Book of Hebrews - Ch. 13, Vs. 1-25 (07/18/2021)

Park Meadows Church

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We're going to begin today with a prayer. Most gracious Heavenly Father, we honor

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You. We honor You because You're God, You're God the Creator. We worship

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You. We worship You by studying Your Holy Word. We thank You for all the things that You have done for us, for providing

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Your Holy Spirit, Your Holy Scripture, Your Son.

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And we ask You to continue blessing us and protect us as we go into these times of trials.

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Bless us and keep us. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. We're now to Hebrews, the final chapter, chapter 13.

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The early part of Hebrews was designed to reveal divine truth, telling us how the new covenant was better than the old covenant, that Jesus was better than the angels, that the priest

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Jesus was better than the old priest. But from chapter 12, verse 12 onward, the writer of Hebrews turns his focus from revealing these divine truths to acting on them.

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And I want you to keep something in mind that we have, the conclusion that we've already come to.

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Truth that is known but not obeyed becomes a judgment rather than a benefit.

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This last chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews focuses on some of the essential practical ethics of Christian living.

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These ethics help to portray the true gospel to the world, to encourage others to believe in Christ, but most of all, to bring glory to God.

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So let us begin. Hebrews 1, I'm sorry, Hebrews 13, verse 1.

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Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

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Remember them that are in bonds as bound within them, and them which suffer adversity as being yourself also in the body.

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So look at the first phrase, let brotherly love continue. That's the first of these practical ethical practices, love for fellow believers.

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John chapter 13, verse 35 says this, by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples.

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That's Jesus speaking to his disciples. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if you love one another.

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So one of the signs of a disciple of Jesus is that we love one another.

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That's what Hebrews 13, verse 1 is saying. And then two, be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby have some entertained angels unawares.

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Now, I want to tell you something that Dr. John MacArthur said. This, the entertaining of strangers, is hardest to do when experiencing a time of persecution.

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The Hebrews would not know whether the guests that they're intending to entertain would prove to be a spy or a fellow believer being pursued.

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And then this last part, have entertained angels. This is not given as the ultimate motivation for hospitality, but to reveal that one never knows how far reaching an act of kindness might be.

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Jesus in one of his parables in Matthew 25, verse 40 said this, and the king shall answer and say unto them,

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Verily I say unto you, insomuch as ye have done it into one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

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Okay, still dealing with entertaining of strangers. And by entertaining strangers, maybe entertaining an angel unawares.

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Can anybody think of a case in the Old Testament where someone entertained an angel not knowing that it was an angel?

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Abram, okay, that's the one I have. Abraham and Sarah, that is in verse 1 of Genesis 18.

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And the Lord appeared unto him on the plains of Mamre. That Lord is

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Jesus Christ, we'll see. And he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day.

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Okay, Abraham is sitting in the tent door, it's a hot day, and he looks up and he sees three men.

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And he lifts up his eyes and he looked, and lo, three men stood by him. Now, anybody know who these three men are?

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One is Jesus, and the other two are angels. And so he's gonna entertain

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Jesus and two angels. And I'm not sure when he recognizes who they are, but at this point, he doesn't know.

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And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and lo, three men stood by him. And when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door and bowed himself to the ground and said,

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My Lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant.

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And so then it goes on and talks about what happened with regard to Abraham and Sarah.

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And the Lord tells Abraham and Sarah again that they are to have a son.

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And so we go on. Now skip down to verse 16. They've done all that.

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And the men rose up from the fence and looked toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.

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So they're heading out down off the mountain where Abraham is and heading toward Sodom.

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And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which

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I do? Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.

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So that's the end of what I want to read with regard to the Lord, the two angels,

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Abraham and Sarah. We're going to slip on down to chapter 19 of Genesis.

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Pick it up at verse 1. And now we are in Sodom.

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And there came two angels to Sodom at Eve. These are the two angels that were with the

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Lord speaking to Abraham back on the plains of Mamre.

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And Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. And Lot, seeing them, rose up to meet them.

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And he bowed himself with his face toward the ground and said, Behold now, my lords, turn in,

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I pray you, into your servants' house and tarry all night and wash your feet, and you shall rise up early and go your way.

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So he's inviting them to spend the night and refresh themselves and head out about their business the next morning.

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And they said, Nay, but we will abide in the street all night. Well, that didn't happen.

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They didn't abide in the street all night. Lot convinced them to come in to his house and spend the night.

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So eventually, the angels did spend the night with Lot. And interestingly enough, the angels would not leave until they brought

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Lot out of Sodom with them. Lot and his wife and their daughters came out with the two angels.

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The wife only came partway out. Okay, back to Hebrew.

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Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them, and with them that suffer adversity as being yourself also in the body.

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Now, we're not yet to the point in this country where Christians are put in jail for their beliefs.

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But that does seem to me to be on the near horizon.

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I'm sorry. It's happening in Canada, and that's getting closer and closer. It's happening in England.

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Poor people are put in jail for their Christian beliefs. Not here yet, but seems to be on the horizon.

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Suffering adversity, however, is prevalent in this country right now. But a lot of bad things can happen to you if you openly suggest that you're a

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Christian. So we have a decision to make. Are we going to hide the fact that we're Christians? Or are we going to broadcast it?

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Are we going to make everyone aware that we believe that there are things that we know, things that we believe, and that we are going to share them with one another and with the world?

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That's a decision we're all going to have to make. And then Hebrews goes on to talk about marriage.

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Marriage is honorable and all, and the bed undefiled. But whoremongers and adulterers

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God will judge. John MacArthur said this, God highly honors marriage, which

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He instituted at creation. Verse 2, verse 24 of chapter 2 of Genesis, Genesis 2, 24.

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Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.

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So God highly honors marriage, which He created, which He instituted at creation.

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But some people in the early church considered celibacy to be holier than marriage.

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And that's an idea that Paul strongly denounced in 1

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Timothy. 1 Timothy 4 .1, he says this, Now the

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Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter days some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrine of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron.

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And guess the first lie that Paul mentions? Verse 3, forbidding to marry.

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That's the very first one he spoke of, that there will be people speaking lies, forbidding to marry.

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Now sexual activity in the marriage is pure, but any sexual activity outside marriage brings one under divine judgment.

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God will judge, not me, not anyone else, not the church. God will judge, but God prescribes serious consequences for sexual immorality.

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So now we are to verse 5. Let your conversation, that's not what you're talking about, that's how you're living, your lifestyle.

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Let your conversation, lifestyle, be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have.

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It says, do not covet, be content. God will take care of all of your needs.

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Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 6 .10, For the love of money, not money, money is not the problem.

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You can do good things with money. You can do bad things with money. But the love of money, putting money ahead of God, that's not good.

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In fact, that's the root of all evil. For the love of money is the root of all evil.

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Which while some coveted after, they have erred from the flesh, faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

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And then verse 5 continues, For he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.

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That's a pretty strong statement, even in English. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.

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But Charles Spurgeon pointed out, to those that are familiar with the Greek text, which I am not, that there are five negatives here.

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We cannot manage five negatives in English.

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This is Charles Spurgeon speaking. But the Greeks find it not too large a handful.

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Here the negatives have a five -fold force. It is as though it said,

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I will not, not leave thee. I will never, no never forsake thee.

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So that's a strong statement of the Lord being with us at all times.

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He will never, never, never, never, never leave us. That's what he's saying. Five times never, five times as important.

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Doubling makes it more important. Tripling makes it more important. Five times it says,

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I will never forsake thee. And then Spurgeon goes on to say, I cannot under the influence of this grand text, find room for doubt or fear.

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I am not going to attempt such a thing, but I can not be despondent with such a text as this.

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I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. I defy the devil himself to mention circumstances under which

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I ought to be miserable, if this text is true. Child of God, nothing ought make you unhappy when you can realize this precious text.

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So we put everything in perspective. The one thing that we have to realize is, God will never forsake us.

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He will provide for our needs. He knows what our needs are. He will provide us just as much as we need, just when we need it.

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All we need to do is rely on him. So that we may boldly say, the

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Lord is my helper and I will not fear what men shall do to me.

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So whatever the world tries to do to you, it doesn't matter. God is your helper and your protector.

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Just be confident. Romans 8, 31 says this, what shall we say then to those things?

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If God be for us, who can be against us? Verse seven, remember them which have rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation, considering the end of their life.

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What's gonna happen at the end of the life of those that have rule over you, the pastor, the churches, the elders, people that have authority in the church, that you are to listen to what they say, remember them, remember them that have rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, follow their faith, considering the end of their life.

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The writer reminds the Hebrews of their own faithful leaders within the church. And in doing so, he outlines the duties of the pastor.

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One, to rule the church. Two, to speak the word of God.

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And three, and this may be the most important thing that they do, establish the pattern of faith for the people, for the congregation to follow.

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That's the pastor's role. Now, more will be said about following secular leaders a little bit later when we reach verse 17.

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But for now, we're gonna continue. We're gonna go to Acts chapter 20, verses 28.

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And this is being spoken to church leaders.

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Take heed therefore unto yourself and to all the flock over which the

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Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

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It's not your church. It's not Brother David's church. It's not my church. It's God's church.

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For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock, also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them.

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Therefore, watch and remember that by the space of three years, I cease not to warn every one night and day with tears.

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Now, we go back to Hebrew and it says, Jesus, the same yesterday, today, and forever.

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Jesus is unchangeable. He is what he has always been. And he's always been our creator and our savior.

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Be not carried away with diverse and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace, not meats, which have not profited them, which have been occupied therein.

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And this strange doctrines that he's talking about would include any doctrine, any teaching not consistent with God's word.

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So that's what the pastor or the speaker has to be aware of, that anything you teach must be consistent with the word of God.

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Otherwise, it is strange and diverse doctrine.

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Now, the next three verses, in the next three verses, John MacArthur says, the writer of Hebrews presents an analogy for believers' identity with Christ and the rejection by the

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Jews. So here's what happened. The body of animals offered on the day of atonement were not eaten, but were burned outside the camp.

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Jesus, who was the ultimate atoning sacrifice, was similarly crucified outside the gates of Jerusalem, outside the camp.

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The animal sacrifice is spoken of in Leviticus 16, and the bullock for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp, and they shall burn in the fire their skins and their flesh and their dung.

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So an animal was brought in to be sacrificed into the temple, it was slaughtered, the blood sprinkled on the altar, and now what happened to the animal?

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The animal was not eaten as most of them were. This is an atoning sacrifice. The animal was taken outside the gates of the city, outside the temple, and there it was disposed of by being burned.

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Everything was burned. The skin, the bones, the flesh, everything. Nothing was left.

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That was the animal sacrifice. That's the way the Hebrews, under the law, disposed of the atoning sacrifice.

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Now we look at the sacrifice of Jesus. What happened to him? John 19, 16 through 18, talks about it.

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Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. So Pilate has turned

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Jesus over to the Jews to be taken out and crucified.

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And they took Jesus and led him away. And he, bearing his cross, went forth into a place called the place of the skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgoth, where they crucified him and two others with him on either side, one and Jesus in the midst.

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So they carry him outside the city walls, outside the city of Jerusalem, onto a nearby mountain where he is crucified, outside the gout.

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Figuratively, believers must join him outside the camp of the world, no longer being a part of its unholy system and practices.

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By extension, this would also depict the departure from the Levitical system for the

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Jews. The uncommitted Hebrew needed to take the bold step of leaving the

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Levitical system and being outside the camp of the old covenant

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Israel. So they are entering into a new covenant, into a new relationship with God, and they're abandoning the old relationship.

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They've got to be outside the old camp and in the new camp. Now, verse 10 of Hebrews refers to that.

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We have an altar therefore, whereof they have no right to eat, which serve the tabernacle.

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If you're still under the old system, you have no right to eat of the new tabernacle.

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For the bodies of those beasts whose blood is bought, brought into the camp by the high priest for sin are burned without the camp.

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You can't be in the Levitical system and in the new covenant at the same time.

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You're in one or the other. And that's what's happening to these Hebrews. They're wavering on the edge, some in the new, some in the old, and some wavering trying to decide where they belong.

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And this letter is to them, to push them in the direction of following Jesus outside the camp of the old covenant and into the new.

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For the body of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin are burned without the camp.

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Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.

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Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

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So what does it mean for a Christian to be without the camp, outside the camp?

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These Christians, you remember, have a Jewish background. And even though these Christians from the

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Jewish background were considered raised, existed out of the camp, even though that's what they've been taught all the life of the old covenant, here they must follow

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Jesus outside the camp. Charles Spurgeon said this, and I don't like this, but I guess it's true.

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It means first, let us have fellowship with him. To be without the camp, with Jesus outside the camp.

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It means first, let us have fellowship with him. He was despised. I might add, we will be despised if we follow him outside the camp.

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He had no credit for charity. I might add, we will have no credit for our charity if we follow him outside the camp.

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He was mocked in the streets. We'll be mocked. He was hissed at.

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We'll be hissed at. He was hounded from society. We will be hounded from society.

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So Spurgeon goes on to say, if I take the smooth part, I can have no fellowship with him.

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Fellowship requires a like experience. So if we're going to experience fellowship with Christ, we're going to have to have like experiences with Christ.

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As he was despised, we will be despised. As he was given no credit, we'll be given no credit.

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As he was mocked, we'll be mocked. If I take the smooth part, I can have no fellowship with him.

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Fellowship requires a like experience. Then he goes on to say this, a sorry life your master had, you see.

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All the filth in the earth's kennels was thrown at him by sacrilegious hands.

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That is a double aggravating meaning. Kennels is where you keep dogs.

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Dogs were very unclean. And what

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Spurgeon is referring to as the filth collected in the pens of the earth.

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Of the dogs, which were themselves unclean. All the filth of the earth's kennels was thrown at him by sacrilegious hands.

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I'm going to read that again because I lost the flow for myself. A sorry life your master had, you see.

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All the filth of the earth's kennels was thrown at him by sacrilegious hands. No epithet was thought coarse enough.

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No terms hard enough. He was the song of the drunkard. And they that sat in the gate spoke against him.

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This was the reproach of Christ. And we're not to marvel if we bear as much.

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Well, says one, I will not be a Christian if I am to bear that. Salt back then, you coward, to your own damnation.

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But oh, men that love God and who seek after eternal reward, I pray you do not shrink from this cross.

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You must bear it. And then he goes on to say, this is still

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Charles Spurgeon. If you can dwell with the wicked, if you can live as they live and be hell fellow well met with the ungodly, if their practices are your practices, if your pleasures, if their pleasures are your pleasures, then their

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God is your God. And he puts that in small letter G, small letter

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God, not really the God. If their pleasures are your pleasures, then their

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God is your God. And you are one of them. There is no being a

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Christian without being shut out of the world's camp. That was

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Charles Spurgeon. That's a pretty strong statement. Hebrews goes on to say in verse 13, let us go therefore into him without the count.

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Into whom? Into Jesus who is without the count. Let us go forth therefore into him without the count, bearing his reproach.

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For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come.

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If we bear his reproach, we will face great difficulty. And suffering. The good news is that for those who bear his reproach, the experiences in this world are the worst they will ever have.

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The experiences that you have, the reproach you have, the things that you experience in this world will be the worst you will ever have.

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You're looking forward to a better place. For the cowards who turned their back on Jesus, the bad news is this is the absolute best they will ever have it.

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It will only get worse for them from here. Verse 15.

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By him, it's by Jesus. Therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually.

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That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. John MacArthur said this, as seen throughout the book of Hebrews, sacrifices were extremely important under the old covenant.

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Under the new covenant, God desires praise and thanksgiving.

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Praise and thanksgiving of his people rather than offerings of animals or grain.

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He doesn't want animal sacrifices anymore. He doesn't want grain sacrifices anymore. What he wants is praise and thanksgiving.

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I almost said prayer, and I guess I could say prayer. He wants prayer as well. Since New Testament believers are all priests, they have offerings of praise, prayer, and thanksgiving to God.

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Well, how do we know that all believers are priests?

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Well, Peter tells us that in 1 Peter 2 verse 5. Ye also are lively stones, are built up in a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual offerings acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

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Now, what are those spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God? Is it the offering of a lamb on the altar?

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Is it the offering of a bullock? Is it the offering of grain? What is it?

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It's praise, prayer, and thanksgiving. That's what he wants.

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He doesn't want physical sacrifices. He wants spiritual sacrifices.

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The physical sacrifices were just a sign of the spiritual sacrifices that he really did want.

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So let's go on back to verse 16 of Hebrews.

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But to do good and to communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices,

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God is well pleased. Now, not only do we praise God, not only do we pray, but we are to know what is right to do and then we're to do it.

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Not only are we to praise God, we are to know what is good, what is right, and then do it.

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And moreover, what good things we have, what good things God has brought into our life, we're to share it with others, both those less fortunate and those more fortunate.

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Verse 17. Obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourself, for they watch for your soul as they that must give an account, that they may do it with joy and not with grief, for that is unprofitable to you.

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Now, obey them. Obey whom? Who's it talking about? Well, let me point out.

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It's talking about those who watch for your soul and keep in mind that they must give an account for how they dealt with you, that they may do their dealings with joy and not with grief.

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So obey whom? Primarily, this verse applies to pastors and elders of the church who exercise the very authority of Christ when they preach, teach, and apply scripture.

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They serve the church on behalf of Christ and must give Him, must give

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Christ an account of their faithfulness. There are those who would extend this obedience to secular leaders, such as the president.

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So what do you think? Do we owe this obedience to secular leaders?

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Okay, I'm gonna tell you what they do. There are those who would extend this obedience to secular leaders and they cite this verse,

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Romans 13, verse one. Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers for there is no power but of God.

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The powers that be are ordained of God. So that's what they say.

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Okay, this obedience should be carried on and carried out to even secular leaders because if a secular leader is in power, then it's because God let him be in power.

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He let Saul be in power after David was the king. David scrambled for his life years and years before the

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Lord made the change. Okay, I think

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I've got that covered in the next sentence. But even if you accept this premise as proper teaching, even if you accept the premise that even secular leaders are in power because God allows them to be in power, okay?

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If you accept that as proper teaching, there's still exceptions to obeying secular leaders.

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And I'm gonna give you an exception. And this was one that is not probably as much as the one that you're talking about,

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Brother David, but this is in Acts 5, verse 25. Then came one and told them, saying, behold, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching people.

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Now, Peter was among the men that were speaking and he had been told to stop, been told to stop preaching about this man.

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And so somebody came in and reported, well, they haven't stopped.

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You put them in prison, we let them out, and now they're back teaching again. Then came one and told them, saying, behold, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.

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Then went the captain with the officers and brought them without violence for they feared the people lest they should have been stoned.

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So they're a little bit worried. The captain and the guard were a little bit nervous about the people. They thought the people might stone them.

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So they brought the men gently for they feared the people lest they should have been stoned.

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And when they brought them and set them before the council, the high priest asked them, saying, did we not straightly command you that you should not teach in this name?

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Didn't we tell you before we let you out of prison not to go teach these guys, teach this stuff?

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And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood upon us.

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That was the high priest speaking. Now here's Peter's answer. Did he say, yes, sir, we'll do it?

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Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey

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God rather than men. So I think in the short case, brother

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David, that's the answer to your question. If they tell you to take the mark of the beast, you say, no.

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Will there be consequences? Yes. Will there be serious consequences for you?

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Yes. Will there be consequences for them? Yes. How serious yours?

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Just a moment. How serious theirs? For an eternity. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey

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God rather than men. Well, that didn't make them happy. The God of our fathers, this is

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Peter still speaking, the God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.

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Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be the prince and a savior.

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For to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

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And we are his witnesses of these things. And so is the Holy Ghost whom

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God has given to them that obey. Now I wanted to stop and just do one thing here.

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Who has the Holy Spirit given to them? His children,

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God's children. And it's not just God's children. It's God's children who are obeying.

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If you're not obeying God, even if you're in God, if you're one of God's children and you're not obeying him, you are sinning.

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We know that right away. Is the Holy Spirit given unto you then?

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No. If the Holy Spirit was acting then, you've kind of shut him out.

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If the Holy Spirit was acting then, then you would not be doing what you're doing.

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You can't be following the Holy Spirit and sinning. You can't do that.

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I'm sorry. He still is within us. And we will eventually, if we are his, we will eventually quit sinning.

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We will repent and he will be faithful to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. All will be forgiven.

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But there are times in our life when we are not walking in the Spirit. I think it's the way Brother David always puts it.

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We're either walking in the Spirit or we're walking in the flesh. If we're walking in the flesh, we can't be walking in the

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Spirit. And if we're walking in the Spirit, we can't be walking in the flesh. Okay.

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So now they heard what Peter said. And this just is so representative of how evil people behave.

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Remember how that the captain of the guard took him, took them when they were out in the crowd, fearing that they might be stoned?

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Peacefully, gently, escorting them gently up to the high priest.

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Okay. So now verse 33. When they heard that, they were cut to the heart and took counsel to change, took counsel to slay them.

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Well, there was one guy there that thought this was probably not a good idea. Then stood up one in the council, a

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Pharisee named Gamaliel. He was a doctor of law and had a reputation among all the people.

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And commended to put the apostles forth a little space. He says, maybe you shouldn't kill them right now.

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And he said, you men of Israel, take heed to yourself what you intend to do as touching these men.

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For before these days rose Theodos, boasting himself to be somebody to whom a number of men, about 400, joined themselves.

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And he was slain. And all as many as obeyed him were scattered and brought to naught.

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And after this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing and drew away much people after him.

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He also perished. And all, even as many as obeyed him were dispersed.

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And now I say unto you, refrain from these men. Let them alone.

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For if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to naught.

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But if it be of God, you cannot overthrow it. Lest happily you be found even to fight against God.

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So that made sense to the Pharisee. And to him, they agreed. And when they had called the apostles, what did they do?

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Smile and wave to say, goodbye, go your way. And when they had called the apostle and beaten them, they were afraid to beat him out in the public, but they weren't afraid to beat him amongst their own.

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And they commended that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and let them go.

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So they beat him, said, don't be talking about Jesus anymore and let him go. So what did they do?

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They departed. They departed from the presence of the council.

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Rejoicing, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

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And then what did they do? Daily in the temple, in the very temple and in every house, they cease not to teach and preach

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Christ. So that's the answer to the question.

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What do you do when the secular leaders tell you to do something that you know is wrong? You refuse to do it.

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You do what's right. You know what's right to do and you do it. That's the theme of this whole book of Hebrews.

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The first part, revealing divine truth. The second part, acting on that divine truth and acting this way.

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If you know the truth and you fail to do it, it's a sin.

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If you know the truth and you fail to do it, it's a sin. What if you don't know the truth? You better learn it.

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You better study and know it. If you don't know the truth, you should study and know it. And then you should do what you know is true.

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Now, the writer of Hebrews is going to ask the recipients of this letter to pray for him. And I'm just going to read the prayer that he asked them.

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He says, pray for us. For we trust we have a good conscience in all things, willing to live honestly, but I beseech you the rather to do this.

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That I may be restored to you the sooner. Then he offers a prayer for them. Now, the

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God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make him perfect in every good word and every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.

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Amen. That's the end of the prayer. And then we got a tiny little hint of who might've written the letter.

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And I will just tell you upfront, I still believe the man that wrote the letter was Paul. Some people say it wasn't

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Paul because he identifies Timothy as a brother, not a son. But I think we all at one time or another refer to all believers as brethren.

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Verse 22, I beseech you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation, for I've written a letter unto you and a few words.

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Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty with whom if he comes shortly,

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I will see you. Salute all them that have rule over you and all the saints, they of Italy salute you.

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Grace be with you all. Amen. And I will use that as my closing prayer for this lesson.