TEXT: Hebrews 13:1-17

SUBJECT: Exposition of Hebrews #18: A List of Duties

If Hebrews is a feast for the soul, its last chapter is the leftovers. Though not as beautifully presented as the main course, it too provides a tasty and nutritious meal. Today, God willing, we'll try to "Gather up the fragments that nothing be lost".

The list begins with a call for brotherly love, v.1. "Let brotherly love continue". "Love" is nowhere defined in the Bible. But we know this much about it. It is always patient, kind, humble, and polite. It is never envious, selfish, quick-tempered, suspicious, or spiteful. The love must be given to our fellow believers. This is why it's called "brotherly love"--love for brothers in Christ.

Which ones? Every one of them. After all, if we but "love those who love us" (those we find attractive) our love is no better than the publicans'. Why are we to love fellow believers? Because God loves them. "Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God". Francis Schaeffer has properly called this love The Mark of the Christian. About its value, the Lord Jesus spoke, "By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another".

The second item is hospitality, v.2. "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels". The word "hospitality" means "the love of strangers". It carries with it the idea of being open, thoughtful, and generous. A hospitable person is willing to share his home and himself with others. And not just his best friends--but with others too, including people he barely knows.

Hospitality is neither easy nor cheap. Thus an incentive is given: "for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels". Is this true? It is. Abraham did; so did Lot; as did Manoah, Gideon, and others. Are we likely to meet angels? No. Then why bring them up? To make this point: hospitality is a blessing--not to the visitors only, but also to the hosts. Those who "entertained angels unawares" were blessed by showing hospitality. We will be too. Therefore, we shouldn't look at hospitality in terms of obligation. We should see it as a privilege. "It is more blessed to give than to receive". On this point, Lydia set the standard. When the "Lord opened her heart" under the teaching of Paul, she besought the Apostle and his friends to lodge with her. Acts 16:15: "...she begged us, saying, `If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay'. And she constrained us".

Third on the list is sympathy, v.3. "Remember the prisoners as if chained with them, and those who are mistreated, since you yourselves are in the body also". In the First Century, believers suffered severely for their faith. A few were jailed; many were otherwise "mistreated". They must be "remembered". Feel for them; pray for them; relieve their sufferings as much as possible. Conditions have changed a bit over the centuries. Yet the Lord's people still suffer. We ought to think of them. "Weep with those who weep". We ought to help them. "...whoever has this world's good, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?"

A reason follows: "you yourselves are in the body also". What does this mean? Some have understood it to mean that all believers are in the Body of Christ. Consequently, when one member suffers, all suffer with him. This is a true doctrine, but not the one taught here. "Body" means just that: the physical body. Thus, what he means is this: "You had better sympathize with others who suffer because you too are liable to the very same suffering. If you were in "prison", would you want to be remembered or forgotten? If you were "mistreated" would you want sympathy or a cold shoulder? "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets".

The fourth item is sex, v.4. "Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge". In the setting of marriage, sex is good. It is to be "honored"--held in high esteem by husband and wife. Nothing about it is "defiled"--dirty or unsanctifying in its effect.

Outside of marriage, however, sex is bad. Two acts are specified: fornication and adultery. The former is pre-marital sex; the latter is extra-marital sex. These acts, of course, begin in the mind with sexual lust. If the acts are bad, therefore, their causes are bad too. How bad are they? This bad: "God will judge". This doesn't mean "evaluate", but "punish". Immorality caused the Amorites to be expelled from their land and the Sodomites to be incinerated.

Fifth on the list is contentment, vv.5-6. "Let your conduct be without covetousness, and be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, `I will never leave you nor forsake you'. So we may boldly say,

`The LORD is my helper;

I will not fear,

What can man do to me?'"

"Covetousness" is a desire for material things. It reveals itself in multiple ways: it is unhappy with what it has; it resents what others have; it can never have quite enough. Most people live this way, though some conceal their lust better than others. But the believer must not. "Covetousness" is idolatry Paul says. The Christian worships no one but God. Therefore, you must not be covetous. You have no choice; your soul is at stake.

How do you resist it? It is very hard. Advertisers spend billions each year to make you discontent with what you have. But there is an answer: God's promise. Materialists need things to fill empty lives. The believer's life is full because the LORD has sworn "I will never leave you nor forsake you". This security leaves his thankful rather than covetous.

When we truly believe "The LORD is my helper", we won't be consumed by the "fear" of not having enough. Lenski writes:

The sixth duty is remember church history, vv.7-8. "Remember your rulers, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever".

This is more difficult to understand than the preceding verses. And harder to apply. "Those who rule over you" are evidently dead. They were the founders of the Hebrew church and its first pastors. Were they the Apostles? Maybe. But who they were is immaterial. The fact is they once "spoke the word of God to you". But no longer.

What are we to do with Christian leaders of the past? Most would say "ignore them". The Evangelist says otherwise. He tells us to "remember" them. The word means "keep on remembering them"--never forget them. He adds: "follow" their faith. They were faithful men. Their fidelity ought to inspire us to faithfulness. Paul says, "Note those who so walk as you have us for a pattern". Finally, we must "consider the outcome of their conduct". Their godly lives were amply rewarded. Holy men never die. At death, they enter life. Do you think Paul now regrets his "labors more abundant" or his "stripes above measure"?

"Mark the perfect man,

And behold the upright.

For the end of that man

is peace".

There is great value in Christian biography. It is hard to wallow in self-pity while reading the words of Job: "Naked came I from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD". It's hard to fear while thinking of David cutting down the Giant with a slingshot. But especially, it's hard to hate while recalling that Man who "when He was reviled, did not revile; when He suffered, He did not threaten..." The thought of such men is bracing to our faith.

"Thy saints in all this glorious war,

Shall conquer though they die;

They view the triumph from afar,

And seize it with their eye".

The value of their lives is this: their Savior is our Savior. The One who joined the men in the fiery furnace is the One who is with us in our problems. Because Christ is unchanging, we can trust Him to do for us what He did for the saints of old.

The seventh item on the list is doctrinal stability, vv.9-12. "Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them. We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore, Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate".

This is the wordiest of the items, of course. But with some care, its meaning can be unpacked. First, the duty: "Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines". Heresy is not unique to our age; the Church has been beset by it from its founding. They were "strange"--not in the sense of weird or bizarre--but foreign to the teaching of Christ and the Apostles. They were "various" because everyone seemed to have one. The Jews, in particular, had vagabond teachers, ready to peddle their doctrines to anyone who would listen. What were the "various and strange doctrines" of which we are warned? All we know for sure is that they had something to do with "foods". This may be shorthand for the whole Mosaic code. 9:10 speaks of it as "concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation". "Must New Covenant believers submit to the Mosaic system?" was a question which agitated the early church, perhaps, more than any other. The heretics said "yes". The Holy Spirit said otherwise: "It is good for the heart to be established with grace". The grace of God is of paramount interest. Why? Because these debates about food don't promote godliness.

Having said this, the writer goes on to anticipate an objection. If the Hebrews of the First Century disregard the dietary distinctions of Moses and--in effect--the whole culture of Israel, what have they got left? They were defined by their diets, by their calendar, and so on. V.10 tells them what they have left: "We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat".

What does this mean? By "an altar", I believe he means "what is offered on the altar"--namely the Sacrifice. What is it? Under the Law, it was an ordinary animal. Under the Gospel, it is Jesus Christ. Perhaps the Hebrew believers didn't have access to the life of Israel as they once had. But so what? They have access to God in Christ!

His blood "sanctifies" His people from their sins, their guilt, their shame, and their fear of death. The loss of the Tabernacle is great. Unless it is replaced by something better. Christ is better. Therefore, the Hebrew believer had lost nothing, but gained everything.

"All things which pertain

To life and godliness".

The eighth duty grows out of the seventh: openly identify with Christ, vv.13-14: "Therefore, let us go to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come".

In the previous verse, we were reminded that Christ died--not in the Holy City--but "outside the gate". This added to His shame. He died excluded from the commonwealth of Israel. His followers must go with Him. In context, it means quit Judaism. In application, it means we must be willing to "bear His reproach"--to lose the world's approval; to become "tacky" for Christ's sake. Are you willing to forfeit the smiles of the ungodly. If not, you're no follower of that Man who died "outside the gate". Jerusalem was no longer the Hebrews' capital. They sought a better home.

The ninth item on the list is thanksgiving, v.15. "Therefore, by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name".

About this thanksgiving, we can only say: it is a duty. If you are not giving thanks, you are sinning. It is a constant duty. We're not to give thanks only on receipt of special blessings--but all the time. When we receive good from the Lord or ill. "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you". It is a joyful duty because it is to be loaded with praise to God. I suspect we gripe more often than we thank God; I suspect our griping is more felt than our thanksgiving. God save us from this murmuring spirit!

Our tenth duty is sharing, v.16. "But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased". This speaks of charity or helping those less well-off than yourself. This has been mentioned before, hasn't it? Back in v.2, on the subject of hospitality. But the incentive has changed. Earlier, we were told to be hospitable in order to be blessed by it, "some have entertained angels unawares". But here, a higher motive is given: "with such sacrifices, God is well pleased". We're no longer thinking of ourselves, but with the pleasure of God. Men-pleasers are on every side. But where are the God-pleasers?

We ought to be such people.

The final duty is obeying your pastors, v.17. These men, appointed by God and chosen by His people are there for your good, to "watch over your souls". They are not perfect men, of course. Yet, it they're qualified at all, they will do you good. But only if you listen to them! Not slavishly, but insofar as they minister the word of God to you. When the pastor speaks from Scripture, God speaks! Hence, you must both "obey" outwardly, and "submit" inwardly. This will do you good and the pastors good too. It will allow them to "answer for you with joy and not with grief". Nothing is sadder than a pastor who has tried to lead his people well only to have them not follow him.

The Bible does not teach Rule by Elders--as though some authority was vested in the men or their office. It teaches Rule through Elders. They are to lead God's People into God's way. And, so long as they're doing so (albeit imperfectly) they must be followed.

If I have taught you to "hate one another", to "not overlook a transgression" or to "exalt yourself" disregard my words! But, if I have told you to "love one another", to "overlook a transgression" and to "humble yourself under the mighty hand of God" you must obey me and submit yourself to my advice. Why? Because I'm always right? Because I'm vested with Divine Authority? No! Because I'm but giving voice to the mind of God.

"Gather up the fragments that nothing be lost". May the LORD bless this mishmash for Christ's sake. Amen.