Perseverance

Good morning. Greetings to all of you this morning. Good to see you all.

Noticed Rebecca's back from Tanzania. Thank you. Good to see you again.

Very good. Brother Paul, good to see you. Thank you for coming and visiting us this morning.

Yeah, Julie, good to see you back from Virginia. Spent last Sunday with Shirley and Julie there in Virginia at the Mountain View Nursing Home. Enjoyed that time.

It was high time to pay you all a visit. OK, for this morning, we're going to do our last session on the book of Hebrews. So we did a quick journey through the book of Hebrews, chapter 1 and 2, primarily talking about the superiority of Christ.

Christ is so much better than Moses and the angels. 3 and 4, primarily the rest that we have in Christ Jesus. Chapters 5 to 8, the high priestly position of Christ Jesus versus chapters 9 to 10 were the better sacrifice.

And today, we're looking at primarily 12 and 13, including 11, not really spending much time there at all. And this would be the portion that we would consider perseverance, pressing on. It's the more practical side of the book of Hebrews.

Just a reminder, again, as we study the book of Hebrews, as you read it from time to time, there are two primary things that you should keep in mind that helps bring life to this book of Hebrews. And that is that one of the things that it is primarily bringing out is the fact that we have a better covenant rather than the old covenant. And also a warning for these Hebrew Christians not to apostatize and turn back.

Persecution was real at this time. And I believe that persecution was all the more temptation to go back to what they used to know. So chapters 12 and 13 are, as I said, the more practical side of the book of Hebrews.

But even in that, there's still that comparison. We have the comparison of different things throughout the book of Hebrews. And here in chapter 12, we have the comparison between Mount Sinai and Mount Zion.

So we could rightly call the book of Hebrews the book of comparison, whether it is the two covenants, whether it is the earthly versus the heavenly, whether it is the shadow versus the real. And so we see this comparison numerous times throughout the book of Hebrews. So this idea of perseverance that we can trace from the beginning of the book to the end.

And so I am simply titling my message today Perseverance. And perseverance is an interesting word. So you have kind of like prefix and the root word.

So you have per, P-E-R, which simply means through. And then you have the word connected, which is severe. And so perseverance simply means through severe.

And the call for all of us as Christians to press through even the severe times. One of the things we see in chapter 12 as we consider perseverance is that of the call to look to Jesus, look to Jesus. And the writer in chapter 12 reflects back to chapter 11 and considers the great multitude of people that have went before us, that have been faithful, faithful men and women who pressed through some of the hardest and most challenging situations.

And they were faithful to the end. We're now the ones. I believe the Hebrew writer is writing about.

We are now those ones. The Hebrew Christians were those ones that the Hebrew writer was saying, hey, you know, now you're the ones who are in this arena with all these spectators around. We today are now the ones in 2026 who are in this arena and fighting the gladiators and fighting the lions with all these spectators around us.

I think it does us good to get a grasp on the fact that there is a whole scene out there that's looking on. Good angels, bad angels. I don't know what the men and women of faith who went before, what they can see or not see.

I have no idea. But whether they can or whether they can't, these men of faith and women of faith that went before us, they're in those seats. And I believe their faith and their commitment and their perseverance is there and really encouraging us.

Keep going. Don't give up. Don't throw in the towel.

And don't go back. 2 Corinthians 10, three says, for though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.

So we're going to, once again, move through chapter 12 and 13 and just pick out some of the important and more major facts. Definitely spend a little more time on a few major facts. Maybe brush over a few other of the interesting points in these two chapters.

Last weekend when we were in Virginia, Julie and Shirley were very kind to us and they took us for a luncheon up on the mountain on Skyline Drive. And if you ever need a little bit of vacation and want to do something enjoyable, why pack up your tent and go down and drive Skyline Drive and tent out in one of their places where they have that you can set up tent. But anyhow, the Skyline Drive never run, it just winds across the top of the mountain.

And every now and then it comes close to the edge of the mountain where you can see out across the valley and across how many mountaintops all over through. It's just a beautiful view. And so that's a little bit the idea that we've been taking as we journey through the book of Hebrews.

We're driving along this scenic route. Once in a while we stop where we get a good view of the valley before us. And so that is what we'd like to do today.

So our first observation deck, our first stop as we're going through the book of Hebrews here in 12 and 13 is what we have here in chapter 12. In chapter 12, verse one, it says, "'Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about "'with so great a cloud of witnesses, "'let us lay aside every weight "'and the sin which does so easily beset us. "'Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, "'looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, "'who for the joy that was set before him, "'he endured the cross, despising the shame, "'is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

"'For consider him that endured such contradictions "'of sinners against himself, "'lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. "'You have not resisted unto blood striving against sin.'" And so it's the call to the Hebrews. It's a call for us today to not throw in the towel.

When life gets difficult, when those curve balls come our way, when life just seems to go on its head, don't throw in the towel. We've got the whole crowd of sufferers and martyrs, the men and women of faith standing before us to create faith and perseverance. I think there in chapter four, it says, "'We're not of those that turn back to perdition, "'but we are those that press forward "'to the believing of the saving of the soul.'" I think the specific thing that we need to connect with if we're not going to wash out is what it says here, looking onto Jesus.

And so it doesn't really matter what the situation we're facing. The whole difference, whether we're going to give up and go back is our look. Where are you looking? It says here that Jesus, he didn't give up.

"'Who for the joy that was set before him "'endured the cross, despising the shame, "'is set down at the right hand of the Father.'" We're supposed to be looking to Jesus. And he pressed on, that bright light beyond the cross was what gave him the perseverance to hang in. It was that joy that was set before him.

And so it's a call today to not spend so much time looking at our circumstances. Whether you're going to make it or whether you're not going to make it, whether you will make it well or whether you will not make it well is whether you look at or what you're looking at, whether you're looking at your circumstances or you're looking to Jesus. So right now, we're not necessarily having persecution the same way these Hebrew Christians were.

But nevertheless, we have things that want to take our feet out from under us. We have things that tend to put us on our heads, things that turn us upside down. They could be a lot of different things.

For some, it may just be a really challenging relationship and maybe a long-term challenging relationship. And after a while, we just get tired. A little bit like Elijah, when he said, I give up, I fought so hard for you.

And he went and climbed under a juniper tree and said, just take my life away from me. I'm the only one. It could be something so simple as a relationship that is difficult, that has been difficult, that is difficult, and that seemingly will be difficult.

And we want to throw in the towel. For some, it could be health issues. For some, it could be terminal illness.

For some, it could just simply be emotional and mental fatigue, and we just feel like giving up. Today, it's about the look. Peter is a good reminder to all of us about the look.

When he asked Jesus that he could walk on the water, he did well as long as he looked to Jesus. As soon as he looked at his circumstances, he started going down. And it's the same for all of us.

We need to have that look. Hebrews 11, 27, it says, talking about Moses, by faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured. Moses endured.

How did he endure? He endured as seeing him who is invisible. And so it's without question. Our troubles and our difficulties will set us on our heads if we focus on the situation.

But if we will focus on Jesus, he endured as seeing him who is invisible. And I told this story before, but it fits so well. The man that was in the concentration camp, maybe Siberia, I don't know where it was.

He was an older gentleman. His life was pretty much spent. But in the concentration camp, there was no care about human dignity.

They had to work a full hard day on a starvation diet. And this older gentleman, after being there for months, finally one day he said, I can't take it no more. He knew as soon as he gives up and he sits down and he refuses to work, he's gonna get whipped.

And if he don't get up and get to work, they're gonna whip him until he dies. And finally, after contemplating that long enough, he just said, it doesn't matter, I give up. As he was contemplating just sitting down and giving up, God in his mercy sent this other Christian who was in the concentration camp, who comes walking along.

And just as he got to this old man who was ready to throw in the towel, he took the stick in his hand, this other gentleman, and he wrote a cross in the dirt. And as soon as he wrote it, he scribbled it out because you didn't do those kinds of things in these concentration camps. And for this older gentleman, it was that one look at the cross that gave him the courage to say, to not sit down, give up and be killed.

And they say his story, he was in the concentration camp a number of more months from the strength he received looking to Jesus until he was finally freed. Our situations might not be that serious, might not be so life-threatening, but you know, those things that come our way that stand us on our heads. Looking to Jesus.

Are you looking to Jesus? Keep your eyes on Jesus. I thought I'd read what William Carey said. He said, I have God and his word is sure.

And though the superstition of the heathen were a million times worse than they are, and if I were deserted by all and persecuted by all, yet my hope fixed on the sure word of God would rise superior to all obstructions. I shall come forth out of all trials as gold purified by fire. And Galatians chapter six verse nine says, and let us not be weary in well-doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.

And so just the encouragement to don't give up. Make sure you look to Jesus. And sometimes we look at our situation and say, well, it's so small.

It doesn't even compare to what, it doesn't matter. Look to Jesus. Don't look at the circumstances.

You look at the circumstances, you're gonna go down. And the longer you look at them, the faster you're gonna go down. And if you don't resist the urge, the natural tendency of our human nature, the DNA to focus on our problems, you will go down.

So God help us. Moving along here in chapter 12, we get into this of chastening. In verse five, you've forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto us as unto children.

My son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourges every son whom he receiveth. And I have not, really don't understand what is just difficult situations that come our way simply because they are, we live in a fallen world.

What are situations that we bring on ourselves because of our own wrong decisions? What are things that God allows into our lives that are a discipline for us? I don't know how to sort through all of that. I believe God can even say some of the stupid mistakes I've made and use them in a disciplinary act in my life. So I don't know where to put all that.

I'm not one of those that believe that everything that happens to me is a discipline from God. And yet I believe God can use them and I believe sometimes they are. In verse six, it says, For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourges every son whom he receiveth.

If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? And so he's just trying to persuade these Hebrew Christians that God's work in their life is a good thing. And please look at it as a good thing.

So he's using kind of this metaphor of an earthly father. And I think we can reckon with the fact that every good home, and I'm talking about a good home where there's a good father, that the son has good discipline. I realize there's plenty of homes in our world today where it's not done right.

It's not done out of kindness and love. It's not done with the purpose of the best for the child. It's just a frustrated parent that's just out to punish the child.

And so if you're here today and you don't have a right concept, you can have a right concept because there are fathers who are kind, who do care about and love their children, and they do discipline them properly. And so that's what he's saying. That's who God is.

Proverbs actually says in 1324, he that spareth his rod hateth his son, but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes, or early in life. And so God is very interested in life, just as the father is, and maybe more so than a father. And he is allowing these things into our life or bringing things into our life and using them for our good.

So just as the discipline of a son or a daughter, it might be grievous. Nobody likes a spanking. I never enjoyed a spanking.

It does yield good fruit. I heard of a talk with a young lady a couple of years ago, and she was saying that she was asked to care for this other family's children while the parents went off for a little while. And as she was caring for these children, the little boy did something that was bad, and he had a guilty conscience.

He knew as a five-year-old what it took to clear up his conscience. To clear up his conscience meant a spanking. And so he went to this hard girl and said to her, I need a spanking.

And she said, I didn't wanna give someone else's child a spanking. But this little five-year-old knew that giving a spanking would clear his conscience and they could go on and happily play the rest of the day. And so she did what she didn't want to do, and she gave someone else's children, someone else's child a spanking.

Now, that is the way to look at God and his discipline. He loves me. He cares about me.

God's not out just to bash me around and punish me and get even with me and do something hard for me, so just to make life miserable, so he could sit up there and watch this and kind of get some kind of satisfaction out of a human being going through some tough situation. No, it's all with a purpose. Beautiful purpose.

And what the Hebrew writer here was saying, you're going through some really difficult persecution right now. Don't look at it as God's mad at you. Look at it as something good that God is using in your life and afterwards gonna yield the beautiful fruits.

For the child of God, suffering should not be looked at primarily as a punishment. Chastening, it may be, but not only a penalty of sin. When I disciplined my children, one of the purposes was to discipline them with correction in mind.

Yes, punishment possibly, but that's not the main thing. You did something wrong, you're getting a spanking. No, the spanking was to bring direction and correction.

And I think sometimes we get this wrong view of God, that God's just out there to punishment. I did something wrong, now God wants to smack me. I believe it's the same way.

God, yes, there's punishment, but the goal of the punishment is to give direction and correction. And I think if we can look at it that way, I think we can maybe even enjoy the discipline that comes into our life. And maybe we'll be like that little five-year-old boy that went to this hired girl and said, please spank me, I need a spanking.

If we can hold the idea of correction rather than only punishment, then maybe we can possibly see the good in it. God has our betterment in mind. This suffering does not necessarily have to mean that I've sinned, but whatever happened, let us make it make us a better person.

Someone once said, and I quote, some knees bend only under the load of a heavy heart. Some eyes are open only after the head is bowed. Good for us.

Job said, 20 through 10, but he knoweth the way I take. When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. So it has a lot to do with our attitude.

And I believe if we see it, God is actually building, purposing to build our character. That should be the point of every parent who punishes their child. This spanking, this punishment, this discipline is to build character in you.

When we find these difficult times, I would like to give you four things that might be able to help us through these difficult times. How we view it will probably be all the difference. Number one, we find ourselves in a difficult place.

We need to reckon with the fact he brought me here. God brought me here. God allowed me to come here.

God didn't keep me from coming here. I'm in this difficult situation right now because God brought me here. Number two, he will keep me here.

And that word keep is not meaning keep you in the circumstances forever. He will keep me. He will be there for me.

He will keep me here. And number three, he will make the trial a blessing. He will make the trial a blessing.

Do we believe that? And number four, in his good time, he could bring me out again. Just some things to remember as we go through suffering. We are not gonna be those that give up and turn back.

Another way that we could put this is I am here by his appointment, in his keeping, under his training, and for his time. I am here under his keeping for, what did I say? Under his training for his determined time. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or pearl or sword? Nay, in all these things, we're more than conquerors through him who loved us.

What is your attitude when you go through difficult times? There was a businessman, his name was Ken Hansen, and he went to visit his employee in the hospital, and his employee was just laying there. He had just come out of an operation. He couldn't speak, but pain and anguish was written all over his face and his eyes.

Ken, the businessman, said to him, you have had a number of operations. You have a number of operations to go. I know you cannot talk, but I think I know what you're thinking.

He said, we have two options. We have an option of two attitudes. Genesis 42, 36, all these things are against me.

That was spoken by Jacob. Or Romans 8, 28, all things are working together for good to those who love the Lord. Every day, we have a choice of these two attitudes when we face a difficulty.

We can be beat up or we can be upbeat. And which is it going to be for you, beat up or upbeat? Okay, Hebrews chapter 12, 14 to 17, follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord, looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God. Lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and thereby may be defiled.

Lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright, for you know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected for he found no place of repentance. So he sought it carefully with tears. Be careful, my friends, be very careful.

Looking diligently lest any fail of the grace of God. And I think that's where, when we see our brother or sister struggling, it's easy to just kind of ignore it or look the other way. We can't afford to do that.

We see our brother or sister struggling, we need to get beside them. Because if there's a root of bitterness that grows up in their heart, they become very, I don't even know what the right word is, but they don't make sense out of life anymore. And they can become very disoriented.

And so if you see your brother or sister struggling, nip it in the bud, help them overcome. Bitterness defiles not only the person that is found in, but everyone around. Some of you probably remember the gentleman that we did Bible studies with in the city 11 and many years ago.

They're an older gentleman, met him on the street. Here they lived in the house where they had, I don't know, cats and dogs, but it was so filthy. It was so strong spelling.

And we had Bible studies in there for a long time. And, but we come to a place where we couldn't go any further and we hit on this area of forgiveness and bitterness. And he said, oh yeah.

He says, I'll never forgive my family. And so we asked him about it. And here, he wanted to be a minister just like his dad was and like some of his older brothers were, but his older brothers and his dad told him that no, he can never be a minister.

And he became offended over that and carried that for all those 70 some years that he was living. And his life was in shambles, complete shambles. I believe just because of this root of bitterness and it not only defiled him, but it defiled his family.

We pleaded with him to just forgive. You can't carry this poison in your heart any longer, but he chose not to. I don't know what happened.

Sometime later, found out that he died. His two children that lived with him, I don't know. I think they ended up in some home of some sort.

But the Hebrew writer saying, be really careful. There's this root of bitterness that can grow up in your heart. It can destroy you and it can destroy your family and can destroy all those around you.

Another thing we see here in Hebrews 12, and I'm not gonna read it, but 18 to 29 is this other contrast between the old covenant, which is Mount Sinai. It could not be touched. It burned with fire.

It was black with smoke. There was a tempest. There was thundering.

There was loud trumpet. There was loud voices that all the people backed away and said, oh, Moses, don't let God talk to me. You let God talk to you and then you talk to us.

It was scary. It said Moses himself quaked. It's a contrast between the old covenant and new covenant.

But Mount Zion, the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, angels without number. What a contrast between the old and the new. Sinai rocked with earthquake and burned with fire.

None might touch it without incurring the death penalty. How much better our Christian heritage not a lonely mountain, but a city, a commonwealth of holy souls, not bands of worshipers gathered from the land of Canaan, but hosts of angels, the spirits of just men and our blessed Lord himself for the blood of animals, the blood of Jesus, for the old covenant, the new, for Abel's death beside his altar and the Savior's death on the cross. How different.

In chapter 13, verse one, it says, let brotherly love continue. And I'm here to tell you today, if you didn't know, that not everybody is lovable. Love doesn't flow naturally for everyone, towards everyone.

There's people that do things. People get under our skin and it's hard to love them. The scripture here tells us, let brotherly love continue.

It doesn't say any more than that. It just says, let brotherly love continue. As it has been, make sure it continues.

Don't let anybody get under your skin. Don't have any bad attitudes towards anybody. Love everybody.

One of the reasons we are so sad and depressed is because we destroy the very thing we love. Family members, church brothers and sisters, neighbors. Oscar Wilde described the restlessness of a prisoner awaiting penalty for the murder of his wife.

He paced back and forth in his cell. The young man is pictured as miserable, frightened, not because of his inevitable doom, but because he killed the very one he loved. The Irish poet maintained, yet each man kills the thing he loves.

By each, let this be heard. Some do it with a bitter look, some with a flattering word. The coward does it with a kiss.

The brave men with a sword. There's this little saying that it asks the questions, how would you like to be popular? Here's one way to be popular. Perhaps the most arresting bit of personal advice I ever encountered was this.

If you want to be popular, live so that a blind person likes you. The thing is that lasting popularity depends not on having good looks or other surface personality traits, but upon an inner quality that somehow communicates themselves to others. Such qualities include a friendly voice, kindness, thoughtfulness of the other fellow, sincere praise, gratitude and encouragement.

And the question is, how well would a blind person like you? Let brotherly love continue. Another little statement we have here in chapter 13, be not forgetful to entertain strangers. Imagine that day as Abraham was sitting under a tree by his tent and here comes these strangers.

Some of us don't like new people, don't really care for new people. It's not our first nature to go and meet someone new. But what if that day Abraham would have said, well, I don't know those people.

I'm just gonna kind of sit on the other side of the tree so that they don't see me see them coming and maybe they'll just keep on passing by. He would have missed the best opportunity in the world. The two men walking on the road to Emmaus, a stranger came up to them and what did they do? They brought the stranger into their conversation.

And that day, unknowing to them till after the fact, they talked with Jesus himself. And so here we have this little statement, be not forgetful to entertain strangers for thereby some have entertained strangers unawares. I wonder how many of you have entertained a stranger unawares? So we had these Indian folks called us a couple of days ago.

They said, hey, can we come visit your farm? We wanna see your farm. Sure, come visit our farm. Came to visit our farm.

We took them through, showed them the whole farm. They were just flabbergasted at the fact that we took time to stop and entertain them and show them the farm. They were just, the grandparents live in Connecticut.

The child and their children, the couple and their children were from India over here visiting. They're driving through the community. They wanna see a farm and so they Google and they find Sunshine Dairies and they call the number and say, can we come visit? And they were blown away that we would give them the time.

I don't expect they were angels, but how do I know? And I wonder sometimes if God is testing us and the strangers that come don't always look the best, don't always smell the best, don't always act the best. And someone said to me, why aren't more people out there getting help that they should get? I said, well, we naturally kick people to the curb. We don't wanna deal with them.

And I wonder how many of them are actually angels unawares. Another thing that it just includes in here as a practical encouragement is marriage is honorable and all and the dead undefiled, but whore mongers and adulterers, God will judge. You know, marriage can be so blissful, so absolutely satisfying.

But you know, we gotta get this one right. You know of the situations of people who have grown up in broken situations and they went through marriage and divorce, a couple of them and they find themselves in a really bad situation. The pain and agony of broken homes, divorce, remarriage, child support.

Humanity has brought a curse into this world through violating God's command on marriage and the millennials are reaping the horrible harvest of broken homes. And so I just want to encourage you as young folks, get it right, get it right. Don't mess it up, don't mess it up.

We've sat with them. I've sat with a number of couples who were divorced and remarried and they were reading their Bible and they come to a place where it says, you know what, we're living in adultery. One of the most, more painful and hurtful things that you will meet in life when that reality comes home to them.

We've got to get it right. We can't throw in the towel. We can't go back and go out into that mess that is out there in the world today.

And so I'm just going to encourage you as young people, get it right. Make sure that marriage is under the approval of your parents and the church. Make sure that your courtship is done well, hands off until the marriage altar.

Still remember that couple who got married at charity way back in the day. I would have thought that couple of all couples would have done it right. Disappointingly, they didn't do their courtship right.

And it was afterwards that we found out, she gave testimony, publicly gave testimony that every time she goes to a wedding and she sees this couple up front and they put their hands together for the first time, she ends up crying. She's weeping while the ceremony goes on because they didn't do it right. God made one man, one woman till death.

Why? Because he had her best in mind, a godly seed. Says here in chapter 13, let your conversation be without covetousness. It simply means don't be fond of money.

Don't let money get a hold of your heart. Money does interesting things to people. And I think it does things to people that they have no idea.

Let money be your servant. Let its influence be only for the betterment of your spiritual life and the fatherhood of the kingdom. 1 Timothy 6, 10, for the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

You know, there's an old gambling world out there. And the fullest of the gambling world, I'm sure there's nobody here that ever touches it. But you know, there's little different ways that money comes to us, you know, easy get.

Here's an easy way to get money. Let's just be really careful with that thing because money is really subtle. It gets a hold of the heart.

You know, it's really sad. We have those little gas stations right by us and you're out there pumping gas. And these people go in and they'll buy all these little tickets and they go out in their vehicle and they see them scratching them off and then they're shaking their head and they get out of the car and they go buy a whole string more and they go back out of the vehicle.

I think that's quite a life. I think we can do better than that. Two goals that I think we need to have.

One of the goals is don't make it your goal to become rich. And number two, if God entrusted you with riches, remember you're only a steward and you will give an account. First Timothy 6, 17, charge them a rich in this world that they be not high minded, nor trusted on certain riches, but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy, that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate.

Willing to communicate here is willing to spread it out. Liberal, give it away. Someone said money is in some respects like fire.

It's a very good servant, but it's a very terrible master. I understand from reading that when they excavated Pompeii, there was a woman that was buried. Her body was embalmed in the ashes from the Vesuvius.

And the interesting thing about this embalmment in these ashes were that her feet were turned away from the city, but her body was reaching back for something that was just out of her reach. And what was it that was out of her reach? That she was feet turned away from the city, her body reaching for something and frozen in that position. It was a bag of pearls.

Did she drop them? Did someone else drop them? Nobody knows. But that split second, forget it. The volcano has just erupted and this stuff, this ash is all coming after you.

This volcanic ash, lava, run, let everything behind. Okay, our third observation deck for today. And we find that in chapter 13 and verse seven, remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.

And verse 17, obey them to have the rule over you and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls as they that must give an account, that they may do it with joy, not with grief, for that is unprofitable to you. So we have those two verses stuck in here in chapter 13. Let me give you three Ps to remember in your relationship with your pastor or your ministers.

Number one, pursue a relationship. Pursue a relationship with him and his wife. Number two, pray.

Pray for him and his responsibility. And number three, partner with him. I'm gonna give you a little secret of what happens.

It happens in anywhere where you have authority working with those under authority. It can be an employer to an employee. It can be a father to his sons, a mother to her daughters.

It's something really natural that I think we have to identify. And that is when direction is given from those in authority, it can very easily put a distance. So from me to you, well, I wonder how they took that.

I wonder what they think about me now. I wonder how they like that. And I can be almost scared to pursue that relationship because I'm just not sure how they're looking at me anymore.

You might be, have just been given a little direction from your pastor and you're like, oh, I wonder what he thinks of me. I wonder how he feels about me. I wonder if he really likes me.

You know, that thing could play in any relationship. And I think we have to be aware of that. I want, we want a relationship with you.

Just because we speak into your life, we don't want that to stand in between you and us. Another thing I would like to say about the ministry here at Harmony Christian Fellowship, Brother Jesse, Brother Zach, Brother Clinton, Brother Linford, Brother Camp. Working with them in ministry, I can clearly say that I've never found them to enjoy being in charge.

I got responsibility over some other people, I can tell them what to do. I never find that attitude. Neither do I find the attitude that they're doing this and behind all of their wonderful things they do, that down deep in, if you dig a little bit, you find out it's all for selfish motives.

I don't find that. I see a group of men and women here in this congregation who willingly and with humility, really enjoy giving their life to serve other people. In verse 17, here in chapter 13, it says that they must give an account, that they may do it with joy, not with grief.

And I'm not sure if I know exactly what that means, but you know that it does happen quite often that we do need to give an account. So one of the ways it happens is if you wanna go serve in a ministry somewhere and serve, maybe give your time in service, oftentimes that ministry will call and want to know about this specific person. And then I have the privilege or the responsibility to give an account.

It happens sometimes where somebody wants to go on a camp project, we're called, they wanna be a part of a responsibility in camp, maybe it's a prison ministry, it comes in so many different ways that these questions come to us. And the Bible here is saying that those in the ministry are watching for your soul. They're actually doing it for your good.

And they're gonna have to give an account and they want to be able to give the account with joy. You know what another way comes very regular is young men, when you asked to start a courtship with a young lady, most times, most times, the father of the young lady will come to the elders of the church and ask, what do you have to say about this young man? You know, one of the most pleasant and enjoyable things I get to do is to say, I have nothing to say negative about this young man. He's all good.

I just had that recently with someone who wanted to, some school board who wanted to hire one of our young men and he called and I said, you know, I know the young man really good. I can say there's nothing. Oh, this fellow hardly knew what to say.

That's what you call giving an account with joy. I don't know. Will there be something about giving an account after this life is over? I have no idea, but I do know what it is about today and you can make it an enjoyable for me and good for you in the end.

They must give an account. Verse nine, be not carried about with diverse and strange doctrines. You know, we do ourselves a favor, staying close to others who can help us walk the straight and narrow road.

There is so many pitfalls, so many ditches and so many roads in the spiritual life. We need each other. There's too many people today who are going out there and they're saying, God told me to do this.

God told me to do that. God told me to do the other thing. You're listening to me.

You're saying, I don't know if God's telling you those things but they're so convinced and he gets swept off with these really strange teachings and doctrines that just something. There was a young lady years ago from another community that was here at our Bible school, maybe even more than one year. Today, she is now no longer a Christian.

She has changed her religion to be a Muslim and she has married a Muslim man. How do those things happen? What is attractive about the Muslim religion? I think one of the most completely astounding situations is that what happened in Missouri, there with one of the churches that we identified with as Charity Christian Fellowships and where this young couple got involved in these two other young people from church there and they went out with really, really a crazy strange doctrine and really went off the deep end and even they actually, these two young people drowned the child of the couple thinking that they were doing God a favor of some sort. How do those things happen? Now this beautiful couple who once was a beautiful couple, they're sitting in prison.

He's sitting in prison, she's sitting in prison. How do these kind of things happen? But in such little ways, it's so subtle for us that we need each other and we need to exhort each other daily and so much more as we see the day approaching. Brother, how are you doing? I see that you're hankering after money.

I see you're hankering after this. I see you're hankering after things you shouldn't be. Can we be there for each other? It's the call.

Be not carried about with diverse and strange doctrines. Verse 10, we're gonna go over just a few more things real quickly here. We have Christ as our high priest.

We have an altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. We have Christ as our high priest. His dying on the cross is that altar.

Those who are under the Levitical priesthood have no right to this altar unless they're willing to give up Judaism. Think is what our Hebrew writer was trying to get across. 12 and 13, wherefore Jesus also that he might sanctify the people with his own blood suffer without the gate.

Let us go therefore unto him without the camp bearing his reproach. Jesus has suffered without the camp. Verse 11, Hebrew Christians were being invited to join him.

They were to reject Judaism. And the Jews had rejected Jesus. You know, rejection hurts.

Rejection isn't nice. And there's probably a number of you in here that have felt rejection from your family because you have chosen a different path than they did. And I hope that you've done it with right attitudes and with the right reason and all of that.

But we know what rejection is. Rejection hurts. When another human being doesn't fully accept us, it hurts.

And rightly so. Jesus was rejected. He was crucified outside of Jerusalem.

He was put outside and we're invited now to go outside the camp with him and bear his rejection. Hebrew Christians knew what that was very specifically because they were persecuted for their faith. For you and I, it may not be on that level, but rejection is real.

And sometimes the rejection comes from the ones that are closest to us. Are we gonna be okay with that? Is it okay? It should never happen in a Christian home. Sometimes children feel rejected by their own parents.

Is it okay? Jesus was rejected. He was taken outside of the camp. He died outside of the camp.

A very vivid picture of rejection. And he's now inviting you and I. It's okay. Just make sure the rejection is not because something you did, but it's because of Jesus Christ.

And if there's rejection, why don't you just go ahead and embrace it and say, it's okay. I'm going to identify with Jesus. You will get so much mileage out of it.

Well, there's probably a lot of other things we can look at, but I'm going to close with this beautiful blessing that was written to the Hebrew Christians, verse 20 and 21. Now the 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 you perfect in 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.

Amen. If you're able to, let's kneel together for a prayer. Amen.

Father, again, this morning, we come to you. Some of these things are so lofty. If there's those of us here today that find themselves fighting a battle in their soul that maybe nobody else knows, maybe fighting a battle that the devil himself is fueling, that the devil himself would like to see that person throw in the towel and give up, I pray perseverance.

Through severe, strengthen those hands. Lift up those hands, strengthen those knees, make straight paths for the feet so that that which is lame would not be turned out of the way. Oh God, give us genuine love for one another, even love for the stranger and the nobody that's out there.

Give us a real passion to follow the beautiful doctrines that you have for us as your people. Marriage, undefiled, doctrine that is pure and holy. Keep us from erring out of the way and following strange doctrines.

May your grace and peace be upon each one of us. May you perfect in us that good work that you've started. Bless each one that's here today.

We pray in Jesus' name, amen.