Stay the Course Steadfast & Faithful

Transcript

GR 1727
6/24/2014
Stay the Course Steadfast and Faithful
Hebrews 13:7-9
Gil Rugh


We are going to return to our study of Hebrews, so if you turn to Hebrews 13 in your Bibles. As you can tell we are at the end of the book of Hebrews with chapter 13 and so he is giving some exhortation and application in a very concise way of what he has been talking about in the letter, and particularly chapter 13 flows directly out of the very end of chapter 12. If you look just at the last two verses of Hebrews 12, verse 28, “therefore since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe. For our God is a consuming fire.” Talking about what is promised to believers in Jesus Christ, all that has been provided for us in the salvation Christ accomplished for us in His sacrifice on the cross—a kingdom, a city. Down in verse 14, “for here we do not have a lasting city, we are seeking the city which is to come,” the New Jerusalem which will be the capital of the kingdom which is to come. All this is ours in the salvation Christ has provided for us. So we don't only look back to the cross and the sacrifice of Christ that paid the penalty for our sin, but we look forward to the final full realization of all that God has provided for us in Christ, reigning in glory in the presence of God who will dwell in the city that we are looking for in the kingdom that will be established.

So “since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude.” Our hearts are to overflow with thanks to God for His grace and the wonder of our salvation. That not only concludes what God has done for us in Christ on the cross, the cleansing from sin, but the future promises of ultimate glory, reigning with Him. Let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable service. So we look back to what Christ has done on the cross, we look forward to the final realization of what God has promised in a kingdom, in a city, and that shapes how we live right now. Let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable service. That's the now. We have the past, we have the future, the now is we show our gratitude to God not only for what He has done for us but what He will do for us by serving Him in a pleasing way. Acceptable service, service that is well-pleasing to God. The word for service here often carries the idea of spiritual service, service of worship. And as we will see as we proceed through Hebrews 13, our lives are lives of worship as God's people, and we are focused on serving Him because of what He has done for us, because of what He will do for us.

The first paragraph of Hebrews 13 covers the first six verses and we've looked through those verses. And you'll note in verses 5-6 in the capitalized print indicating that these are quotes from the Old Testament. The end of verse 5, “I will never desert you nor will I ever forsake you.” We went back into Deuteronomy 31:6, 8 where these verses are taken from as Israel anticipates going into the Promised Land after forty years of wilderness wandering following their deliverance from Egypt. Moses is going to die on Mt. Nebo, he is not going to be the one to lead them. There is going to be new leadership with Joshua. They are going into a strange land. Forty years earlier they were intimidated by the reports they heard from this land and God encourages them, be strong, be courageous. I will never leave you nor desert you. His presence is the assurance of their protection, of their victory. So we may confidently say, and he quotes from Psalm 118:6, “the Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me? I belong to the Lord, He is mine, I am His, He is with me. What do I have to fear?” It adds special application to them back in Old Testament times as they anticipated crossing the Jordan into a new land with its enemies and opposition, but here it is just as true for these readers of this letter. You do not need to fear what is before you—the loss of material possessions, the security that comes from a more settled life, what will people do to us. They have experienced suffering, we saw that in Hebrews 10. It looms on their horizon again as believers. Things may get worse but one thing stays the same—God will never leave us nor forsake. The Lord is my helper, what can men do to me? That's the confidence.

That leads him to the second paragraph, picking up with verse 7 and it will go down through verse 19. We won't go that far, so lest you get concerned that we seem to be going slowly, we're only going to do verses 7-9. But you have in mind this is one paragraph and when we get to the closing verses of the paragraph in verses 18-19, you'll see how it ties back to what he says at the beginning. And he is going to focus on the Word of God. As he has shown by quoting from the Old Testament, it is applicable and pertinent to their situation. Now he is going to remind them that God has further spoken and they are not to forget what He has said in Christ and through the finished work of Christ. And that is to be an anchor for them in the storms and turmoil that they will be facing.

Verses 7-9 are going to be our focus, and this whole paragraph will emphasize the need for steadfast faithfulness to the truth of God as found in Christ. As we'll see, leaders will come and go, their physical circumstances can change and be altered, they are to remain steadfast and faithful to the message that they have received.

Verse 7 begins, “remember those who led you.” First let me take you back to preceding days, and these are more immediate days, he is not going back to the Old Testament. These are those who have had a leadership role in their lives but are now deceased, they are no longer there as their leaders. This whole closing portion of Hebrews has an emphasis on the leaders. He mentions them here in verse 7, “those who led you;” down in verse 17, “obey your leaders;” down in verse 24, “greet all your leaders and all the saints.” The word for leader here is not a word like elder or overseer, bishop, some of those words we've looked at, pastor, in our study of Timothy. But it is a general word for one who has oversight, leadership, supervisory role we might say in any capacity. Here he is focusing on those who have been used of God in their history up to this point, their early history we might say, particularly this leadership focused, remember those who led you, who spoke the Word of God to you. The ministry of these leaders was a ministry of God's Word. They were the ones who brought the Word of God to them, who taught them the truth concerning Christ. Remember those who led you, the message that they taught you, the truth concerning Christ that was explained to you.

Come back to Hebrews 1 where this letter began, Hebrews 1:1. “God after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions, in many ways.” There were a variety of individuals used of God and there are a variety of means as we saw—dreams, visions and so on. “In these last days He has spoken to us in the One who is a Son.” The uniqueness of God's revelation of Himself in the person of His Son. That's what the book of Hebrews has been about. This is the climax of all revelation, the fullest revelation that God could give happened in the person and work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Hebrews has unfolded something of His person as high priest, His work in making the sacrifice of Himself to satisfy the requirements of God's righteousness in paying the penalty for sin. That revelation is full and final.

Then you come over to Hebrews 2 it talks about the finality of this revelation. Prior revelation from God was crucial, had to be obeyed. But this is even superior to all prior revelation, it came through God's Son. Verse 3, “how will we escape if we neglect so great salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord.” So now we're talking about the revelation that came as Christ came to this earth and brought the truth of God in a fuller and clearer way. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth,” John wrote in the first chapter of his Gospel. After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard. These are those who led them, they came to provide oversight and leadership as they brought the truth of God's revelation in Christ to them. That's what he is talking about. And the leadership of these men is inseparably joined to the truth that they proclaim. Remember those who led you, who spoke the Word of God to you.

Come back to Hebrews 13, I want to pick up that first word remember. It's the first of three commands given in the present tense in these three verses we are going to look at. Remember, a command given in the present tense so we might translate it, you must continually “remember those who led you, who spoke the Word of God to you.” We've not moved on. Those leaders are gone, they are deceased, but you can't forget. Not because they in their personalities were so great, but it was the message that they proclaimed and their faithfulness to that message which is so crucial to be remembered by these Hebrews.

Turn over to 2 Peter 1:12 where Peter says, ”therefore I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them and have been established in the truth which is present with you.” I know you already know this, you know it now, you were taught it before. “I consider it right as long as I am in this earthly dwelling to stir you up by way of reminder.” What is being emphasized in Hebrews and here by Peter is the old truths are the truths for today. We have the old song, tell me the old, old story of Jesus and His love. It's a message that does not change with the passing of time, it does not change with the transition from leader to leader. So Peter says as long as I am in this physical body I will be telling you the same message. We need to be careful, with the passing of time, and these Hebrew believers are facing this in the letter we are studying and is addressed to. With the passing of time they begin to get soft, they begin to lose that fixed focus on the truth concerning Christ. They get weary, tired of the conflicts, tired of the difficulties and become susceptible to being led astray. Peter says you have to be reminded. Some of you have been here a long time, you have heard me say the same things over and over and over again. But that's the only message we have, the message does not change. So we are being reminded. God doesn't repeat Himself because He doesn't know what else to say, He reminds us because we need to be told again and again and again and again, and every new time of trial, every new time of difficulty, every new time of pressure is a reminder we must stay the course, we must be faithful. These Hebrew Christians are facing another round of persecution and suffering, they don't know whether they are up for this. They have to stay the course.

Come over to 2 Peter 3:1, Peter says, “this is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your pure mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles.” Times are difficult, opposition is intense as Peter writes to these Jewish believers. Don't forget the Word of God, it doesn't change.

Jude says the same thing, verse 17. “But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.” They are being attacked, they are being lured by those who are altering and changing the Word of God. The solution I, go back to the truth as it was given. It doesn't change. Well, we live in different times, people are different, we are dealing with millenials or baby boomers or baby busters or big babies. It doesn't change. The church gets caught up in this and it has come up with something new because these are challenging days, these are different days, these are difficult days. They are no different and the message is the same. That's the point.

Come back to Hebrews 13. “Remember,” you must continually remember “those who led you,” who taught you the Word of God. They “spoke to you the Word of God,” now note the next thing that he says, “considering the result of their conduct.” That's the point. They came and taught you the Word of God. Now he is thinking about their conduct, that word conduct encompasses their way of life. And the point is they stayed the course and were faithful to that Word to the very end. Consider those who led you, the truth they taught you, be thinking about the course of their life. They stayed the course, they were faithful. Think about the Apostle Paul's testimony at the end of his life, at the end of his second letter to Timothy—“I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” He didn't waver, his life was firmly committed to the truth, even now as he is imprisoned in Rome awaiting execution, he is firmly planted on the truth. Remember those who have gone before you, their commitment to the truth.

This was the example that we had from the various Old Testament saints in Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 began, “now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.” We are told in verse 6, “without faith it is impossible to please Him; he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” And those who truly believe that stay the course because what He has promised will not change. The salvation He has provided is sure and all its promises are fixed. So circumstances change, people come and go. The truth of God stands. That is our anchor. People say, you don't know what I'm going through. No, we don't, we don't know what each one is going through, we haven't all experienced the exact same thing. But one thing we know—God's Word is sure. Heaven and earth will pass away, His Word will not pass away. It's the anchor for my soul, the stability for my life. These Hebrews need to be focused on this.

You come to Hebrews 12, it opens up, “therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us”—the witnesses of Hebrews 11, whose lives continue to be a testimony as they have been recorded—“let us lay aside every encumbrance, the sin which so easily entangles us. Let us run with endurance the race set before us.” That's what we need, endurance. Stay the course, stay on the path God has set for us. There are storms, there are trials, there are tragedies, there are difficulties. Run with endurance, stay on course. I love the beauty of the simplicity of the Word of God.

Sometimes it seems things go on and all of a sudden it seems my head is spinning, I just don't know. I just have to go and close myself in and say, Lord, you haven't changed. You are sovereign, your Word is true. That's my anchor. That's what He is telling these Hebrews. Christ is the example. What did He do? We are to “run with endurance, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame. He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself so that you won't grow weary and lose heart.” We have the examples of the Old Testament saints, we have the example of our Savior who stayed the course. It wasn't easy. There were difficulties, trials, the awfulness of the cross. But the ultimate victory. That encourages me, God has promised me a dwelling in His presence in the city that has been prepared for me. I should turn off the course by those troubles and trials or difficulties? You understand this world is not my home, I'm just passing through. I have the promise of a permanent eternal home in the presence of the God of glory. I need endurance.

So come back to Hebrews 13. These who brought the Word of God to them who were so used of God in their lives in the early phases, who stayed the course that have now passed off the scene. Their life is to be a pattern for you, he says. So you have the second command. The first command, present tense—“remember;” the second command, present tense—“imitate.” We know what imitate means. You pattern your life after the pattern of their life. Because they were exceptional, unusually gifted men? No, because they were men who were faithful to the Word that they taught. Imitate their faith. Sometimes we have the song sung, may those who come behind us find us faithful. That's it. Sometimes in the past you may have heard as I did when I was younger, people say, don't look at me, look at Christ. What do they see when they are looking at you? Aren't we to be imitating Christ? Paul says, imitate me as I imitate Christ. Here godly people are to be a pattern for us to pattern our lives after. Did you ever take the time to read the lives of the martyrs in church history? Not because we love the gruesome, but it is a motivation. They stood so firm, so true through such awful circumstances. I want to pattern my life after them. Their life is a continual testimony of faithfulness to the truth, and if it weren't for the trials and difficulties, they couldn't have manifested that steadfast faithfulness in the same way that they did. So it becomes a blessing and we understand the trials that come into our life, our heavenly Father is sifting them out. Just like your human parents. Your children are little, you let some things come into their life that are difficult because they have to learn to deal with those things. And as they do they are developing character, they are developing maturity. They can't live a perfect sheltered life. What God is doing is developing His character in us.

We saw this in Hebrews 12:7, following the quote from the Old Testament, “whom the Lord loves He disciplines and He scourges every son.” That's a pretty strong word. That means some painful, unpleasant things are brought into our lives by the sovereign plan of God so that I can be matured. It's the child development, child training process. It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with sons. Even the difficulties and trials that come to your life, this is God's way to further develop us and train us.

Verse 10, the middle of the verse, “He disciplines us for our good that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful but sorrowful. Yet those who have been trained by it, afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” So I can manifest more of His character? That is true. For this congregation of Jewish believers, pattern your life after the pattern of those who taught and lived the truth and held on to the truth faithfully until the end. That's the message that comes to us. Some things change, one thing doesn't. What are we to be as the church? The pillar and support of the truth. Those people hold onto the truth. Storms come, they hold onto the truth. That's the point.

Back in Hebrews 13. Imitate their faith. So we saw in Hebrews 11 men living it out, holding on to what we claim to believe, holding fast to the promises of the future, based on the assurance of what Christ has done in the past. It shapes our life now.

Verse 8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” I dare say this is one of the verses in Hebrews most of us have probably memorized and quote without giving much thought to the context. Sometimes I've had people quote this verse to me when they were trying to prove that we should be doing miracles today. Didn't Jesus do miracles during His earthly ministry? Didn't the early church have miracles? Healings and raising of the dead in the book of Acts? Isn't Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever? Therefore we should be doing those things. That makes no sense. You can pull a verse out and prove anything you want if you just divorce it from its context. It doesn't mean Jesus is doing exactly the same thing in the same way. He's not walking the earth in a physical body. He did that during His earthly ministry. He went to people's homes and had dinner and they could invite their friends in and have dinner with Him. He's not doing that today. That doesn't mean He is always doing exactly the same thing.

You note the context here, I love the abruptness as it is originally. You'll note there is no verb in verse 8, that little verb is, is in italics, meaning we put it in, in English, to make it a little more readable. Literally in the word order as we have this in the Greek text—“Jesus Christ yesterday and today the same and forever.” See the stress in that. Jesus Christ, and the stress is on that person, Jesus Christ yesterday and today the same and forever. The Greek expression meaning forever is literally and into the ages. It's the Greek way of saying forever. He is unchanging. He was the same yesterday, He is the same today, and He will be the same into the ages of eternity. The point is there is to be no change. Leaders change, circumstances change, the message concerning Jesus Christ does not change. It is the same message preached 2,000 years ago that must be preached today. He does not change. The message of Hebrews about His person as the Son of God and the high priest of the Father has not changed. The finality of His sacrifice as the payment in full for sin does not change. The promise of the final completion of that salvation in the glory of God's presence in the New Jerusalem does not change. So these Hebrews need to understand. Some time has passed, their former leaders are gone, pressures build on them that they ought to make adjustments in the message that we understand now to be more effective, to reach people. True, we don't want to deny the death and resurrection of Christ, but you understand you really need an earthly priest. You really need to be observing some of these dietary laws. The truth that God has revealed in Christ does not change with the passing of time. We have that fixed.

Do you know what is happening to the church of Jesus Christ today? It doesn't believe this truth. They are constantly saying, the message doesn't change but the methods do. Well, I say the methods and the message are inseparably joined together. It's the proclamation of the truth of Christ. That's the method—proclaim Christ, teach the fullness and finality of His work. Yes, but you are not going to reach millennials and whoever that way. You're not going to reach them any other way because this is the only way God has. Everybody comes up with a new book, a new idea. I received a whole packet in the mail a month or so ago, it had a book that had been recently published, and this is by an evangelical denomination. Had a whole course laid out, it was going to mix the way you take care of your physical body, the foods you eat and the teaching of Scripture and they had all the verses and everything woven in. And it went into my round basket, which is rectangular because it holds more. Where do we get that? All of a sudden we've come up with something new. We're going to be doing this in the city and your church has opportunity to be involved. Finally somebody has discovered what we really need. I'm holding to the old truths that are sufficient today as they were 2,000 years ago.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Let me read you what a couple of commentators wrote that I think is very helpful. One said, their circumstances and perspective may change, but Jesus Christ and His Gospel do not. Another wrote, although the preachers change, the preaching must remain the same. The unchangeableness of the revelation is a consequence of the transcendent dignity of Jesus Christ, the originator of the preaching. I mean, some day if the Lord doesn't come, I will pass off the scene. What's going to happen after Gil is gone? Hopefully it is going to improve, going to have another preacher of the Word. I hope he tells you the same truths. What did I do? I built on the man who came before me. What are we doing?

Come back to 1 Corinthians 1, same basic theme. Paul comes to Greece, he reminds the Corinthians what it was like when he came to preach to them. He comes to a different continent, this is different. When you are in Jerusalem, when you are in the land of Israel, when you are over here in Asia Minor or wherever you are, now you are into Greece with the Greeks, the wisdom lovers, and you have to make some alterations. 1 Corinthians 1:17, “Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the Gospel, not in cleverness of speech so that the cross of Christ would not be made void. The word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.” Stupidity, we get the English word moron from this Greek word, we carry it in. It makes no sense to the world that is perishing. “But to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” And this is God's plan, to use what the world views as foolish stupidity to display the magnificence of His wisdom.

Verse 21, “since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. Jews ask for signs, Greeks search for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified.” What did Paul say? I stay the course, I know what the Greeks want is different than what the Jews want. I'm not giving either one of them what they want, I'm giving them what God said they need. His wisdom.

Come down to 1 Corinthians 2, “when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Stay the course. Circumstances change, places change. Jesus Christ does not change, the truth concerning Christ does not change. Whatever you are going through, whatever is happening in your life, do you know what? Jesus Christ is the same, the truth concerning Him and what He has accomplished for you and the promises He has given have not changed. The church is to realize that, we stay the course.

“I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling.” We sometimes get the idea Paul stormed into cities like Corinth, fearless. I am here as the representative of the living God. He says, I was afraid, I was conscious of my weakness, I had fears. Would they stone him? Would they run him out of town? What would happen? I was trembling but “my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom but in the demonstration of the Spirit and power so your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men but on the power of God.” That's what it is all about, the truth of God. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Two thousand years have gone by, the world has changed. We hear so much thinking about how rapidly the world is changing, it is not changing in significant ways. It is still lost in its sin, under the domination of the god of this world, the devil; without hope in the world apart from the saving message of Jesus Christ. And those who hear and believe the message are rescued from their lostness, their hopelessness. They experience the cleansing from sin that can be found nowhere else. And they become heirs of all that God has promised to those who love Him. Nothing has changed, nothing is changed.

We sometimes wring our hands and say, what is going to happen to our children and grandchildren growing up in this world? What do you mean, what is going to happen to them? Do you think God has abdicated the throne? Jesus Christ and the truth concerning Him is the same, that's what I want my children, my grandchildren to know. You place your faith in an unchanging Savior, in truth that will be true in the hundreds of billions years of eternity. The changing tides of the world, the ups and downs of nations, the coming and going of Presidents and rulers, that is not what is significant. The significance is that God is sovereign, He rules, ‘His will’ will be done, the truth concerning His Son and the salvation in Him does not change. That's what gives stability to lives. Something is wrong, we have people who claim to be believers in churches and they are running after this and that and they think, what are we going to do? We have to get together, we have to do this, we have to do that.

I am reminded of what we ought to be doing. I appreciate those who are out knocking on doors on Monday nights and sharing what they are doing, telling people about Jesus Christ. What do you think is happening in Iran? What is happening in Syria? What about Afghanistan? What is our President going to do? What is happening to this world? Just what my Father intends, He is preparing it all for my glory. That's what is happening, preparing for the time when I will be enthroned with Him in the city He has prepared for me. That gives stability to my life, that's the anchor of my soul. Not that everything is going well, humanly speaking. But I can sing the song, it is well with my soul, because my Savior doesn't change.

Come back to Hebrews 13, we have to look at the third command. The first command, these are all present tense commands, something we must continually be doing. Be continually remembering; continue to imitate, continually imitate their faith, that's the second command. Remember, imitate, third command—“do not be carried away.” In Greek that is one word, a compound word, present imperative. Do not be carried away. A word to be used if a flood swept someone away. I read a tragedy in the morning paper, in the Omaha Bellevue area, a vehicle got into a drainage ditch and with the heavy rain and the flood, it swept him away. This is the word that was used, carried away. You must not be carried away is the point. They can't be moved off their focus on Christ, their stability and steadfastness in Him. No matter what the pressure, no matter what the opposition, no matter what anything is taking place, stay steadfast. Do not allow yourself to be carried away by varied and strange teachings, whatever they are, anything that veers off from Christ. There can be no additions, there can be no subtractions to this message. You understand this. If you don't, you have missed the whole point of Hebrews. We begin to think, they believe the core of truth. This is our difference with Roman Catholicism. We have many things that we believe the same, but they also add many other things. That is not acceptable, you can't have the other teachings. It's the constant warning of Scripture.

Come to Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4 talks about the gifts that God gave and those gifts, verse 11, were men who communicated the Word of God—apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, verse 11. They are given to equip the saints, this ministry of God's Word, to build up the body of Christ so we all attain to the unity of faith which is described as maturity in Christ. The maturity, the measure of the stature that belongs to Christ, His character produced in us. Verse 14, “as a result we are no longer to be children tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness and deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love we are to grow up in all aspects.” We stay the course. Every new idea, every variation in doctrine doesn't grab our attention and move us off here, move us off there. We continue to speak the truth. That brings stability in our lives.

Come to Colossians 2:6, “therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him.” Stay the course. It is Christ that you have trusted, you don't veer off from Him now for growth. “Having been firmly rooted, being built up in Him, established in your faith, just as you were instructed, overflowing with gratitude, see that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, the elementary principle of the world rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of deity dwells.” You see, stay the course. But Paul has to tell the Corinthians, he has to tell the Ephesians, he has to tell the Colossians, the Hebrews have to be told. Why? We lose our focus. Trials come, pressures come, our world seems to be turned upside down and all of a sudden we say, what do I do? Stay the course. That's it, stay the course.

We have had turmoil in our church over the years. A lot of it comes because we didn't stay the course. Stay the course. There is nothing else to add. We may be the “nothing but” people, but there is nothing but the message of Christ and the truth revealed in the Word. Stay the course. That's the message. 2 Corinthians 11 Paul says, “I am concerned for you Corinthians that you will be turned aside from the purity of devotion to Christ.” You are open to hear other teachers who have altered the truth concerning Christ and you think you are being tolerant and open minded. You just have opened the door to the devil and his teaching. Read 2 Corinthians 11. These are serious matters.

Come back to Hebrews 13:9. “Do not,” you must not “be carried away by varied and strange teaching. For it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods.” That's the difficulty. Did you ever notice how people gravitate toward the physical and material? This packet of material that I received went on to say how the proper exercise and the proper treatment of your body and the proper foods together with the proper intake of Scripture, that together is what the church needs to grow. Do you know the problem? God's plan is, it's good for the heart to be strengthened by grace. How do you grab on to grace? I mean, it's not tangible. I have a clock, it's here. We want something we can hold onto, we feel better if it is tangible. That's what is attractive. Roman Catholics, they have that awe of creating that sense of worship. Some of you have come from backgrounds, liturgical kind of backgrounds and you have shared with me over the years—the hardest thing when I came to Indian Hills, I didn't feel like I was worshiping. Why? Because we begin to associate worship with something physical and tangible, the atmosphere.

And now the evangelical church is being told we ought to go back to the ancient ways, learn something of what they were doing, it's better if you darken your service, maybe use some candles. You create an environment. You can do that for anything. Have you ever watched a horror movie and somebody is going into a dark old house and the shutters are rattling? Pretty soon you are sitting in your chair, afraid. Why? Turn on the light, you are sitting on the couch at home. But that creates that kind of impact on you. So that's what they do religiously—create an impact so you feel like it's happening. But you understand it is not really happening, that's not real worship. Your heart has to be established by grace. That's the supernatural thing. The Spirit of God takes the truth of God and builds it into your inner person. You can come here and go through the motions for fifty years and die and go to hell because that's not the point. The heart must be established by grace. And the constant move is to something physical. That was the appeal of Judaism, we could have a physical high priest that we can go and see. And we have foods that are marked off as good for us and foods that are marked off not good for us spiritually. They never did benefit anybody. The beauty of the simplicity.

What do you do at your church? We study the Bible. Oh, that doesn't sound too interesting. Well, no, why would the world be interested? They are not, it's moronic. You are going to go and study a Book that is thousands of years old? We live in a modern day. We're preaching the old message. God hasn't changed and there is only one Savior, there is only one message of salvation. You come here, what I would hope wouldn't change if the Lord doesn't come for fifty years is this will be heard. One thing you can be sure if you go there, they will be teaching the Scripture, they will be teaching the truth concerning Christ. That will not change in turmoil, in good times, in bad times, in everything. The truth of God stands and we must be steadfast. That's the message of this portion in Hebrews.

Three commands—you must remember the commitment of those who went before to the truth, be steadfast and faithful to the truth to the end; second, you must pattern your life after the pattern of their life, be faithful as they were faithful so that those who come behind us will find us faithful; and we must not allow ourselves to be carried away, swept away by things that may sound good, that move us away from the purity of devotion to Christ and the truth concerning Him. This is a great salvation, we've been entrusted with a great message and a great responsibility. We want to be steadfast and faithful to the end of the course He set before us.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for the riches of Your Word, the truth concerning Your Son. How awesome and marvelous, 2,000 years after what we have been studying, it is the same message that changes lives. We have been blessed by those who went before us, who were faithful with the message, faithful to the message, were steadfast and passed on this saving truth to us so that by your grace we might believe in the Savior, know the wonder of the forgiveness of sins and the assurance of the promises of the future and so serve You by being steadfast in these days. Thank You for Your blessings on us as a church. Lord, may we honor You, showing our gratitude by being faithful to You in our service. We pray in Christ's name, amen.