws at us, God is with us. God is our helper. We can trust in Him because God, the unchanging God, will NEVER let us down! Jesus is the greatest! And He never changes – His faithfulness is with us always! So we should step in and enjoy the wonderful salvation Jesus has obtained for us – greater than any other salvation – far greater than the blessings of the Old Covenant of Moses.

9 It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them. 10 We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.

We are strengthened by grace! Not mere rituals – but the grace of God!

Hebrews 13 continues 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.

Whatever we may have to suffer, Jesus has already suffered more. And from his suffering we have become heirs to that eternal city which is to come – an eternal salvation beyond time and space in the presence of God and of Jesus our saviour.
Jesus is the greatest! We have received such a wonderful salvation! So what should we do about it? Here are our verses for tonight.

15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise- the fruit of lips that confess his name.
16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

Let’s begin with the second and third of these exhortations! Doing good and sharing with others. God is faithful to us. He will never abandon us. He will always be our Helper. And that is the standard of Brotherly Love which God expects us to show to each other also. That is how Hebrews 13 begins

Hebrews 13:1 Keep on loving each other as brothers.

We should live out the new commandment Jesus gave us – to love one another as He has loved us. We can show our brotherly love in simple ways like hospitality.

2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

And that brotherly love should not be restricted to helping folk who will be able to repay our kindness in the future.

3 Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow-prisoners, and those who are ill-treated as if you yourselves were suffering.

16 Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

We have thought about those kinds of sacrifices before. God’s faithfulness to us inspires us to show that kind of brotherly love to other people in our own lives. But Hebrews 13:15 talks about a different kind of sacrifice.
15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that confess his name.

Sometimes we don’t feel like praising God. Sometimes we forget about all the blessings God pours out on us or about the wonderful salvation we have received through God’s grace. Sometimes we find it hard to praise God because of the weight of circumstances bearing down on us. It may be that many people are finding it difficult to praise God in this period of national mourning following the death of our beloved Queen Elizabeth the Second of blessed memory.
Nevertheless God deserves praise from us even when we least feel like praising Him. We should still be thanking God for all the blessings he pours out on us moment by moment and day by day. God deserves a sacrifice of praise. Whatever may be happening in our lives and in our world, God is worthy of our praise because of who Jesus is – Jesus is the greatest! And God deserves praise from us because of the wonderful salvation Jesus has provided for us. God is always worthy of our sacrifice of praise. We give God our money – our offerings. We seek to serve God in our daily lives in the church and in the world. We read our Bibles and seek to be faithful disciples of Jesus. We work hard to present to God our sacrifices of “doing good and sharing with others.” But Hebrews 13:15 tells us that we should also be offering God our sacrifice of praise and I want to focus on that exhortation for a few minutes.

AW TOZER – “God calls us to be worshippers first and workers second.”

So often we get things the wrong way round. We expect new Christians to work for God straight away but leave them to work out for themselves how to worship God. Of course, in one sense our work and our worship are two sides of the same coin. They are both sacrifices of lives offered up to God. But I suspect if we are honest many of us find it easier to be workers than worshippers. The sacrifice of doing good and sharing with others actually comes much more easily to us than the sacrifice of praise!

“God calls us to be worshippers first and workers second.”

The Shorter Westminster Catechism asks, “What is the chief end of man?” What were human beings created for? What is our purpose in the God’s cosmic masterplan? And the answer it gives is that, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

Those two activities are not meant to be mutually exclusive. “Glorifying God” and “enjoying Him forever” are things we are meant to be doing simultaneously. But when it comes to offering to God a sacrifice of praise, many people seem to find it difficult to glorify God and enjoy him at the same time. Worship so often seem like hard work, especially if we are struggling in aspects of our lives. If worship also involves “enjoying God”, why do some people find it such hard work? What hints does Hebrews 13:15 give us to make our worship easier?
15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise- the fruit of lips that confess his name.

The first thing this verse reminds us is that our sacrifice of praise must be offered to God through Jesus. We worship on the basis of who Jesus Christ is and what He has done for us! Worship is not acceptable to God if it is NOT offered through Jesus Christ His Son. And worship can be false if it is based on wrong ideas about ourselves. Of ourselves we have no right to come into the presence of the Holy Almighty God. By ourselves we are God’s enemies, cut off from God by our sins, in line for God’s judgment. To offer God acceptable worship we must acknowledge our manifold sin and wickedness. We must confess that we have sinned against God and against our fellow human beings, in thought and word and deed, through ignorance, and through wickedness, and through our own deliberate fault, and there is no health in us. Of ourselves we are simply miserable sinners. We have no righteousness of our own, only that which Jesus has bought for us on the cross. There is no good in us – only the beauty and purity and love which Christ shares with us. So our worship to God is only acceptable through Jesus. We are strengthened by grace and grace alone. Our worship is worthless if for one second we forget our own unworthiness and the grace of God which has saved us.

So our worship can be spoiled if we assume a different relationship to God from that which His Son Jesus has brought to us. Many Christians fall into the trap of being too distant from God – like the prodigal son who wanted to be welcomed back as a hired servant rather than a beloved son. But then there are Christians who go to the opposite extreme. Their worship can be too intimate – too irreverent. I have preached on the scandalous intimacy of the woman who anointed Jesus’s head with oil and washed his feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. God does invite us to a delightful intimacy with Himself. The Scriptures do encourage us to go over the top for Jesus! But there are some Christians who approach God with less respect and reverence than I believe is acceptable. We have to ask ourselves – would Jesus Himself address His father that way? Would Jesus pray that way? Would Jesus Himself worship the Father like that? And if our answers are “no” then that kind of worship CANNOT BE worship “through Jesus”.

15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise- the fruit of lips that confess his name.

In this verse the second challenge to our worship comes in just one word: continually. Continually. Even when we are making progress in worshipping God in our Sunday services or in our home Groups or in our personal times with God, this one word will still challenge us. Continually! Because God doesn’t just deserve our praise once a week or once a day – but every moment of every day. Our sacrifices of praise should be repeated and continuous. Jesus the Greatest deserves nothing less. Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross for us demands nothing less. Continuously – even when we don’t feel like praising God and even when circumstances are weighing us down and we are struggling to offer our praise. So how do we praise God continuously?

Ephesians 5:19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

ALWAYS giving thanks to God for everything. We can do that when we are together as we “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.” We should also offer God our sacrifices of praise when we are by ourselves as we “Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,”

Praising God CONTINUALLY! We can sing hymns in the car or while we are doing the washing up or even while we are working. Not just in spare moments but taking time to offer God a sacrifice of praise AS WE WORK. This is what the Bible commands us to do.

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

WHATEVER you do – do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus as an act of thanksgiving and a sacrifice of praise. There are different things we can do to help us praise God continually. I guess most people find singing hymns or choruses helpful. We can use Christian music, or books, or postcards or pictures to help us praise God when we are by ourselves. We can listen to Christian radio and add our voice to worship on YouTube videos. I’ve talked before about breath prayers – saying something as simple as “praise you Lord Jesus”. Then there is the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues as a personal prayer language. That spiritual gift can be tremendously helpful because it allows our spirit to praise God whilst our minds may be occupied with other things.

It is very good to make time to praise God whenever the Holy Spirit prompts us. When we see the sunset, or the starry sky, or a beautiful flower or bird or animal. We should resist the temptation to race on and instead take time to pause and to reflect and to praise God. The poet W.H. Davies asked, “What is this life so full of care – we have no time to stop and stare?” We DO have time. We need to make time to praise God CONTINUALLY!
15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise- the fruit of lips that confess his name.

Through Jesus – continually. But this verse carries one more challenge to our praise and worship and that is this. Our sacrifice of praise is “the fruit of lips that confess his name.” In other words – our praise must be expressed outwardly as well as inwardly. Our praises should pass through our lips. Of course, God who knows our every thought can hear our prayers even if they come from the depths of our hearts. But our praise is not just for God’s benefit. Our sacrifices of praise are declarations of God’s greatness to the whole of creation. Not only to the angels who echo that praise, but also to the principalities and powers who are rebelling against the Christ we are praising. Our sacrifices of praise should be united with believers who share our praise. And our praises should also be declared before the watching world who are lost without Christ.

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

God has saved us so that we might declare His praise before the world. So here is part of the challenge we face – to declare God’s praise continually but also sometimes to declare it so that others may hear who do NOT share our faith. That is our sacrifice of praise – lips that confess the Name of Jesus not only amongst the faithful but also amongst the faithless! Not just in our personal devotions, not only praising God at church with other Christians but also among folk who are not yet believers. We should find opportunities to offer our sacrifice of praise to God every day – lips that confess the name of Jesus.

We may not feel like praising God in these days of sadness and grief. Still we should count all our blessings and continue to praise God our loving heavenly Father for who he is and for all he has done for us.
15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise- the fruit of lips that confess his name.

Change is just a part of life. But it is definitely the case that as the years go by change is happening quicker than ever! And the changes we experience in church life are relatively minor compared to the huge changes in the world around. The world around us is very different from when most of us grew up As we face this ever changing world I am encouraged and sustained by the words of that old hymn.

ABIDE WITH ME, fast falls the eventide; The darkness deepens, Lord, with me abide;
When other helpers fail and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day; Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see; O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

Change happens. Change is inevitable. And not all change is for the better. Some changes are very hard to cope with. Times of sickness. Times of grief and bereavement. Times of uncertainty when we don’t know the way forward or what lies ahead. Times of adventure and excitement and challenge. And here is what God’s Word the Bible says to us as we face times of change.

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

In a world which is changing ever more quickly, it is so reassuring to know we worship and God who will never change – who is always the same for us.

Heb 1:10 He also says, “In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. 11 They will perish, but you
remain; they will all wear out like a garment. 12 You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.” (quotes Psa 102:25-27)

Psa 90:2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Malachi 3:6 “I the LORD do not change.

Here in Hebrews 13 our unchangeable God makes two wonderful promises to us.
5. “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (quote Deut 31:6)

Hebrews quotes God’s words to the nation of Israel. God later spoke the very same promises to Joshua, “I will be with you, I will never leave you nor forsake you. The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go”

And believers through the centuries have claimed these promises for ourselves. However far we travel, however far from home we may be, even if we are prodigals lost in a foreign land, God will never give up on us. God will always be with us. And that promise carries wonderful implications.
6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Quote Psa 118:6-7)

Whatever the world throws at us, God is with us. God is our helper. We can trust in Him because God, the unchanging God, will NEVER let us down!

These Hebrews, Jewish Christians, were being pressured and tempted to abandon their faith in the face of all kinds of fierce persecution. The whole letter is written to encourage them to hang on in there! And these wonderful promises of God would always be even more precious for any Christians going through hard times for whatever reasons. Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever. He will NEVER leave or forsake us. He will ALWAYS be our helper in times of need.
God is unchanging. God is faithful. God is constant. God is always trustworthy, always reliable. But the letter to the Hebrews goes on to show us that God’s faithfulness to us challenges us to show that kind of faithfulness in different areas of our lives

Faithfulness In Brotherly Love (as we saw last week)
1 ¶ Keep on loving each other as brothers.

We should live the new commandment Jesus gave us – to love one another as He has loved us. We can show our brotherly love in simple ways like hospitality. A simple meal, a coffee together, a telephone call, just a little help in practical ways.

2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

And that brotherly love should not be restricted to helping folk who are easy to help – or those who will in some ways be able to repay our kindness.

3 Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow-prisoners, and those who are ill-treated as if you yourselves were suffering.

God is faithful to us. He will never abandon us. He will always be our Helper. And that is the standard of Brotherly Love which God expects us to show to each other also.

Let’s just pause and reflect – how might God want you to show His kind of love and faithfulness in acts of brotherly love in the week ahead? Think of a few specific examples and ask God for his help to show HIS faithfulness in your life.

But then our unchanging and faithful God expects us to show faithfulness in other areas of life too.
Faithfulness In morality and sexuality.
4 Marriage should be honoured by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

Our God is unchanging, totally faithful. He always keeps his promises and never lets us down. And God has designed marriage between human beings as His perfect visual aid for His kind of divine love. So he expects husband and wife to keep their promises and never let each other down. Human marriage is a visual aid of the love between Christ and His bride the church. God’s love is the pattern and the standard for love in marriage. And sex is God’s wedding present – the ultimate expression of intimacy and love between a man and a woman. So when it comes to sexual relationships the commands of Scripture are very clear. Complete faithfulness within marriage. Complete celibacy outside marriage. This is God’s standard. This is how we live out God’s kind of love and faithfulness in our human relationships. The world around has long abandoned God’s standards for love and sexuality. The church has a duty to live out God’s commands.

Let’s just pause and reflect – how might God want you to show His kind of love and faithfulness in your relationships and your sexuality in the week ahead? Think of a few specific examples and ask God for his help to show HIS faithfulness in your life.

And then there are other areas where God expects us to show his kind of constancy – and here is one which might surprise us and even catch us out.

Faithfulness in money and possessions
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.”

William Barclay said this about money: “Money in itself is neither good nor bad; it is simply dangerous in that the love of it may become bad. With money a man can do much good; and with money he can do much evil. With money a man can selfishly serve his own desires; and with money he can generously answer to the cry of his neighbor’s need. With money a man can buy his way to the forbidden things and facilitate the path of wrongdoing; and with money he can make it easier for someone else to live as God meant him to live. Money brings power, and power is always a double- edged thing, for it is powerful to good and powerful to evil.”

Our God is a faithful unchanging God. We must learn to put our trust in God, not in our money. God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we must rely on God for our safety and security, not on our bank accounts or our savings and investments. We must rely on God for our happiness, not on our possessions.

Be content with what you have! We are not good at doing that. We live in a world which preaches that “enough is never enough!” The more we have the more we want. The world around, our friends and neighbours are driven by success. Somebody said,

“Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get.”

All around us the world pushes us to want more and more, the newest, the latest, the best. If only we could learn to be content with what we’ve got, because we’ve got God and that is more important than anything else! The real measure of our wealth is how much we’d be worth if we lost all our money and all our possessions..

Let’s just pause and reflect – how might God want you to show His kind of love and faithfulness in your dealings with money and possessions in the week ahead? Think of a few specific examples and ask God for his help to show HIS faithfulness in your life.
So we serve Jesus Christ who is the same, yesterday and forever. He calls us to show His kind of faithfulness in every area of our lives.
Faithfulness in brotherly love to one another
Faithfulness in morality and sexuality, marriage and relationships
Faithfulness in money and possessions

And if we are trusting the Lord in all these things, God is no man’s debtor.
6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
What wonderful promises of God. But now we come to a kind of P.S in this sermon. We have thought a little bit about what it means for our lives that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. I want to finish by reminding us of what that wonderful verse does NOT mean!

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. God is unchanging. Always faithful. Always reliable. But many people have assumed over the centuries that because Jesus never changes, therefore the church of Jesus Christ will never change. The church will always be the same yesterday, today and forever. And that assumption is not just wrong – it is very dangerous.

Yes, century after century the church serves the same unchanging God. But the world we are sent to reach is changing. The pattern of our lives is continually changing. And so the church MUST change if it to be effective at reaching a changing world. . I had a thought a long while ago which still hasn’t turned into a full sermon, but I believe it to be true and important.

“The greatest challenge the church faces in this generation is to become the church of this generation and not remain the church of the last generation – or the last generation really will be the last generation!”

Some traditions and denominations emphasise continuity with the church in previous generations. They keep the same style of buildings. The same patterns of worship. The same music and prayers. This can be helpful to some believers. But it can also be a barrier to the mission to the unsaved in the 21st century. The church of Jesus Christ was never meant to be the same yesterday and today and forever.

Each generation of Christians faces the new and exciting adventure of discovering what it means to be the church of Jesus Christ for its new generation. How can we show the faithful unchanging God to a world which has changed almost beyond recognition from the world where our parents worshipped and proclaimed the gospel. We may be excited by some of these changes. Others may unsettle us and scare us. New forms of mission. New expressions of church and community in this “information age.” A daunting challenge. So it is SO encouraging to know that though the world certainly changes, and indeed the in some ways even the church will have to change too, Jesus Christ never changes. He will never leave us or forsake us. The Lord will always be our helper – we need never be afraid. Jesus Christ IS the same, yesterday, today and forever.

So now let’s spend a few more minutes in reflection on that wonderful promise!

Loving each other is the command for EVERY Christian. It is the most important command Jesus gives all of His disciples – His New Commandment.

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

Not surprisingly we find this same command restated many times elsewhere in the New Testament.

Romans 12:9 Love must be sincere. … 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.
… 13 Share with God’s people who are in need. Practise hospitality.

Galatians 5:13 Serve one another in love

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. 5: 2 … live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

The Apostle Peter considered the command to love so important that he repeated it more than half a dozen times in his letters!
1Pe 1:22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.
1Pe 2:17 Love the brotherhood of believers,
1Pe 3:8 Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.
1Pe 4:8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

The fact that the Bible commands us in so many places to love each other tells me at least two things.
1. That loving each other is very important.
2. That Christians throughout the Early Church needed just as much encouragement and cajouling and challenging to love each other as we do!!

We 21st Century British Christians are not alone in falling short at that challenging task of loving each other. The writer to the Hebrews commands it here, but he has already spoken about loving each other in chapter 10
24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds.

We all need spurring on to love and good works. Maybe we are too busy. Maybe we are too tired. Maybe the devil gets in and distracts us so that we end up spending our time and energy on other very worthy activities but never get round to showing true brotherly love where it is most needed.

In one sense it is quite reassuring to know that other Christians before us have needed challenging to love each other as brothers. At another level it is quite depressing that after twenty centuries of the Christian church we still aren’t getting it right!

Jesus commands us to love one another as He has loved us. Christ is our example – and He sets the standard. And in so many place 1 John spells out what this will mean for us.

1 John 3: 11 ¶ This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.

1Jo 3:14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 1Jo 3:15 Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him. 1Jo 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

1Jo 4:7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 1Jo 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1Jo 4: 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1Jo 4:11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

To love one another as Christ has loved us – keep on loving each other as brothers!

And then in Hebrews 13 verses 2 and 3 the writer gives us practical examples of the kind of love God commands from us.

Hebrews 13:2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

We can express our brotherly love in simple ways like hospitality. As we’ve said before hospitality is different from entertaining. Hospitality is not preparing a lavish meal and an evening’s witty or profound conversation – that’s entertaining. Hospitality is a cup of coffee over the kitchen table and a chat about things that matter.

A family was entertaining the minister and his family for Sunday dinner on a hot, summers day. When all were seated, host turned to his six-year-old and asked him to say grace. “But, Daddy, I don’t know what to say,” he protested. “Just say what you’ve heard me say,” the mother said. Obediently the boy bowed his little head and said, “O Lord, why did I invite these people here on a hot day like this?!”

Entertaining says, “I want to impress you with my home, my clever decorating, my cooking.”
Hospitality simply aims to serve.
Entertaining puts things before people. “As soon as I get the house finished, the living room decorated, my house-cleaning done – then I will start inviting people.
Hospitality puts people first. “No furniture – we’ll eat on the floor!” “The decorating may never get done – you come anyway.” “The house is a mess – but you are friends – come home with us.”
Entertaining declares, “This home is mine, an expression of my personality. Look, and admire.”
Hospitality whispers, “What is mine is yours.”

Hebrews 13:2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
The writer is of course referring to the story in Genesis 18 when Abraham welcomed three strangers who turned out to be messengers from God.

There is an old Jewish legend not in the Bible which says that one day Abraham was standing by his tent door when he saw an old man coming along the way, weary with his journey and with bleeding feet. With true hospitality he invited the old man to share his meal and to lodge with him for the night. Abraham noticed that the man asked no blessing on the meal and inquired why he did not pray to the God of Heaven. The old man said, “I am a fire worshipper and acknowledge no other god.” At this, Abraham grew angry and sent him from his tent. Then God called Abraham and asked, “Where is the old man? I have cared for him for over a hundred years even though he has dishonored me. Could you not endure him one night and so prove to him God’s love?”

Where is our hospitality? Are we being and doing all we can for those in need around us? Is there a risk that we could miss out on entertaining angels unwares?

Then in verse 3 the writer gives us another way in which we should be showing brotherly love.

Hebrews 13:3 Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow-prisoners, and those who are ill-treated as if you yourselves were suffering.

We may not know too many people in prison. We may not know very many people who are being ill-treated. But there is still a challenge for us here.

This verse is probably referring to Christians who are imprisoned and suffering for their faith. We are called to care about their situation as much as if we shared their experience of opposition and persecution. And we know there are many, many Christians suffering for their faith around the world today. Particularly Christians in Countries where it is illegal to convert to Christianity or illegal to preach the gospel. Some countries under Muslim governments where the human rights of followers of other religions are ignored. We should be praying for the suffering church, and supporting our brothers and sisters who are imprisoned and ill-treated for sake of the name of Christ wherever they are in the world! Our brotherly love should not just be restricted to the Christians we know personally or have met.

Nor should our brotherly love be restricted to those who it is easy or convenient for us to love, or to those who are in a position to love us in return. Prisoners and those who are ill-treated are just two examples of kinds of people who will find it difficult or impossible to return our love. The elderly or those who are shut in would have similar difficulties. So might refugees or asylum seekers. So might Christians who are battling with all kinds of problems like drugs or alcohol or debt. These kinds of people might never be able to return to us the kind of love and generosity God calls us to show to them. But brotherly love is about what we can give – not what we can get back in return!

On the day after Christmas a man parked his car to pick up the morning paper. He noticed a scruffy boy looking at the car. He reminded himself to be quick or he might be missing a hubcap when he returned. He came out of the paper shop just and as he opened the car, the boy asked him, “Hey, Mister, how much would a new car like this cost?” He replied, “I really don’t know; my brother gave me this car as a gift.” The ragged little boy looked unbelievingly at the car and said, “Wow, I wish I could be a brother like that.”

Brotherly love is not about what we receive – but about what we can give!

Luke 14:12 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbours; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
And Jesus went on to tell the parable of the Great Banquet. Jesus calls us to show the same great generosity as God Himself shows to us.

We show our brotherly love by welcoming strangers and caring for those who will never be able to repay us. A wise man once said this.
“Hospitality is a test for godliness because those who are selfish do not like strangers (especially needy strangers) to intrude upon their private lives. They prefer their own friends who share their life-style. Only the humble have the necessary resources to give of themselves to those who could never give of themselves in return.

So here is the challenge we all face
Hebrews 13:1 Keep on loving each other as brothers.

There is a lovely story about one of the oldest Baptist churches at Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire. In the middle of the 18th Century their pastor was John Fawcett. At the age of 32, he was preparing to leave that small Baptist church to become minister of the prestigious Carter’s Lane church in London.
Fawcett had worked hard. Orphaned at 12, he was forced to work fourteen hours a day in a sweat shop. He taught himself to read by candlelight and studied continuously. He was ordained at the age of 25, he moved to Wainsgate. For seven years he served that small church before receiving the invitation to London.
But Fawcett never moved to London. As the last possessions were loaded on the moving cart he began his good-byes. Tearfully he bade farewell to those he had loved so much. They returned his tears… and his love. And it was too much for the young preacher. He unloaded the cart, decided to stay in Wainsgate a little longer, and in the end he never moved to London. He died there 54 years later.
Fawcett was recognised as one of England’s greatest preachers. He wrote hymns, published books and opened a training school for young ministers. His “Essay on Anger” so impressed King George III that he offered Fawcett “any benefit a king could confer.” His love for the people and their love for him not only kept him in Wainsgate, but it also prompted the writing of a hymn we still sing today:
Blest be the tie that binds Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds Is like to that above.
We share our mutual woes, Our mutual burdens bear,
And often for each other flows The sympathising tear.

Keep on loving one another as brothers. 10:24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds.

This is especially important when other Christians are going through difficult times. When they are facing trials of different kinds and so many pressures which could cause them to give up their faith. When the going gets tough God does not just call us to “hang on in there.” God has given us other Christians to encourage and support us. The love which we express for others, or which we fail to express, can make all the difference between whether our brother or sister stands strong or falls down. That’s why this command really matters! Keep on loving one another as brothers!

I am a Baptist. Amongst other things that means that I believe that the usual way in which a person will show that they have become a Christian is that they will be baptised as a believer. But more important than that, being a Baptist means that I believe that the church of Jesus Christ is the community of believers, whether they have been baptised as believers or not. If they are saved, Christians are part of the church. If a person is not saved, they are not part of the Body of Christ, the church.

As a Baptist Christian I also believe in congregational government, government by Church Meeting. I believe that each church is capable of governing itself independently. I don’t believe that any individual or organisation should have authority from outside over the local church. Rather each local church, each local community of believers working through its Church Meeting, has within itself ultimate authority over all of its beliefs and practice.

I am not a Baptist by upbringing or habit. I was not brought up to go to church. The first church I was a member of was a United Reformed Church. I have worshipped regularly equally happily at Anglican and Independent churches. I first became a member of a Baptist Church eight years after I became a Christian and was baptised as a believer two years after that. So I am Baptist by convictions. I am convinced that the way of being church which the Baptist Churches practice is the best. Baptists express better than any other denomination the priesthood of all believers – the Bible truth that we are all equal in God’s sight and all have our own part to play in the Body of Christ. There are no “special” kinds of Christian called priest or vicar or minister who are different from ordinary “lay” Christians. And Baptists also express better than any other denomination what some have called “the prophet-hood of all believers” – the Bible truth that we have all received the same Holy Spirit who inspired the prophets and who can inspire EVERY Christian with messages from God. Which is why we believe that God can speak through ANY member of the church to guide the church and we are all equal before God when we are seeking His guidance at the Church Meeting.

I am a Baptist by convictions. I have no desire at all to stop being a Baptist and join any other denomination because I believe we “do church” better than any others do. I am very happy being a Baptist! Except for rare occasions when I read certain verses of Scripture, like these verses which I have been ducking from our study of Hebrews 13 over the last weeks. Verses which say this:-

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

Actually that’s not so bad. “Remember your leaders”. Imitate them. “Be nice to them” – I quite like that. But here comes the problem.

Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.

Here is the verse which makes me very uncomfortable to be a Baptist. Here is a verse which is very difficult to square with the priesthood of all believers and the prophethood of all believers. Here is a verse which fits very uncomfortably with the idea of government by church meeting.

“Obey your leaders.” “Submit to their authority” “Obey them” and obey them in a helpful cooperative way so that being a leader is a joyful experience, not in a grudging or arguing way so that being a leader becomes a burden and a trial.

And unfortunately for me and for us Baptists this is not the only verse where the Bible talks about the authority of church leaders!

1 Thess 5:12 Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work.

OK this only talks about RESPECTING leaders, but it DOES talk about church leaders being “over you in the Lord”. It talks about leaders “admonishing” other Christians. Not just guiding or encouraging but challenging and rebuking as well! How does the idea of some Christians being put in a position “over” other Christians fit with our ideas of government by church meeting where all are equal in God’s eyes? As Baptists do we agree with the idea of minister and elders and deacons being in some senses in authority over the rest of the church, and that the church should “submit to their authority”?

Here is what seems to be to be an inherent problem in leadership in Baptist Churches. Our beliefs in government by church meeting are, shall we say, “in tension” with these verses of scripture about the authority of church leaders.

Indeed the general assumption in the New Testament was that leaders were appointed in the churches and the rest of the church would follow their lead. The apostle Paul certainly assumed that everybody would follow His lead
2Th 3:14 If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed.
Church discipline there for disobeying Paul’s commands.

And remember that our Baptist way of appointing leaders is different from the way they did it in New Testament times. Our Elders and Deacons are appointed by the Church Meeting. Even Baptist Ministers are called to be ministers by the Church Meeting. Among other factors, our leaders are appointed on the basis of their teaching gifts, wisdom, spirituality, maturity and Christian character, approachability and sensitivity and their acceptability to the church as a whole. But the bottom line is that the church chooses its own leaders. Or rather, we pray and hope that God chooses the Leaders and guides the church to His appointed people through the Church meeting!

In New Testament times it was very different.
Throughtout their missionary journeys Acts 14:23 Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.

Not only in the first century, but indeed for the first fifteen centuries of the church, ALL local church leaders were appointed by “the church”, by the regional bishops who were appointed in turn by the successors to the apostles and in turn by the Popes. It was only at the Protestant Reformation that breakaway groups of “non-conformists” began to choose their own church leaders. And that only happened in “congregationally governed” churches like the Baptists.

Even today, churches in most other denominations have their leaders appointed from outside. Catholics and Anglicans are allocated their priests by the bishops. Methodists and URCs and most Pentecostals are given their leaders by the denomination. Most of the new churches like New Frontiers and Pioneer all have their leaders appointed by regional apostles. Even churches like Vineyard Fellowships and Soul Survivor (which has its roots in the Church of England) do not choose their local leaders – they are appointed from above.

I am a Baptist. I firmly believe in congregational principles and government by church meeting. But we must not forget that we Baptists are unusual, and distinctive, in our way of appointing our church leaders.

And it is also true that most other denominations have no trouble at all in asserting the authority of church leaders. They should be obeyed. In principle a Roman Catholic or an Anglican Christian is joined to the universal church only insofar as they have a relationship with their regional bishop, mediated by the bishop’s representative the priest or “vicar”. So Catholic and Anglican priests logically receive a great deal of respect from their flocks and carry great authority. The same would also be true of leaders in Pentecostal Churches and the New Churches, although here the reasons are more to do with issues of “the anointing of the Holy Spirit” on those leaders and on the regional apostles who appointed them. Indeed it would be fair to say that it is only congregationally governed churches like Baptists, and Congregationalists, and a few independent evangelical churches, only we see any tensions with obeying our church leaders and submitting to their authority.

I do firmly believe that our Baptist way of doing things is the best. It is the best because it avoids at least two traps which all the other denominations can fall in to. The first is the trap of ordinary Christians leaving everything to the leaders. When leaders take authority, especially if they are seen to be somehow different or special Christians, it is easy for “the people in the pews” to opt out. We know well what the apostle Paul says about ministry in Ephesians 4.
11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.
As Baptists we know that the task of ministers and church leaders is NOT to do all the works of Christian service. We know that the minister’s task is to teach and train and inspire and EQUIP all of God’s people for works of service. Then we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Our Baptist way of being church reminds EVERY believer that they have a part to play – no opting out! And it also avoids the other great trap which has diminished and even destroyed the work and mission of churches through the ages. The risk of self-seeking leaders taking TOO MUCH authority and exploiting or manipulating their congregations for their own ends. We have seen too much of that kind of authoritarianism in church history. And we can see too much of it in too many churches today, from some of the American tele-evangelists to “health wealth and prosperity” churches in Africa and throughout the third world, and even in some of the excesses of “heavy shepherding” in the House Church movement in 1970s to the present day.

Government by church meeting protects Baptist churches from unbiblical distinctions between “clergy” and “lay” Christians. And it also should protect us from church leaders exploiting their position for personal gain. But it does leave us with this great tension. What does it mean in a Baptist Church for us to obey our leaders? To submit to their authority. For leaders to be “over” the church?

1Timothy 5:17 The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honour, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.
In just what ways are the church leaders, minister, elders and deacons, meant to “direct” the church, in a setting where every decision is ultimately subject to the agreement of the church meeting. Talking about Spiritual Gifts Paul writes in Romans 12:8,
Romans 12:8 if it is leadership, let him govern diligently;
For us Baptists, what does it mean for church leaders to GOVERN the church

1 Peter 5:1-5 1 ¶ To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow-elder … 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers- not because you must, but
because you are willing, as God want you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. …
5 ¶ Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older.

What does it mean for church leaders to be “overseers”? In what sense is the flock, the congregation, UNDER THE CARE of church leaders? What does it mean when it says that the flock in “entrusted” to these leaders. And how should young men, young Christians, be SUBMISSIVE to older Christians?

Let’s just sum up the tasks of church leaders as defined in the New Testament and see what that tells us about what it means to obey and submit to leadership.

TEACHING – Leaders must be sound teachers Titus 2:1-8; 2 Tim 2:24-25.
Titus 2:1 ¶ You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. 2 Teach …. 7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
2 Tim 2:24 And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. 25 Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,

In previous generations, and in many places in the third world today, teaching the flock was much easier than it is for ministers and church leaders today. Then and there the Minister was the one who knew the truth, He brought the words of eternal life which the people received with gladness! Today is different. We can ALL read! We have books, and Christian Radio, and Spring Harvest and Soul Survivor. Every one is an expert!
I preached in another church this time last year – one of my best sermons ever, well at least you all seemed to like it when I preached it here. And as she shook my hand as she left one lady said, “I didn’t agree with that. You got that wrong”. But I am sure that “submitting to authority” has something to say to us about the way that Christians listen to sermons – something about starting from the assumption that God has something he wants us to learn, rather than listening to check up and see if the preacher has got it right or not.

Keeping watch over the flock Acts 20:25-35; Hebrews 13:17
Acts 20: 27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. 28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.
Heb 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.

We do not really know what “keeping watch over the flock” is all about. It is more than the minister and elders watching to see when somebody is sick and needs a visit or discouraged and needs our prayers. It is also about keeping watch to see when a Christian is wandering from the path, falling into temptation, or neglecting the things of God. It is about challenging and admonishing as well as supporting. But very few Christians are open to that kind of discipling nowadays. Even fewer welcome it! It often amazes me how much more willing non-Christians and new Christians are to ask the advice of a minister than established Christians are!!

Helmsmen steering the ship Rom 12:8; 1 Cor 12:28; 1 Tim 5:17; 1 Th 5:12
Romans 12:8 if it is leadership, let him govern diligently;
1 Corinthians 12: 28 And in the church God has appointed … those with gifts of administration.
1 Timothy 5:17 ¶ The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honour, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.
The word for the spiritual gift of administration carries the idea of piloting or steering the ship. Governing. Directing. Steering. This is part of the responsibility of Christian leadership which is most in tension with our Baptist government by Church Meeting.
Who steers the ship? The church meeting? Or the Minister and Elders and Deacons? Whose responsibility is it to receive a vision from God which the church will then follow? The leaders or the whole church? Where does the balance lie? In the Scriptures it is the leaders who direct, who govern, who steer the ship.

In boat race – most important person is the one who doesnt have oar! the cox – steering the boat, keeping everybody else in step.
Steering an ocean liner into harbour to escape from a storm the crew dont take votes on which way to turn to get past the rocks and the shallows – they trust the pilot who’s come on board to steer them safely in.

This sermon has more questions than answers. How do we stay faithful to our Baptist convictions on government by church meeting, and also submit to our leaders, and even obey them? How should I, as minister, serve the church? How should I exercise a ministry of leadership? What form should my leading take?

“Pastors are called to feed the flock, to care for the flock, to seek the lost … but they must never lose sight of the fact that they are called to lead. A pastor may delegate the teaching, he may delegate the caring, he may delegate the seeking of the lost, but he cannot delegate the leading. Or if he does, then he is failing in his calling and the church will just go round in circles”.
(Rev.Dr.Paul Beasley-Murray, Principal Spurgeon’s College.)

1 Thess 5:12 Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work.

Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.

1 ¶ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,

Hebrews 12:1-2 has a special place for anybody who belonged to the youth organisation Crusaders before they became Urban Saints. It’s the Crusaders’ motto – “Looking unto Jesus”. It’s a lovely picture. The Olympics have arrived! Throw off everything that hinders – run the race to win the prize. An inspiring picture! It’s a shame we usually take it out of context. We forget how impossibly hard the race is going to be!

Consider Jesus … who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its
shame, … 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

This isn’t a fun sprint. This is a marathon where everybody who competes wins the prize – but where you have to get to the finishing line to win!! And then comes the part most Christians prefer to ignore.

5 “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons.

We prefer not to think about discipline. We run away from the idea that God will sometimes allow life to get difficult, or even CAUSE our life to get difficult, because we have lessons to learn. And God’s discipline of hardship and suffering are the only way we will learn those precious lessons.

For what son is not disciplined by his father? …. 10 Our fathers disciplined us for a
little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

The message of Hebrews is that we will all always face the danger of drifting away or of neglecting our salvation (2:1-3); When the going gets tough, the temptation is so often just to give up! A couple of months ago we looked at Hebrews 3 and 4 and thought about Seven Things we could do when the going gets tough. In that sermon we said that there may be times when we must simply hang on in there and accept our hardships as God’s discipline!
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? (Hebrews 12:7)

When the going gets tough that is never a reason for just giving up. When the going gets tough it is appropriate for us to examine our lives and see if God is disciplining us in some way. Usually that is NOT the case. But occasionally there are things which God wants us to learn through these experiences. Sometimes the right question is not, “When am I going to get out of these troubles?” but “What am I going to get out of these troubles?”

Sometimes the lesson God wants to teach us is to Stop doing things we should not be doing. At other times the challenge is the opposite: Start doing things God wants us to do.

Sometimes our experiences of suffering are given to us to build our character.
“we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3-4)

Sometimes we need to learn to depend on God and on His grace – that was the apostle Paul’s experience. 2 Corinthians 12: 7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

So sometimes the reason we need to learn to endure suffering as disciples are because it builds our character, or because it teaches us to rely on God instead of on ourselves and our own limited resources.

One thing we must NOT think is God has stopped loving us, even if it is the case that our sufferings are an expression of God’s discipline. God never stops loving us! God always keeps on loving us with a love which will never let us go. But it is only natural when things aren’t going well that we can begin to doubt that God loves us. Maybe our doubts come because of
1. Things WE have done. Specific sins. Indifference or apathy or neglect of spiritual things. Failures in things we have tried to do for God. We can easily ask how could God possibly love us, when we fail him so often in so many ways? But God’s love still will not let us go!

We can begin to doubt that God loves us because of
2. Things that happen to us or to other people: Bereavement, illness, accident, problems with work, problems with family; Hurts from the past. We can easily ask how could God possibly love us, when we have been hurt so badly? But God’s love still will not let us go!

It may be we begin to doubt God’s love because of
3. Things God has done or has not done: our own sufferings or the sufferings of others. Blessings we hoped for but did not receive – not getting that job, or relationships not working out. Prayers not answered; NOT having particular spiritual experiences (such as NOT speaking in tongues, prophecy, or falling down and “resting in the Spirit”). We can easily ask how could God possibly love us when we feel that God has let us down? But God’s love still will not let us go!

It is very important when we are going through times of God’s discipline that we DON’T doubt that God loves us! Discipline is a sign of love – not a sign of lack of love!

5 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”

Sometimes children don’t understand why their parents won’t let them devour the whole tub of ice cream. They don’t understand why they aren’t allowed to swim in those big exciting waves as the tide goes out, or stand right at the edge of the cliff to enjoy the pretty view. When a parent says “no”, that is not usually a sign that the parent doesn’t love their child. Saying “No”, setting boundaries and giving guidance is usually an expression of love. Sometimes we may not understand WHY God does what He does in our lives. Or why sometimes He appears to be silent. Or seems nots to answer our prayers. Even when we don’t understand, even when we are being disciplined, never doubt the truth that God loves us – and His love will never let us go!

Even when God is disciplining us, He still loves us. Our hardships are signs of His love.
When God disciplines us we have a simple choice – we can become bitter or we can become better! The question for each of us to reflect on tonight in our own lives is simple. Is there anything God is wanting to teach ME? Things He wants me to stop doing? Things He wants me to start doing? Aspects of my character He is working to refine? Lessons I need to learn?

Back in earlier chapters of Hebrews we thought about seven things we can do when the going get tough. Accepting that our experiences may be an expression of God’s discipline is just one. We have also seen that we can look for help from our Minister and our Church. We should also hang on in there and rejoice that we are sharing Christ’s sufferings. And we should hang on in there and rejoice when we are being persecuted for Christ’s sake. Jesus inspires us to carry on! So the beginning of Hebrews 12 points us to Jesus.

1 ¶ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,

That phrase “a cloud of witnesses” is often misunderstood. It is talking about the heroes of faith which we learned about last week in Hebrews 11. But it is not saying that the Old Testament saints are witnessing what we are doing. It is not saying that the dead are looking down from heaven watching what the living are doing here and now. The heroes are faith are those who are bearing witness through their lives to the grace of God. Their faith is an example and an inspiration to us not to give up, however tough life gets.

So we should throw off everything that hinders. All the weights of possessions and materialism and greed. The army of Alexander the Great was advancing on Persia. At one critical point, it appeared that his troops might be defeated. The soldiers had taken so much plunder from their previous campaigns that they had become weighted down and were losing their effectiveness in combat. Alexander immediately commanded that all the spoils be thrown into a heap and burned. The men complained bitterly but soon came to see the wisdom of the order. Someone wrote, “It was as if wings had been given to them—they walked lightly again.” Victory was assured. They threw of the things that were dragging them back.

We should also throw off the sin that so easily entangles, Hebrews says. Besetting sins and our fallen sinful human nature which can drag us down.

And we should run the race of faith with perseverance. Keeping on going and not giving up. That great theologian Dolly Parton explains perseverance like this. “I never stopped trying and I never tried stopping.”
As Magnus Magnusson and John Humphrys say on Mastermind, “I’ve started so I’ll finish!!”

Of all the heroes of faith, of course our ultimate example and inspiration is Jesus Himself.

2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,

Jesus is the source and the object of our faith. Our lives have their beginning and their end in Him. So we should fix our eyes on His wonderful example. The example of His life and ministry. The example of His passion and His death. And the example of His glorious resurrection. Especially in the hard times – fix your eyes upon Jesus!

Consider Jesus … who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its
shame, … 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

However tough our lives may get – consider Jesus. Jesus endured all the agonies of the cross. Not only the physical torture, the heat, the thirst, the pain. But the spiritual agonies of God the Son separated from God the Father. The Holy Trinity, eternally One, torn apart by human sin. And Jesus endured such great opposition from sinful men. When other people are mocking us and insulting us and ignoring us and rejecting us and betraying us, remember that Jesus has already gone through exactly that. For our sake, for our salvation.

Jesus endured all that for us. So we should not grow weary or lose heart. He hung on in there for us. We should hang on in there for him!

Jesus endured the suffering of the cross and all the opposition of sinful men, for the joy set before him. When the going gets tough we need to look beyond this world to the next. Colossians 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

Fix your eyes on the prize. If you will not bear the cross you won’t wear the crown. Run the race with perseverance!
Hebrews 10:36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised
So when the going gets tough, here is the encouragement of Hebrews 12. Hang on in there!

1 ¶ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,

Prayer of Sir Francis Drake
0 Lord God, when thou givest to thy servants to endeavour any great matter,
grant us also to know that it is not the beginning,
but the continuing of the same unto the end,
until it be thoroughly fininshed, which yieldeth the true glory:
through him who for the finishing of thy work laid down his life,
our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Hebrews chapter 11 challenges everybody who wants to please God in their life with simply questions. WHAT DO YOU PUT YOUR TRUST IN? WHAT DO YOU RELY ON?

These questions are really important for every Christian, but especially so for Christians facing the kinds of challenges and difficulties that were dragging down those Hebrews and testing their faith. What are you depending on? What are you relying on? What are you putting your trust in?

Some people go through life relying on things within themselves to cope. Education, Skills, Experience, Talents, Training. Determination. Hard work. None of these things count for anything in the life of faith. And then there are other things around us which everybody takes for granted and which even Christians rely on in times of trouble without even thinking about it: Money, Possessions, Communications, Transport, Healthcare. None of these things are actually important in the life of faith. Things within ourselves or things in the world around us which we might rely on when the going gets tough, are really of any use. When it comes to following Jesus, such things are even less use than a chocolate teapot! We need just one thing – we need faith in God.

Corrie Ten Boom gave us a lovely acrostic for FAITH
Faith is a F antastic A_dventure _I_n _T_rusting _H_im

If we are serious about following Jesus in a world which rejected and crucified Him, we will all come to the point sooner or later where we recognise that all our skills and experience and talents and training count for nothing. Where all props we all rely on in daily life aren’t going to be any use to us. Following Jesus means entering a new world where we have to learn to rely on God for everything. That Fantastic Adventure in Trusting Him.

Hebrews chapter 11 tells tells us what faith is and points us to countless examples of the heroes of faith from the Old Testament. Their lives are full of encouragement and inspiration and challenge. These words are not just for ministers and missionaries and martyrs. These are words for EVERY Christian. Because every single one of us needs to learn to really trust in God and depend on God in every part of our lives. We all depend too much on our own skills and abilities. We all rely too much for our security and our happiness on things like money and possessions and communications and transport and healthcare. None of us relies enough on God and His grace! We all need to learn more about faith, that F_antastic A_dventure _I_n _T_rusting _H_im

Faith means RELYING ON GOD RATHER THAN ANYTHING ELSE

George Washington once wrote that we all need: “a due sense of the dependence we ought to place in that all wise and powerful being on whom alone our success depends.”

Luther called faith “a DARING confidence in God’s grace.”

Faith means depending on God. Faith means stepping out and trusting God to act. It means going out on a limb and relying on God to help us. It means putting ourselves in situations where if God does NOT act, we fall flat on our faces, or worse!

ENOCH
5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Faith begins by believing that God exists and deciding to live our lives to please the God we believe in. Other people may live lives based on possessions or money and things in the here and now which they can touch and feel. But we believers base our lives on the God of the Bible. We trust in His saving acts. We believe His Word the Bible as God’s word to us even today. We claim God’s promises. So we depend on God.

NOAH
7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

Even if nobody else hears God’s voice, if we believe then we hear, and we trust, and we obey. It may make us look foolish to everybody else. But we still rely on God!

ABRAHAM
11 By faith Abraham, even though he was past age- and Sarah herself was barren- was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

Faith means clinging on to God’s promises, even when they seem impossible.
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) “Faith is not believing that God can, but that God will!”

ISRAELITES
28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. 29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.
So the Israelites were rescued out of slavery by faith and they won victory after victory through faith – relying on God to act on their behalf!

What about OUR faith? Do WE rely on God more than anything else? Do we depend on God from day to day? Not just that he will bless our Christian work and witness. But relying on God from moment to moment in every part of our lives? One of the most important lessons I learned visiting Christians in Uganda is that in countries like that you simply can’t depend on money or transport or technology or healthcare as we do in this country all the time. You learn the value of praying over every meal, over every journey, every time you meet a friend. You learn to rely on God for the simple things of life. And then begins that fantastic adventure in trusting Him where you are depending on God for much bigger things than that.

It was that great theologian Cliff Richard who said, “The more we depend on God, the more dependable we find he is.”

There are so many voices around us telling us what to believe and what to think and how to live. But so many of those voices are mistaken or even deceiving. What do we rely on? Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is to trust God who is faithful and true, to rely on God more than anything else!

Faith means BASING YOUR LIFE ON THINGS YOU CAN’T SEE

Our materialistic world is full of people who base their lives on possessions or money and things in the here and now which they can touch and feel.

1. Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

The eternal realities can often seem remote and uncertain. In fact they are MORE certain than anything we can see or touch, because this world is passing away but God and His truth will endure forever!
The truth about CREATION

3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

We have thought in our morning services about the narratives of Creation in the first two chapters of Genesis. The central truth which ALL Christians believe and agree on is that this world did not arise by chance, but that Almighty God IS Creator of Heaven and Earth, the sea, the skies and all that is in them. Arguments about exactly HOW that Creation took place should not be allowed to get in the way of people coming to know their Creator as their Saviour. … the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. God is our Creator – this we believe and this we should proclaim! When we are confronted with the realities of the raw power of nature in the wild, we discover that it actually matters to us whether God really is the Creator or whether the whole “shebang” is just one fantastic improbable coincidence. The challenge for all of us is to live every moment recognising that we are CREATED beings in a CREATED world, and that every one of us will be accountable to our Creator on Judgement Day.
The truth about HEAVEN

13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country- a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Even the Old Testament saints were looking forward to the unseen realities of the Heavenly City. Too many people in Britain today never give a thought to their own mortality – three score years and then what? Over the last few years our church family here has lost some of our elderly members, “promoted to glory.” In some parts of the world, the church family is continually losing folk of every age, sometimes from illnesses and accidents which in this country would not be threatening at all. In our funeral services we pray that God will help us to “live as those who truly believe in the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the dead, the communion of the saints and the life of the world to come”! When the going gets tough it matters much more to us what you really believe about eternal life and the hope of heaven!

A.W. Tozer – “What we need very badly these days is a company of Christians who are prepared to trust God as completely now as they know they must do at the last day. For each of us the time is coming when we shall have nothing but God. Health and wealth and friends and hiding places will be swept away, and we shall have only God.

What about OUR faith? What do we rely on? Do WE really base our lives on things we can’t see? On the truths of Scripture and the promises of God?

This isn’t about winning intellectual arguments about the existence of God and the afterlife and evolution or creation. It’s about laying up treasures in heaven rather than on earth because heaven is more real than earth is! Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is to base our lives on things we can’t see!

Faith means OBEYING GOD HOWEVER MUCH THAT COSTS

This is where the rubber hits the road. Faith isn’t just about what we believe in our minds. Faith is about those beliefs changing how we live from day to day.

ABRAHAM
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.

Abraham was 80 when God called him to leave his home and step out in faith towards the promised land. So we can be reassured that none of us are too old for a new exciting fantastic adventure in trusting him! The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob will be with us leading and protecting you every step of the way. We should rust Him – rely on him – depend on him – as the Patriarchs of Israel did, however much that costs.

17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 19 Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.

God called Abraham to give up His only son, his heir, the son who would be the channel of God’s promise. In fact that was only the same sacrifice that God the Father was preparing to make, giving up His only Son for the salvation of the church. Trusting God will always demand sacrifices. Material sacrifices – which may be easy. Emotional sacrifices – which may be very much harder. But this is the God who was faithful to Abraham and Isaac. This is the same God who raised His Son our Saviour Jesus Christ from the dead. So we can certainly trust Him – rely on him – depend on him – however much that costs.

MOSES
24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to be ill-treated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27 By faith Moses left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.

Standing up for God and God’s people against Pharoah. Choosing to be ill-treated. Choosing disgrace over treasures. True faith will often lead to rejection and persecution. That is part of the cost of faith. But the God of Moses and the Israelites will never fail you or forsake you! Trust Him – rely on him – depend on him – however much that costs. And then we come to the really cheery part of the chapter!

HEROES OF FAITH
35b Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37 They were stoned; they were sawn in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and ill-treated- 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

Yes – trusting God can be costly! The Old Testament believers who really put their money where their mouth is. Standing up and being counted for God won’t ever be a picnic, wherever in the world we do it! So what about OUR faith? What do we rely on? Do WE obey God, HOWEVER much it costs? God calls us all to put our trust in him – to rely on Him – to depend on Him!

“Faith is a reasoning trust, a trust which reckons thoughtfully and confidently upon the trustworthiness of God.” “True faith is essentially reasonable because it trusts in the character and the promises of God. A believing Christian is one whose mind reflects and rests on these certitudes.” John R. W. Stott (1921– )

In so many places this glorious chapter tells us at least three things about the character of God. It tells us that GOD IS HOLY – he will never lie to us or deceive us. It tells us that GOD IS ALL-LOVING – he always wants the very best for us. And it tells us that GOD IS ALL POWERFUL – he is more than able to keep all the promises he has made to us;
So we can indeed rely and depend thoughtfully and confidently on the trustworthiness of God.

One night a house caught fire and a young boy was forced to flee to the roof. The father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to his son, “Jump! I’ll catch you.” He knew the boy had to jump to save his life. All the boy could see, however, was flame, smoke, and blackness. As can be imagined, he was afraid to leave the roof. His father kept yelling: “Jump! I will catch you.” But the boy protested, “Daddy, I can’t see you.” The father replied, “But I can see you and that’s all that matters.”

Trust means letting go and knowing God will catch you. That fantastic adventure in trusting him is for all Christians everywhere. Letting go and knowing that God will catch you. Faith believes the incredible, sees the invisible, achieves the impossible! We need to rely on God rather than relying on anything else! To base our lives on things we can’t see! To obey God HOWEVER much it costs!

WHAT DO YOU PUT YOUR TRUST IN? WHAT DO YOU RELY ON?

This sermon begins with my entry for the competition for the “worst joke in any sermon in the universe” competition. You know that doctors recommend we consume “five a day”, five portions a day of fruit and vegetables to be healthy and strong. This evening I am offering you all your five portions in just one sermon. Five easy to remember extremely healthy portions all found in just seven verses of Hebrews 10. I am about to bring you five portions of lettuce for you to savour, five practical things we can all do when the going gets tough.
The Letter to the Hebrews is an encouragement to Christians going through tough times. Hang on in there! We have seen just how great Jesus is. We have seen that Jesus has offered himself once for all as the perfect sacrifice for sin. We have seen Jesus is our great high priest interceding for us, greater even than that remarkable timeless King of Righteousness, King of Peace, Priest of God Most High, Melchizedek. We have such a fantastic Saviour! More than able to meet all our needs. So however hard life becomes we should hang on in there, says Hebrews.
But before we hear about the five things we can all do which will help us in times of trouble, the writer gives us EIGHT reasons in just four verses why we should rely on God and not give up.
Hebrews 10:19-22
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
Did you spot the eight reasons why Christians should hang on in there?

We can have confidence
Bold I approach the Royal Throne! Bold because of all that Jesus has done for u!
We can enter Most Holy Place – the Holy of Holies
It is easy to pray when everything in life is going well, although even then most of us don’t pray nearly enough. It gets harder to pray when the going gets tough. But those are especially the times when we need to draw near to God.
The Most Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies, was the central area of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem where they believed God was especially present. The curtain, or veil, of the Temple was not a curtain of fabric. It was a great wooden panel over thirty foot wide and sixty foot high! It kept the people and even the priests out of the Holy of Holies. The purpose of the curtain of the Temple was to keep people from entering the Holy of Holies and from seeing God – because the Old Testament is very clear that whoever sees God will die!
Only one man, the High Priest could enter into the Holy of Holies, the most holy place. And that only happened once a year, on the Day of Atonement, when the High Priest offered a unique sacrifice for the sins of the people.
Hebrews 9 Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. 2 A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lampstand, the table and the consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. 3 Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, 4 which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. 5 Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover. …
6 When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. 7 But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance
So human beings could only ever enter the Most Holy Place, the Holy of Holies, with the sacrifice of Atonement. Only the High Priest could do that – and only once a year.
We read in Mark 15:38 that at the very moment Christ died, something else quite amazing happened.
“The curtain of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom.”
At the very moment that Jesus died, the veil or curtain of the Temple, that symbolic barrier into the presence of God was broken open, not by human effort from the bottom, but by an act of Almighty God, from the top. As Jesus took away the sins of the world, so he removed the barrier which had stopped human beings since Adam and Eve from coming face to face with God. Because of course the real barrier keeping us all out of God’s presence was not a wooden curtain or veil, but the barrier of human sin. And God has dealt with that problem once and for all by the death of Jesus, His blood shed for us.
We can come to God through the blood of Jesus
Hebrews 9 26 …. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
By his death, by shedding His blood, Jesus has made a way for human beings to come into the presence of Almighty God. We have the enormous privilege of being invited to come into God’s presence. So let’s do so – especially when the going is tough!.!
We have a new and living way into God’s presence.
WITHIN THE VEIL I now would come, Into the holy place, to look upon Thy face.
I see such beauty there, no other can compare; I worship Thee, my Lord, within the veil.
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,
21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
We have seen just how great a High Priest Jesus is, a priest forever, greater even than Melchizedek. Jesus has offered the perfect sacrifice. His priesthood is eternal, it rests on the power of an indestructible life, the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Even now Jesus is alive and Jesus stands at the right hand of the throne of the Father, interceding for us!
Hebrews 4:14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith,
We don’t need to be afraid. We don’t need to be hesitant. We don’t need to be uncertain. We can come to God in full assurance of faith. We can be certain that we are forgiven, certain that God loves us, certain that God will welcome us.
BLESSÈD ASSURANCE, Jesus is mine: O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God; Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience
In the Old Testament the priests used to sprinkle the blood from sacrifices on objects or on people to make them pure. We have been made pure by the blood of Christ shed for us and that blood has been metaphorically sprinkled on us.
and having our bodies washed with pure water.
This is clearly a reference to believer’s baptism. How can we be sure we are saved? At least in part because we have declared our faith before God and before other people in the waters of baptism. Baptism symbolises the washing away of our sins, and our memories of being baptised reassure us of God’s love for us and remind us of the joy of our salvation.
So there in four verses the letter to the Hebrews gives us no less than EIGHT wonderful reasons why we should not give up even when the going has got so tough that the tough have long since given up and run home. And now he gives us FIVE very practical things we can all do to help us stand firm in our faith. Five healthy portions of lettuce. And the first one is this.

LET US DRAW NEAR TO GOD
It is strange but true that there are two things Christians often do when they are going through difficulties. Sometimes we try to cope with all our problems in our own strength instead of drawing on God’s strength. At other times we even run away from God, when all the time God longs for us to draw near to Him and so He can bear our burdens for us. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
Hebrews 4 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
LET US HOLD UNSWERVINGLY TO THE HOPE WE PROFESS
Sometimes we are holding on to God but still we weave from side to side. But we should hold on to God just as a little child will cling on to the hand of their parent. We have a hope which is steadfast and certain, gone through the curtain and touching the throne. So we should hold on to that hope, because he who promised is completely faithful, reliable and trustworthy.
LES US CONSIDER HOW WE MAY SPUR ONE ANOTHER ON
We all need spurring on, or as one translation puts it stirring up, from time to time. It is easy to become weary in well-doing, especially if we are going through tough times. We all need other people sometimes to cheer us on towards love and good work.
LET US NOT GIVE UP MEETING TOGETHER
Obviously the time and place where we can support one another and spur one another on is when we meet together. When life is tough, when we feel as if we are not waving but drowning, it can very hard to drag ourselves out to worship or prayer meeting or Home Group. But it is at those times when we need the support of other Christians the most, caring for us, sharing with us and bearing our burdens with us. So we should not neglect to meet together.
When I visited Bulgaria I was struck by one couple I met, although I didn’t meet them at the same time. They were man and wife but they never came to church together. The reasons wasn’t the need for childcare. The reason was that the return bus fare for just one of them to come to church was a whole day’s wages. So they took it in turns to come to church, take careful notes of the sermon and share the message with their spouse when they got home. Do not neglect to meet together, as some are in the habit of doing!
LET US ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER
We have said before, encouraging is simply giving another person courage to face the challenges of life. Discouraging takes away that courage. We all need encouragement from time to time. Hebrews 3:13 says, “encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today.” We should go out of our way to encourage and support our fellow-Christians, especially if we know they are facing tough times. Let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching

Melchizedek is possibly the most unique person we meet in the whole of the Old Testament. He appears briefly in Genesis 14 and then in Psalm 110 but manages to get four mentions in Hebrews chapters 5, 6 and 7. We first meet this remarkable individual in Genesis 14 when he blesses Abraham and Abraham responds by giving him an offering of one tenth of everything he had
Gen 14:18-20 18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying,“Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.20 And blessed be God Most High,who delivered your enemies into your hand.”Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
To understand Melchizedek we first need to learn a bit about typology. In theology, typology is the idea that certain figures in the Old Testament offer us allegories foreshadowing what we will then meet in the New Testament. So for example Jonah spent three days in the belly of the great fish and then emerged as if back from the dead. Christ spent three days in the tomb and then rose again. So we can describe Jonah as a “type” of Christ can be viewed as a type of Christ and Jesus and his resurrection is the “antitype” or fulfilment of the type. Abraham preparing to sacrifice Isaac where Abraham says, “God himself will provide a lamb for the offering” is seen as a type fulfilled by God sending Jesus as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. And the whole nation of Israel can be seen as a type of Christ at many points. From the Early Church pretty much until the Reformation, typology was at the heart of the way Christians understood the Old Testament.
In no less than four separate places, Hebrews 5:6, 6:20, 7:11 and 7:17 all describe Jesus as “a priest in the order of Melchizedek” which is itself a quote from Psalm 110:4. So before we can understand much of what Hebrews tells us about Jesus as our great High Priest we need to understand what the writer believed about Melchizedek
WHAT KIND OF A PRIEST WAS MELCHIZEDEK?
7 This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, 2 and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” 3 Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever.

Melchizedek was a priest of God Most High many centuries before God appointed the descendants of Levi to be the priests serving Israel. And Melchizedek was also A KING. Zedek means righteousness so he was KING OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. And he was KING Of SALEM which means King of Peace. In the nation of Israel the roles of King and Priest would be strictly separated. Kings were not allowed to offer sacrifices – that was the priest’s job. Yet Melchizedek was both priest AND King.
But more than that. The Jews in the first century AD believed that Melchizedek was in some senses at least ETERNAL.
Hebrews 7 3 Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever.
Because the Old Testament text doesn’t talk about his birth or his death, Jews in the first century thought of Melchizedek as a very special person and even considered him to be eternal. There is a fragment in the Dead Sea Scrolls dating back to around 100 BC which regards Melchizedek as a divine being. Another Jewish book written sometime in the 1st century AD called the Second Book of Enoch contains a section called “The Exaltation of Melchizedek” which similarly portrays Melchizedek as more than human and even as having a virgin birth. Melchizedek was an eternal King and Priest – a different kind of priest to all those who would follow him under the Jewish Law. His priesthood was not bounded by mortality – He would be a priest forever!
IN WHAT WAYS WAS THE PRIESTHOOD OF MELCHIZEDEK SUPERIOR TO THE PRIESTS OF ISRAEL?
The Levites were priests – Melchizedek was a King and a priest. The Levites were mortal – Melchizedek’s priesthood was eternal. But then there was even more than that!
Hebrews 7 4 Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! 5 Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, their brothers—even though their brothers are descended from Abraham. 6 This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 And without doubt the lesser person is blessed by the greater. 8 In the one case, the tenth is collected by men who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. 9 One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, 10 because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.

Abraham, and through him all his descendants including all the priests of Israel, paid their tithes to Melchizedek because he was greater than them all. And in turn Melchizedek blessed Abraham and his descendents – and the lesser is blessed by the greater. So that’s how great Melchizedek was. A priest who was greater than all the Levitical priests who would follow him. When we see just how great Melchizedek was, we can begin to understand what Hebrews is saying when it describes Jesus as a priest of the order of Melchizedek.
HOW WAS JESUS LIKE MELCHIZEDEK?
Psalm 110 was a Psalm which the Jews usually interpreted as referring to the Messiah.
Psalm 110 1The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”
4 The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

Hebrews picks up this idea in several places and explicitly says that Psalm 110 was talking about Jesus. We jumped past the first mention of it which we find back in Hebrews 5:6
5 Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. 3 This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people.
4 No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was. 5 So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him,
“You are my Son; today I have become your Father.”
6 And he says in another place, “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
The Levites were the priests in Israel just because they were the descendants of Levi. Hebrews tells us that Jesus was a priest like Melchizedek because God appointed Him to be so. Hebrews 5 continues,

9 … once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10 and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Jesus is not a priest like all the Levites. Like Melchizedek, Jesus has a priesthood which is eternal. Hebrews 6 repeats this same very important point.
619 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

Like Melchizedek, Jesus is King of Righteousness and King of Peace. Like Melchizedek Jesus is eternal.
THEREFORE JESUS’S PRIESTHOOD IS SUPERIOR TO ALL OTHERS
7 11 If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come—one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron?
7:15 And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, 16 one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is declared:
“You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
18 The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless 19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.

So Hebrews is saying to us, Jesus is a better priest. He is of the order of Melchizedek. His priesthood, like Melchizedek’s, comes from His eternal life.

7 20 And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, 21 but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him:
“The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever.’ ”

22 Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.
23 Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
So Jesus is a better priest than all the descendants of Levi could be, because He is eternal. His priesthood lasts forever. And Jesus is also superior to all the other priests, even Melchizedek, because He offered once and for all a perfect sacrifice for sins – His own life.

26 Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.
8 The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man.

So Jesus is the greatest High Priest of all. His sacrifice was perfect and all-sufficient. His priesthood is eternal. And so it follows that the New Covenant Jesus’s death has instituted is superior to the God’s Old Covenant with Israel.
.” 6 But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises. 7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another.

Hebrews then quotes Jeremiah 31 to show how superior the New Covenant is to the Old Covenant.

10 This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
11 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
12 For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

So how does this all fit into the message of Hebrews encouraging Christians to hang on in there when the going gets tough. We saw back in chapter 1 that “Jesus is the Greatest!” Chapter 4 talks about Jesus as our great High Priest. Chapters 5 to 8 tell us that Jesus is indeed the greatest High Priest, even greater than the eternal priest the enigmatic Melchizedek. Jesus’s sacrifice was perfect and all-sufficient and the New Covenant He has brought into existence is so much better than the Old Covenant ever was.
And because Jesus is such a great High Priest we can be sure of at least three things. Hang on in there, because all our sins have been dealt with. We’ll think more about this next week. Hang on in there, because we have complete access to God and to His throne of grace. And hang on in there, because Jesus the greatest High Priest is Himself interceding on our behalf.
Hebrews 619 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
7 22 …. Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. 23 Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

Hebrews 6:4 (FOR) It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6 if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

I believe that the general thrust of Scripture teaches, Once Saved, Always Saved. You can find a number of sermons on that theme on this blog by searching for “Always Saved” not least from Philippians 1 “God’s started, so He’ll finish” and Romans 8, “Safe in God’s love.”

This warning passage from Hebrews 6 can appear difficult to reconcile to the idea of “Once saved, always saved.” Here is a summary of different interpretations of Hebrews 6:1-12,

1. Saved and Lost – Christians who commit apostasy can lose their salvation. But N.B. then they are lost forever and can never repent again. (Classic Arminian position) (The Message).

2. Those who abandon salvation are still saved but they can no longer be `renewed to repentance’ – they become deaf to the voice of God. They become castaways (1 Cor 9:27). They are saved but only as through fire (1 Cor 3). (R.T Kendall Once Saved Always Saved)

3. `Because’ or `while’? An alternative translation of the present participle is `while’ or `as long as’. They cannot be brought to repentance while they are crucifying the Son of God again.

4. Those who fall away or abandon salvation were never really saved in the first place. They `tasted’ but never entered into salvation. (Classic Calvinist position).
Compare with the Parable of the Sower, Matthew 13. Fits well with Hebrews 6:7-8).

5. `For it is impossible’ refers to the whole of verses 4-6. i.e. The idea that a true Christan could fall away and then be restored again, that whole picture is impossible.

6. This is warning language, powerful because it is extreme, a `focal instance’.
c.f. `If you go in there they’ll eat you alive!’

7. `If they fall away’ – the whole situation is hypothetical. Although there is no word for `if’ here in Greek, the grammar does allow for this situation to be purely hypothetical.
The writer is confident that nothing like this has happened to his readers (Hebrews 6:9).
He switches from `you’ to some unspecified `they’ for verses 4-8.

I am not persuaded by interpretations 1-3 and argue in detail that interpretations 4-7 offer the correct understanding of this passage.

`FOR’ Verses 4-6 explain verses 1-3. “Let’s leave the basics behind. Since if a Christian ever did completely reject their faith (but nobody is saying one ever has or ever will, and God would never allow that) it would be impossible for them to repent again anyway. So there would be no point in going over the same ground of repentance all the time. So let’s go forward!”

IN FACT we are ONCE SAVED, ALWAYS SAVED
a) We have a new relationship with God and He will never reject us: John 10:27; John 6:34-40.
b) We are born again to a new life. We cannot be “unborn again”: John 10:28; Romans 6:1-4.
c) God is able and has promised to keep us safe: John 10:28-29; Romans 8:28-39.

Hebrews 5:11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13
A tourist once asked a local, “Were any great men born in this village.” The man replied, “No, only babies!”
Of course we are all born as babies, helpless, dependent infants. But we are not supposed to stay as babies all our lives. It was Cardinal Newman who said “Growth is the only evidence of life”. The natural way of things is that human beings grow. People are born as babies. They start to toddle, and before we know it they are off to primary school, then secondary school and those troubled teenage years. Then they become students and finally, we hope, responsible adults! As human beings we are all meant to grow and develop and this should be equally true in our Christian life. Sadly it is all too possible for a person to get stuck as a spiritual baby, or a toddler, or with a faith which is not beautifully childlike but instead merely childish. We can sometimes be content to stand still in our faith. We can sometimes become too comfortable, and feel that we have already arrived where God wants us to be. But surely there is always more about God to discover, more riches in the Bible to explore, more depths in prayer to enjoy. Maturity of Christian character does not develop overnight either. Our minds can keep on developing, and so too should our characters. We will never “arrive” but we should all work and pray to continue to grow to Christian maturity. You are young only once, but you can stay immature indefinitely.

A survey once asked, “What are the characteristics of mature Christian faith? Results included, “Trusting in God’s saving grace.” “Seeing the whole of life, work, family and social life, as parts of our Christian life.” “Seeking spiritual growth through study, prayer, reflection and discussion.” “Being part of a supportive witnessing community of believers.” “Serving God and neighbours through acts of love and justice.”
Mature Christians look at the world very differently from immature Christians. In particular, maturity or immaturity are revealed when we face problems or difficulties.
Immature faith thinks that Christians won’t have any pain or disappointments. Mature faith accepts that God will bring good out of our pain and disappointments. Immature faith thinks God just wants to make Christians happy. Mature faith knows that God is transforming us into the image of Christ. Immature faith thinks things will always work out. Mature faith trusts that God is still in control even when things don’t work out. Immature faith expects to have all the answers. Mature faith wrestles with the tough questions. Immature faith thinks we always have to be strong. Mature faith admits our weaknesses.

God wants us all to grow up in our faith. It isn’t enough to believe in Jesus. God wants us to follow Jesus in every part of our lives. God wants us to be disciples. God is in the business of turning atheists into believers and believers into followers and followers into missionaries.

God wants us to be mature in our faith. Growing up as Christians involves many things. It involves study and prayer and worship. It involves fellowship and service and witness and lifestyle. Christian maturity is about knowing what God wants us to do and doing it obediently and faithfully and passionately. That is what Hebrews 5 says that Christian maturity is all about.

13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
Maturity is about righteousness. In Hebrews that word refers to right living – living in a way which pleases God. Maturity is about knowing the difference between good and evil and doing what’s right and not doing what’s wrong. As one writer put it, “Our safety does not lie in perfecting our knowledge of the will of God, but in our sincerity in obeying the light we have, and then in seeking for more.”
The proof of Christian maturity is in right living.

But what then should we be doing?
6 Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
Hebrews says we should be moving on from Christian basics, leaving the milk behind and going on to solid food. But on first glance we may be surprised by the things it calls “elementary teachings.” Some things on this list you might think will always be essential for Christian faith, and they will. But actually all the things in this list are in one sense elementary and basic and foundational because they are the starting point for Christian faith. We may never leave behind these truths, but if we get stuck on them and never think about anything else, our growth as Christians will indeed be stunted.
Repentance from acts that lead to death
We will always need to keep on repenting from sin. Coming to God for forgiveness and seeking His grace to live a new life. But if all we are ever doing is focussing on our failings we will never make progress in the Christian life. We need to look onward and upward. We need to increase in holiness and if we are still stuck on the same sins we were committing before we were saved that is not healthy!

Faith in God
The message of Jesus all the way through was “repent and believe.” That was his message to Peter and Andrew and James and John. But that wasn’t the only thing Jesus taught his apostles in the three years they were with Him. We start the Christian life with saving faith, and we will always need saving faith, but there is much more we need to learn if we are to make progress in the Christian life.
I know of people who have gone forward at Billy Graham rallies or other evangelistic events to show they are repenting of their sins and that they believe in God. And that is fantastic when somebody does that! But I also know of some people who have gone forward at every Christian event they have ever been to. Whenever there is an altar call they go forward. And that is not healthy. Because their first profession of repentance and faith is meant to be the start of a brand new life. They should understand that. They should understand they don’t need to keep on starting – what they need is to move on and keep growing!

Baptisms
Baptism as a believer is the start of the Christian life. I have known Christians who have asked to be baptised again because they feel they have made a mess of things and they want a fresh start again. But it doesn’t work like that. Baptism is the start. It is the outward sign of the inward reality of new birth. We don’t need to keep on being born again, and again, and again. We just need to grow up!

Laying on of Hands
Laying on of hands as a way of passing on blessing has many parts to play in Christian experience.
Healing
Conferring authority
Filling of the Holy Spirit
Here I think Hebrews is referring to the act of Laying on of Hands to mark the beginning of the Christian life. We will do it next week immediately after Shilpi’s baptism. In Roman Catholic and Anglican churches the laying on of hands is separated from baptism and takes place at the act of Confirmation. Again this is something which happens in that sense at the beginning of the Christian life. Although Laying on of Hands has significance at other times, Christians don’t need to keep starting over and over again. They just need to grow!

The resurrection of the dead
There have been all kinds of arguments about what will happen at the resurrection of the dead. Paul talks about some of these in 1 Corinthians 15. We shouldn’t get hung up about those details. Arguing about what will happen when we die and what heaven will be like is not a sign of maturity.

Eternal judgment
In the same way there have been all kinds of arguments about the end times. Will Jesus come first, or will there be a rapture? Who are the 144,000? Will some be “left behind?” It is not a sign of maturity to argue over these things. These are not deep truths to fight over. The facts of the resurrection of the dead and the reality of eternal judgment are the elementary foundations of the Christian faith. We need to move on from these basics to the serious business of righteousness and holiness and mission and love.

“Repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.” These things are indeed the elementary truths, the foundations of the Christian faith. We need solid foundations, But a building needs more than foundations. If we get stuck or hung up on these elementary and basic things, we will never grow. We need more than milk. We need solid food!

We live in an age of instant everything. We expect to have whatever we want, whenever we want, wherever we are. But there are no shortcuts to Christian maturity. Some Christians are like school children doing their homework by looking up the answers to their maths problems in the back of the book, or copying from their friends, rather than working out the answers for themselves. It doesn’t work like that.
At the same time our western world is facing a crisis of obesity. Children are not growing up healthily. They are just getting fatter. And a major cause of this is our fast food culture of takeaways and ready meals. And for many people this is a problem in their spiritual lives as much as it is in their bodies. Too many Christians and too many churches are fed a diet of ready meals and takeaways and even of spiritual baby food, rather than the meat of the gospel! As a result many Christians are not growing, they are just getting fatter!

Some people don’t want to go any deeper with God. That would take them out of their comfort zone. They are afraid of change. They are afraid of greater commitment – that would take work, and time and dedication and sacrifice. They are afraid of God’s refining fire.

Hebrews warns us, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, …. And God permitting, we will do so.