Sunday Sermon host unpacks Hebrews 13:7–16, warning against "strange teachings" like mystical meat benefits or Sabbath chair-dragging prohibitions that perverted Old Testament laws. He contrasts Jesus' sharp rhetoric toward hypocritical religious leaders with modern misuse of sarcasm, arguing context dictates whether words are harmful or necessary. Rejecting Gnostic body-denial and suicidal urban church planting, he advocates a "500-year plan" for quiet family legacies outside major cities. Ultimately, the message urges believers to avoid trading divine grace for false atonement systems while supporting the ministry through reviews during economic struggles. [Automatically generated summary]
Transcriber: CohereLabs/cohere-transcribe-03-2026, WAV2VEC2_ASR_BASE_960H, sat-12l-sm, script v26.04.01, and large-v3-turbo
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Remember Past Leaders00:15:08
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All right.
We are continuing with our series through the book of Hebrews today.
Our text for today is Hebrews chapter 13, verses 7 through 16.
Hebrews chapter 13, verses 7 through 16.
After this text, next week, Connor will be preaching our text for us.
Then, after that, two weeks from today, We will have one final text in Hebrews 13, which will complete the book for us, and we will move on to something else.
For those of you who have been in the church for over a year now, you know that we've been in the book of Hebrews for over a year now.
So it's been great, but I'm excited to move on to another book of the Bible.
Thus far, our repertoire as Covenant Bible Church has been Psalms and Hebrews, and that's it.
So that's what we've covered, and we didn't even cover all the Psalms.
If we did, we'd still be there.
But Lord willing, we will move to another book of the Bible.
I like You know, Old Testament, New Testament, Old Testament, getting a little bit of both, a steady diet.
And so, very likely, we will be moving to an Old Testament book of the Bible because we've done the Psalms and Hebrews now.
I'd like to move to a narrative text genre of scripture.
So, instead of Proverbs or Ecclesiastes or even discourse between Job and his lousy friends, I was thinking more so a narrative text like Exodus or perhaps Joshua.
Exodus is great.
It'd be, I don't know, maybe strategic to preach through Exodus because you've got the attention coming from Jordan Peterson preaching through it as a non Christian.
So I could just one up him every single week, which wouldn't be hard.
It's a low bar for, you know, to beat a non Christian at preaching the Bible.
But I think Joshua might be where we land.
Exodus is kind of wandering in the wilderness, but Joshua is conquering the pagans' land.
I like that.
So, anyways, I'd be praying that the Lord would give Connor and I wisdom as we select another book of the Bible.
Very likely, We will probably pause for a couple weeks in between the two series to preach.
I like maybe a couple times a year to preach on the importance of church membership.
And then there's also a sermon that's been on my heart for a while, using, you know, of course, a primary text of Scripture, all expositional preaching, but a text that just really focuses on how to preach the gospel to ourselves and others as fuel in our tanks or wind in our sails for obedience in the third use of God's law as we seek.
For the law to be a lamp unto our feet, a light unto our path, the gospel fueling us towards that endeavor.
So, all that being said, we'll be in a new book of the Bible, hopefully within a month, give or take.
That being said, without further ado, let's go ahead and stand and showing reverence to God and how He's chosen to reveal Himself through His Word.
I'll read the text for us in its entirety.
When I finish reading the text, I'm going to say, This is the Word of the Lord, at which point I would appreciate very much if you would respond by saying, Thanks be to God.
One final time, our text for today.
Is Hebrews chapter 13, verses 7 through 16.
The Bible says this Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God.
Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods which have not benefited those devoted to them.
We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat, for the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin.
are burned outside the camp.
So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.
Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.
For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
Through him, then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name, Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
This is the word of the Lord.
All right, please be seated.
Let's go ahead and dive right in.
I've taken our text and broken it up this morning into two primary sections.
The first is verses 7, 8, and 9.
The second section will be verses 10 through 14.
Verses 7, 8, and 9, that's where we find the major, predominant theme, I believe, of those three verses, which is that it is good.
For the heart to be strengthened by grace, it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace.
I don't know if there's anything that we can do about this, Nathan, but and maybe it's just me, maybe from my physical position, I'm hearing something you guys aren't.
Oh, there it goes.
But I was just hearing this like a Gregorian pagan chant.
So I want to be thoroughly Protestant in my preaching.
Okay, here we go.
So It is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace.
Focusing our attention now on verses 7, 8, and 9.
In your notes, I've written the following commentary.
Hebrews chapter 13, verse 7.
It says this Remember your leaders.
I want to draw your attention to that word, the key word, remember.
Remember your leaders, and then also consider the outcome of their way of life.
The two words that I think really stand out that give us an idea of what's being conveyed in verse 7 of our text is the word remember.
And also the word outcome.
See, the apostle is not merely urging his hearers to observe and imitate the example of their current spiritual leaders.
I don't believe that that's the predominant point that he's trying to convey in verse 7 of our text.
I don't think he's saying, think about your pastor and observe his life, his teaching and life, and life and doctrine, and seek to imitate that.
I don't think that that's what he's saying.
And that's not a crazy thing to say.
Pastors should be biblically qualified elders.
And if they are biblically qualified elders, then they should ordinarily be a good example for the rest of the congregation to seek to imitate.
So there's nothing wrong with that, but I don't believe that's predominantly, primarily, what's being expressed in verse 7 of our text.
It's not look to your leaders and imitate their actions, but it's remember your leaders, seeming to give us this.
Indication of past leaders, remember your leaders and imitate not just their current actions that they're still walking out, that they're still living out, but the outcome of their manner of life, meaning that the verdict is back in.
And I said this last week without even looking ahead and seeing, you know, verse seven of our text.
And so last week I wasn't setting myself up as a prelude for today, but in the providence of God, it works kind of nicely.
If you were with us last week, I said that it's really helpful to give a lot of our attention to dead theologians.
Dead guys, you know, there's a few benefits.
One benefit is that dead guys won't go woke, that's a nice benefit.
Right, they're not going to disappoint you.
Right, if a guy's dead, then the verdicts come back in.
Um, according to our verse, that word outcome, consider the outcome of their way of life.
You're not just looking to their way of life as they're presently living it out, but you're actually able to look at the overall final after the fact outcome.
You're able to say, This is the way they lived, their life has been fully lived, their life is complete, and here are the results.
Right, the results have come back in.
We're able to weigh.
The results of a life well lived.
So the person can't disappoint you, but also you're able to consider and weigh the whole life of an individual, not just a portion of his life.
And you're able to weigh not just the whole life of that individual pastor or theologian, but you're also able to look at their life after the fact and say, here's the long standing ramifications, implications of a man who believed this, who said this, and who lived like this.
You're able to say, what's the 50 year fruit of so and so's ministry, their life and doctrine?
What's the, in some cases, 500 year fruit of so and so's life and doctrine?
And I believe that that's at least, I think, the primary sense.
Not that it's necessarily the exhaustive interpretation, but I think it's the primary interpretation of verse 7 of our text looking to past leaders, not just look to a leader, but remember, and not just look to their way of life as they're presently living it out.
But consider the final outcome because the life is over and the verdict has come back in.
So the apostle is not merely urging his hearers to observe and imitate the example of their current spiritual leaders, but rather he is urging them to remember the way of life of their past spiritual leaders as well as consider the outcome of their way of life.
In other words, the apostle is most likely referencing dead spiritual leaders from these Hebrew Christians' recent past.
I believe in their case, within their living memory, right?
Predominantly at this point, still an oral tradition.
Certainly, they had certain records and scrolls.
They could have, you know, the apostle could be referencing, remember and consider the outcome of Jeremiah's life and Isaiah's life, Ezekiel.
And, you know, he could have been looking to past prophets where there were written records.
But most likely, he's saying, remember that guy.
Who you had a friendship with, a guy from your own living memory, who you personally knew, but he's dead now.
And very likely, some of the individuals, these leaders, the apostle is insisting that they remember and seek to imitate not just their current actions, but the overall outcome of a life that's now finished.
It's very likely that the life that is completed, aka their death, was probably a result of persecution.
I think, at least in some part, the apostle is saying, Remember that guy whose life is over because he was faithful, that he actually was persecuted unto death for his faith in Christ.
But what is the overall fruit?
What is the final outcome of this individual who's no longer with you?
Imitate that.
And I want to pause there for a moment because it's easy to gloss over, but it's a really tall task that's being put before the hearers in the very first verse of our text.
Because essentially, what the apostle is saying is remember someone who died, not just dying in faith, but they died because of their faith.
Someone who is put to death because of their faith in Jesus and now imitate that.
The very, you know, I mean, those dots are so close together.
If you can't connect those, you're in serious trouble.
Right?
This is not a far fetched, you know, this isn't like some kind of Da Vinci code, you know, Tom Hanks, you know, secret, you know, behind closed doors putting it together, this and that, you know, far fetched outcomes and conclusions.
This is real simple.
This guy died because of their faith in Jesus and you should live the way they did.
But wait a second, the way that they lived resulted in the outcome was martyrdom.
The outcome was persecution.
The outcome was death.
And you're saying imitate that?
And I believe that the apostles' answer would be a rhetorical yes.
Yes, that's how we should seek to live.
Not hedging our bets.
Ultimately, the outcome is in the hand of the Lord who is sovereign over all things.
But we want to model faithfulness.
We're not opportunist, brothers and sisters.
Yes, we want to win.
Yes, there is a point too far that simply lends to just naive, foolish idealism.
And I see that sometimes in Christians, especially young male Christians, overly idealistic.
Well, I'm not going to do that.
It's like, are you trying to lose?
Right?
Are you dispensational because.
It's just a self fulfilled prophecy that every single decision you've made in your life is ensuring that secularism conquers.
So we don't want to be foolish.
We don't want to be naive.
We don't want to be overly idealistic.
And yet, at the same time, we also don't want to be there's two ditches here idealism and I think being opportunist.
On the other hand, we don't want to compromise, we don't want to win by cheating.
Because winning by cheating isn't winning.
In the long run, the outcome, considering verse 7 of our text, the outcome of someone who temporarily wins, but they win through compromise, through faithlessness to God's word, it won't be a long standing win.
In fact, it'll ultimately give way to an even greater loss.
So we don't want to be compromising opportunists, but we also don't want to be 19 year old single young men who are patriarchal but have no wife and children.
Jesus Is The Same Forever00:03:38
You know, and don't really, haven't actually lived anything out.
You know, they won't go to a church unless they have every single one of these doctrines that this 19 year old single man has never lived out in his life ever.
Right?
That's ridiculous.
So don't be idealistic, an ideologue, but don't be an opportunist.
Follow the example.
Remember leaders who were faithful.
Some of those, they died in faith, and some of them, they died because of their faith.
But either way, regardless of the outcome, whether it ended in persecution unto death or whether the Lord and his sovereignty chose to spare them, faithfulness is what should be imitated.
Remember your past leaders, remember their faithfulness, and imitate that.
Consider the outcome of their way of life.
Continuing, therefore, Hebrews 13, verse 8 serves as a reminder.
So, moving on now, it goes on to say, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
See, if Jesus were only significant for what he accomplished on the cross, then all that would matter is the past work of the cross remaining valid in the present and the future.
Therefore, I believe that what's being communicated here is that Hebrews 13, verse 8, so the very next verse, Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever, it's serving as a reminder that Jesus did not only die for our sins, but that he was raised for our justification.
And he lives forevermore as a very present help in our time of need.
Christ purchased grace for us in the past, and Christ continually provides fresh grace for us in the present.
The point is this without the lens that we're using to view verse 7 of the text, verse 8, it would be true.
It would be doctrinally, objectively, definitively true, but it would seem out of place.
Remember your leaders, consider their outcome of life, seek to imitate that.
Oh, and by the way, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
It's okay, He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, but why are you saying it here?
It seems as though it's just a true statement, but it seems as though it's a random placement.
But it's not.
And I think the reason why it's not random, but it makes perfect sense in the mind of the apostle, inspired by the Holy Spirit of God, to follow up on the heels of verse 7 remember your leaders and consider their outcome of the way of their life, seek to imitate that.
The reason why it makes sense.
To immediately follow that by speaking to the immutability of Christ, that he was the same yesterday, today, and forevermore, is to say that the same faithfulness of Christ for your past dead leaders will be faithful for you now.
The same faithfulness of Christ for your past dead leaders is present and abundant and available right now.
Jesus is not only the one who has purchased for us grace at the cross.
But Jesus provides for us continually, forevermore, fresh grace day by day.
His mercies are new every morning.
He provides for his people daily bread.
Jesus was with our forefathers.
He is with those who came before us.
One True Doctrine Of Christ00:10:29
Some died in glory, and some died in dishonor.
Some were exiled, some sawn in two.
I think all this is again.
Reminiscent of the previous chapters, namely chapter 11 and 12.
Hebrews chapter 11 gives us the hall of faith and talks about some who conquered, but it talks about others who were sawn in two, who were drawn and quartered, who were thrown to lions.
But in all these cases, for those who were faithful, they were only faithful because Christ was with them, because Christ was sustaining them by his grace.
And the outcome of their life, whether it be martyrdom or whether it be dying, A peaceful death at the ripe old age of 85.
In either case, the ultimate fruit of a faithful life is glory.
It's victory.
It's good fruit.
It's fruit worth imitating.
Now, going on, John Gill, who I've been using throughout the entirety of this series through Hebrews, he begins to commentate on verse 9 of our text.
Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods.
Which have not benefited those devoted to them.
John Gill, in commentating on those words, he says this.
The word diverse here, diverse and strange teachings, speaking to diverse.
The word diverse may denote the multitude of other doctrines referring either to the various rites and ceremonies of the law within Israel, within Judaism, or to the traditions of the elders.
Or to the several doctrines of men, whether Jews or Gentiles.
Whereas the doctrine of Christ and his apostles is but one, it is uniform and all of a piece, one piece.
And strange doctrines, because he mentions here in verse nine of our text, do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings.
So John Gill is bifurcating the two and saying diverse could just speak to the fact that there are outside of the Christian gospel so many.
Doctrinal options, but now he begins to speak about that's the diverse teachings.
What about strange teachings or strange doctrines?
Gill says, and strange doctrines may design such as were never taught by God, nor are agreeable to Christ, not to be found in the Word of God, and which are new and unheard of by the apostles and churches of Christ.
In a nutshell, what Gill is getting at and seeking to exegete verse 9 of our text is this.
The apostle is saying, Don't be led astray.
Don't veer to the left.
Don't veer to the right.
There is one true doctrine of Christ.
And there is continuity from the Old Testament all the way to the New.
There is one gospel of God.
There is one law of God.
Don't be distracted.
Don't be hindered, encumbered by all these extracurricular activities.
There are diverse doctrines.
And I think what the Apostle was likely getting at with diverse doctrines and saying within Judaism, there are all these different ceremonial rituals and rites and washings and purifications and sacrifice within the old covenant, namely within the category of the ceremonial law of God.
There is a multitude of diverse doctrines, but you have come to believe in Christ and that Christ is the fulfillment of those ceremonial laws.
Not that God was one way and now he's another.
No, see verse 8, right before verse 9.
Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
God did not change, but these things have been fulfilled.
So you don't need to go back to Jerusalem.
You don't need to go back to the temple.
You don't need to go back to the priestly animal sacrificial system in Israel.
You don't have to go back to all the different hand washings, all the different purification rites, all the diverse.
I think that's what the word diverse is getting at in our text in verse 9.
All the multitudes, all the many doctrines of Judaism.
But rather, you can stick to the main and the plain, the doctrine that is uniform, the doctrine that has continuity from the old covenant to the new, the doctrine of Christ and Him crucified.
That's, I think, what the apostle is alluding to.
That's certainly what John Gill thinks the apostle is alluding to in using that descriptive term diverse.
Don't be distracted or led astray by diverse teachings.
But then there's this word strange.
And I think John Gill, again, is right.
In concluding that the word strange teachings or strange doctrines is not saying, hey, underneath the ceremonial law of the old covenant of Israel, that the new covenant, New Testament Christian, is no longer bound by because Christ has fulfilled it, not because God is mutable and changed his mind and these things were bad, but now God improved.
No, no, let it never be said.
But rather, these things have been ultimately fulfilled in Christ.
You don't make sacrifices because Christ is the once and for all sacrifice.
You don't do hand washings and purification because Christ has purified us by his blood and washed us.
We don't have priests anymore because Christ is our forever high priest, not in the order of Aaron, but rather the order of Melchizedek.
He is a priest forever and he intercedes on our behalf.
So we're not doing these things, not because God decided, oh, that was a bad idea.
I used to be kind of legalistic, but now I've reformed.
No.
The God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament.
God did not change, but these things, types and shadows, have been perfectly fulfilled in Christ.
And they've been fulfilled in a sufficient manner.
We don't make sacrifices not because sacrifices were a bad idea.
We don't make sacrifices because Jesus nailed that sacrifice.
He nailed it.
He was nailed.
That's a double meaning right there.
That sacrifice is done.
It's done.
It doesn't need to be redone.
It's finished.
He's purified us.
It's done.
He's washed us.
It's done.
He's the forever high priest.
We don't have to look for another high priest to fulfill and replace that guy's position.
It's done.
All this is done.
And so, on the one hand, don't be distracted by the diverse multitude of all these Jewish customs, rituals, and rites underneath the old covenant that really were stipulated by God and really did have a purpose and really were required by God for a time.
But don't be distracted or led astray by them any longer because it's been fulfilled in Christ and in the new covenant.
But also don't be led astray by not just diverse.
Doctrines, things that God actually said under the old covenant that are now fulfilled, but by strange doctrines, aka things God never said.
Things God never said.
And what does He use as His case study, as His example?
It is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace and not by foods which have not benefited those devoted to them.
Again, just like verse 8, Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
It's not random.
This too is not random.
What we're meant to assume as we seek to interpret the meaning of this text is that in their context, within Judaism predominantly, perhaps there were also some Gentile pagan religions that had the same principle or concept, but likely within Judaism,
the diverse doctrines, the old covenant ceremonial stipulations, don't be distracted by those, and certainly don't be distracted by the strange doctrines that some of these current priests and religious rulers with esteem within Judaism are adding.
That God never said in the first place.
In other words, what's probably going on in that context in Israel at the time with these Hebrew Christians, they would have been subject to this, is that certain rabbis, certain priests, certain scribes were insisting that by eating certain meats sacrificed, not to false gods, but sacrificed in the temple under Judaism, that if you ate this sacrifice,
it would give you this form of strength.
If you ate that sacrifice, that whole burnt offering that was sacrificed with this ritual at this time by this priest, if you ate the meat of that sacrifice, it had these kinds of properties, benefits that would be a grace to you, that would strengthen you, that would produce for you some kind of advantage.
And I think what the apostle is getting at and saying, strange doctrines, is saying, this not only is this something that God has fulfilled in Christ, and therefore, You don't need to be distracted by anymore.
This is something that was never even a thing.
God never even said that you're going to be strengthened by certain foods in a mystical way and in some kind of religious sentiment.
That there are certain properties of this goat that was sacrificed on this day by this priest in this place.
That if I eat this portion of the animal, then I'm going to have this benefit and this advantage.
That's not a thing.
That was never a thing.
Not only are there certain ceremonial rites and laws and codes that you no longer need to adhere to because Christ has finished this, Christ has fulfilled this, but these are things that were never ceremonial rites or codes.
These are things that God never spoke, that God never presented.
These are just the doctrines of men.
This is where certain religious rulers have gone too far.
Contradicting Lenses For Truth00:04:08
In terms of application, well, I think there's two predominant Entities that we could apply this principle to, and that would be Jews and Roman Catholics.
Judaism still to this day, and Roman Catholics still to this day.
In regards to Judaism today, it's important that we remember, and I've said this before, but it bears repeating.
It's important that we remember that the problem with Judaism today, as we find it, and I think that our text is saying you are already starting to see the beginnings of this concept that I'm about to espouse.
But the problem with it today is not that it's half of the Christian religion.
There's a lot of evangelical Christians, I think, that operate underneath that presupposition.
And we just haven't been properly or thoroughly educated about Judaism.
We just don't understand.
We think the problem with Judaism is it's the Old Testament minus the New, right?
That it's half of the Bible, or if we're saying literal word count, then it's two thirds of the Bible, give or take.
But the problem is it just doesn't include the New Testament.
And with that, the biggest problem is it doesn't include Christ.
That they don't see Christ as the Messiah, that they're still waiting for some other Messiah, that they think Jesus wasn't it.
And that's a big problem.
Now, if that was the only problem with Judaism, it would be a significant enough problem to send anyone who prescribes to Judaism to hell.
So it's a big problem.
That's enough of a problem.
Any problem that's sufficient to get you to hell is a big problem.
It's a sufficient problem.
But Judaism is far worse than that.
It's not just, you know, we have the Old and New Testament as Christians, and Jews have the Old Testament.
No, the better way to think of it is that we both have the Old Testament and then we each have two separate, completely contradicting lenses, hermeneutical tools for interpreting that Old Testament.
So the Christian has the Old Testament and then we have the New Testament.
We read the Old in light of the New.
One theologian once said that the Old Testament is like a richly furnished room, but it's dimly lit.
And only in the light of Christ, primarily as Christ is in the Old Testament, but Christ clearly espoused by the apostles in the New, do we have the light then shed in this Old Testament richly furnished room where we can actually appreciate what's there.
That I can appreciate this beautiful room in the light of the New Testament.
For the Jew, it's not just they only have the Old Testament or missing the New, they have the Torah, Old Testament, and the Talmud.
The Talmud is their hermeneutical tool for interpreting the teachings found in the Torah.
So, just like we read the Old Testament in light of the New Testament, they read the teachings of Moses, what's actually in the Old Testament, that actually is the inspired, breathed out word of God.
They read that, but in light of the Talmud, which is in light of certain interpretations and exegesis and certain rituals and certain traditions by modern Jewish rabbis since.
The writers of the Old Testament who got it entirely wrong.
Got it entirely wrong.
So it's not just, hey, it's incomplete.
They have the truth, but just incomplete truth.
No.
No, we both share the truth of the Old Testament, and then theirs has been thoroughly perverted, twisted, and dismantled.
And ours has been fleshed out.
The truth that was always there about Christ, all the types, all the shadows pointing towards the Messiah.
But now clearly revealed in the writing of the New Testament by the apostles, commissioned by Christ Himself.
Sabbath Misinterpretations Explained00:04:46
That's the difference.
And so, what we see in Judaism still to this day is not just diverse teachings, all the requirements of the ceremonial laws, right?
That if you're on an elevator and it's the Sabbath and you're in Israel, right, that's not going to work because it lights, you push that button and it's going to light a small little spark, and that's lighting a fire, and that's working on the Sabbath.
And so, what happens on the Sabbath on Saturday, if you're in Israel, the elevators stop on every floor.
And it's automatically programmed so that nobody has to break the Sabbath by pushing that button.
So, you've got the diverse teachings, and that's the same way, for the record, that the Pharisees and Sadducees were starting to misinterpret the Sabbath even at the time of Christ 2,000 years ago.
That some of his disciples were plucking heads of grain as they were walking with Jesus and eating the grain.
And the Pharisees complain and say, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath.
Now, do you know why that's not lawful?
Because, I mean, you could take something off of a plate and do the physical motion with your hand of taking food and putting it in your mouth on the Sabbath.
But the reason why plucking a head of grain was not permitted on the Sabbath is because that constituted harvesting.
You're harvesting.
Did you know that on the Sabbath, at the time of Jesus, they had determined that you could pick up a chair in your home and you could walk with it a certain distance?
Right, so the man who Jesus healed, and he says, Take up your mat and go home.
Well, he went too far, right?
So that was breaking the Sabbath.
He was carrying his mat too far.
But you could on the Sabbath, according to the Pharisees and scribes and religious rulers, you could pick up a chair in your house and go a short distance and move it.
But you couldn't drag the chair.
Why could you not drag it?
That's literally less energy being exerted.
So it actually would be less work.
Seems counterintuitive.
But the reason why you couldn't drag it is because if you dragged a chair on the ground with dirt floors, it would pierce the surface of the ground and that would be plowing.
Right?
So you can't harvest and you can't plow.
Now, Jesus comes and says, Hey, forget the Sabbath.
No, that's where the evangelicals are wrong.
98% of them.
But no, he doesn't say, Forget the Sabbath.
He says, I'm Lord of the Sabbath.
I'm Lord of the Sabbath, which means I get to decide how the Sabbath works.
You don't tell me how me and my disciples should observe the Sabbath.
I'll tell you.
I'm the Lord of the Sabbath.
And the Sabbath, he goes on to say, Man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for the Sabbath.
For man.
In other words, Jesus is saying it's not as though God created the Sabbath on the sixth day and then man on the seventh and said, I made this holy day on the sixth day and now I've got to create image bearing creatures because somebody's got to observe it.
I made this special day.
The day is what really counts and now I need to make, you know, just little peons to, you know, to pay credence, proper credence to my special day.
No.
No, God created man on the sixth day and he created the Sabbath for man on the seventh.
The Sabbath is not a day of rest because God was weary.
That's blasphemy.
That's heresy.
He is the Lord.
He does not grow weary, nor does he grow tired.
God does not rest on the seventh day and bless it and make it holy because he just worked so hard on the first six days that he was out of breath.
That's not what takes place.
God rests, as it were.
We should understand that analogically.
But God rests, as it were, on the seventh day to set a pattern and an example for his finite.
God, who is infinite, needs no rest, but he sets an example for his finite creatures so that we might imitate his example and find the rest that he doesn't need, but we do.
The Sabbath is actually a gracious gift of God to man.
And Jesus is reminding the religious rulers of his day who already weren't just weighing the people down with diverse doctrines.
Meaning a bunch of doctrines, but that actually were technically true within the ceremonial law category of the old covenant.
No, they were wearing people down with strange doctrines, aka certain interpretations of the ceremonial law that really did come from God, but then twisting it and tweaking it to where they could uphold it, but everybody else couldn't.
Jesus also says, you know, you put heavy labor and heavy loads on people that weigh them down.
Sharp Words Used Sinfully00:13:19
But you yourself, you're not even willing to lift these with a finger.
Or you travel overseas and over country to make one proselyte, that's one convert, to do the work of an evangelist within Judaism.
And when you do actually experience success in converting someone, you make them twice the son of hell that you are.
Jesus also says to the Pharisees and religious rulers of his day, he says, listen to what they teach, but do not do as they do.
What's the number one word?
Think about this for a moment and think of the theological implications.
What's the number one word used by Jesus to describe the religious rulers of his day?
Hypocrite.
Not, now, this is where evangelicals will lose their mind.
Okay?
So, just, trigger warning.
It's going to be hard for some of you.
The number one word that Jesus uses to describe the religious rulers of his day is not legalism.
He doesn't say, you legalist.
You tell people that obedience in every realm of life is something that God requires.
Okay?
Jesus never contests that concept.
He never says they're legalists that tell people they need to work hard to seek to be obedient to God.
That's not Jesus' beef with the Pharisees.
His beef is, you hypocrites.
Meaning what?
What is the logical conclusion?
What's the simple implication of that statement?
It means the Pharisees' teaching, sometimes it's strange and diverse, sometimes it's off, but a lot of times it's right.
And the problem with the Pharisees is not that they tell people that obedience matters.
The problem with the Pharisees is that they tell people obedience matters, but personally, they don't do it.
They don't obey.
Now, think of the average evangelical today.
What do they think when they think, who's the bad guy?
Who's the bad guy?
Well, the bad guy is the Pharisee.
And what?
Well, that's true.
They were the bad guys.
But then the question is, what was the quintessential characteristic and mark of a Pharisee?
Ask the average evangelical, and they'll say, Well, the mark of a Pharisee is that they cared about obedience.
The mark of a Pharisee is that they said God had a law and that people should follow it.
That's mean.
No.
No, the mark of a Pharisee is that about 90% of the time their teaching was true.
The problem is that they were hypocrites and did not actually follow their own doctrine.
I mean, Jesus even says when it comes to tithing, think about this for a second.
Jesus says, You have heard the Pharisees, they tithe down to 10% of their dill and spice.
Right?
So the Pharisees and scribes, they're taking their spices in their spice cabinet.
They're taking cumin, they're taking paprika, and they're drawing out lines on the counter and measuring it with a ruler and cutting off 10% and bringing it to the synagogue.
And you expect Jesus is going to say, Isn't that legalistic?
He doesn't say that.
He says, But they've neglected the weightier matters of justice and mercy.
And then Jesus literally says, You should do the former.
That thing isn't legalistic.
They're actually right.
And you should do it too.
But don't be like the Pharisees and do the other stuff also.
So do this little thing.
Jesus doesn't say, This is a little thing and it doesn't matter.
And God's law is really up for grabs and it's subjective and it's interpretation, and you know, to each his own.
Just follow Jesus and whatever you think God might be leading you to do, you know, and it's just live your truth, man.
Said Jesus never.
That's not what he says.
He says, This seemingly little thing, he doesn't condemn it.
He says, You should do this little thing too.
But don't you dare do a little thing at the expense of the big thing.
What's the other way that Jesus espouses this principle?
The Pharisees, what do they do?
They strain gnats, right?
So it's like they're drinking.
Imagine this illustration.
Jesus is, I love the way that Jesus speaks.
He's a master of imagery and mockery.
Jesus is wonderful at mocking people.
We need to make mocking great again, right?
We need to make a hat, make mockery great again.
Because people always say, you know, be like Jesus.
Okay, let's be like Jesus.
Let's imitate him and his love.
And let's imitate him and his serrated edge.
Let's imitate Christ in every way.
And you know what?
You always hear from people, this will be the counter, right?
So if you use a serrated edge, if you use sarcasm, strong, sharp language, now you shouldn't use it all the time.
But if you're using sharp language in conducive environments at the proper time with the proper audience, a lot of times people say, Well, that's mean, that's not winsome.
And they'll write you off, right?
And ad hominem attacks, right?
They won't actually engage your argument, but they'll just dismiss you on the basis of character or whatever it may be.
You're not being gentle.
You're not being kind.
You're not being this.
You're not being that.
And then you point out to them the words of Jesus and the example of Jesus.
And then, you know, they have to have a counter.
They can't tell you, like, nobody can actually defend that Jesus was nice.
That is a statement that is indefensible from the scripture.
You can't look at a Bible and say Jesus was nice, right?
So nobody even tries that argument.
So you show them all the examples of Jesus not being nice according to our modern standards of niceness.
So then what's the retort?
What's the counter?
The counter is going to be, yeah, but that was Jesus, right?
That's the counter, right?
They can't actually defend, well, Jesus was nice and you should be nice too.
So instead, they'll concede your point.
Yeah, well, Jesus actually used some strong language from time to time, but.
Jesus is an exception.
To which I would respond and say, Well, Jesus was also loving and loved his own unto death.
That's Jesus.
Don't expect any sacrifice from me.
This is the Son of God.
Right?
You arrogant fool.
You expect that I'm going to love.
It's actually, I take offense, sir.
It's actually presumptuous and arrogant for you to even think it would be possible to even come close to imitating Christ in the category of love.
In fact, I think he's quite offended if anyone even tries.
So I'm actually, out of respect for Christ, I'm going to do my best to be as least loving as possible.
Apply that rhetoric, that argument.
Right?
But that's what we do when it comes to Christ and his sarcasm.
We apply that argumentation to Christ when it comes to the category of his courage.
When it comes to the category of Christ being gentle and loving, Everybody needs to work harder to be like Christ.
But when it comes to Christ rebuking liars and blasphemers and hypocrites and enemies of the gospel, well, that's just something that we don't touch with a 40 foot pole.
Okay, now give me a biblical argument for that inconsistent application of your hermeneutic.
You can't.
So then be quiet and keep your criticism to yourself and just admit you're a hypocrite.
You're not actually nice.
You're not actually loving.
You're a coward.
Niceness is your euphemism for your actual issue, which is cowardice.
You're a coward.
And that's most evangelicals.
All that being said, going back to the straining a gnat and swallowing a camel, believe it or not, I remember what I was saying.
Straining a gnat and swallowing a camel, imagine that imagery.
I mean, this is mockery.
This is mockery.
He's saying the religious rulers of my day, it's like they've got a cup in their hands and they're sitting there with a net and they're straining out gnats.
But then sitting on top of the cup is a camel.
And once they get out the gnats, they go ahead and drink the camel.
Right?
What is he saying?
He's saying, they're idiots.
You're dumb.
You guys, you Pharisees, you're dumb.
And he's saying it.
Now, look, Jesus isn't passive aggressive, he's not effeminate.
That is a sin.
Right?
There is a way of using sharp language sinfully.
And I would argue that you have to be careful with the language itself.
That's the first thing that you look to.
When we're looking at a moral standard for using, as Doug Wilson said, Trinitarian skylarking.
When we're looking at using, utilizing the rhetoric of Christ and some of the apostles, I might add, and some of the prophets like Elijah, right?
Perhaps your God is using the toilet right now, you know?
Maybe he'll be back in a little bit, right?
That kind of language is in the scripture.
But when we're looking to use that language and to use it lawfully, rightly, morally, one thing that we should ask is the language itself.
We need to weigh that.
With a biblical worldview, with a biblical standard.
But then the next thing is this not just what is being said, and not just how it's being said, but this is one category that Christians often never even consider.
And it's who is it being said to?
Who is it being said to?
A lot of times, people, we just operate underneath this assumption that, well, you just, you can never say that.
There's not one scenario that ever morally justifies the use of this point.
Made in this way.
Right?
So you're considering two out of three important categories what and how.
What is being said?
How is it being said?
And I suggest, brothers and sisters, that there's an immensely significant third category, which is what is being said?
How is it being said?
But also who is it being said to?
Notice Jesus, he never aims the crosshairs of his sarcasm.
Of his mocking language at an old widowed woman who's poor and starving.
It's almost as if I think that third category seems to be the most weighty category, the who, who's the audience.
I think that's the weightiest category that you could measure by just simply looking at the life of Jesus.
It seems as though the major category, whenever we see Jesus using a serrated edge, a sharp tongue, It is almost always boils down to not even what he's saying or how he's saying it, but who he's saying it to.
If they're the leaders of the day oppressing the people of God, then Jesus has no qualms about telling them that they're dumb.
One final thing.
I like Amy Craft used this analogy.
I thought it was great.
Her and my wife were talking, we were all talking about kids.
And okay, but what about with our kids?
You know, because we have certain rules, there are certain words that Olive and Ruth and Eleanor are not allowed to say.
Oh, you looked up, huh?
Olive and Ruth and Eleanor are not allowed to say certain words.
But I've noticed that at first, if I wasn't careful, I could implicitly just say, You're not allowed to use this word because it's a bad word.
The problem with that argument, even as we're disciplining and training and teaching our children, is what do you do when you tell your kid they can't use a word because it's a bad word, but then one day they read the Bible and see Jesus using it?
Right?
So, what we've done instead is we've started saying there are certain words that it's not a bad word, but it's a sharp word.
That words are like knives.
Knives are not inherently immoral.
You're allowed to have knives in your home, but our three year old doesn't use a knife.
Right?
We're not saying knives are bad.
We're not banning knives.
Same with guns.
Right?
We're not banning guns.
No, we're saying, no, there's a place for this.
It's sharp, sure, but sharp doesn't make it bad because sometimes you need something sharp.
Sometimes you need a knife.
Avoid Diverse Strange Teachings00:03:10
Sometimes you need a gun.
But that's kind of the fourth category what's being said?
How's it being said?
Who's it being said to?
But then also who's saying it?
So the audience that you're speaking to, but also who are you?
And I would again suggest if the who, in regards to who's using the language, Who's saying the sharp words?
If the who is a 14 year old teenager and the who they're saying it to is their mom and dad, it could literally be a quotation of the words of Jesus and be sin.
You see, so weighing these kinds of things matters.
So, all that back to diverse and strange teachings, diverse and strange teachings.
The diverse teachings, I think, is primarily a reference.
This is verse 9 of our text, Hebrews 13 9.
Don't be led astray.
Don't be distracted.
Don't get off the rails with diverse and strange teachings.
The diverse teachings, I think, predominantly what the apostles are getting at, John Gill agreeing with this assessment, me agreeing with his assessment.
The diverse teachings are things that God actually said.
They're actually true, but they've been fulfilled.
They fall underneath the ceremonial law category for those who are under the new covenant and now in the new testament, post life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ.
These diverse teachings, they've been fulfilled.
They don't, that's not where you give your attention.
That is now actually a distraction.
That's the diverse side of it.
The strange side of it is among these diverse teachings that actually were given by God underneath the ceremonial code to Old Testament Israel under the Old Covenant, among those, they've been tweaked and twisted by religious rulers to say things that God, not only that God is now fulfilled in Christ, but things that God never even said in the first place.
That God never even said in the first place.
Like, don't drag your chair.
Right?
Find the Bible verse.
Where's the Bible verse that says, don't drag your chair three feet, even in your living room on the Sabbath, because that's plowing.
Now, see, that's a strange teaching.
That's not just diverse teachings, meaning there were actually a lot of divinely given ceremonial codes under the old covenant.
No, but there were also strange teachings.
There was bad.
Hypocritical exegesis and interpretation and application of that ceremonial code by hypocritical religious rulers of the day.
Both should be avoided.
And in the strange teachings category, the case study or example for that principle here's a strange teaching, it needs to be avoided.
Don't be led astray.
The example given is food.
Now, I don't think, for the record, I don't think that what the apostle is saying is there's strange teachings going around that if you eat vegetables, It'll be good for your digestion.
Spiritual Training Over Physical Health00:03:46
That's bogus.
It is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace.
I don't think that's what he's saying.
So, I don't think he's knocking health, which, to be honest, I mean, if I was just going to lean into my personal bias, then I would love to use verse 9 as an example, you know, as a platform to, you know, to make fun of vegans and, you know, all those kinds of things, which I think that's a perfect example where that tone of Christ mockery, vegans are a great who to fill in the, you know, kind of joking, kind of not.
But all that being said, the point is, I don't think what the apostles is getting at is that health isn't a thing in the mind of God.
Think of what the Apostle Paul says elsewhere.
He says that physical training is of some value, but spiritual training is of infinite value.
Have you ever heard the expression moderation is for cowards?
Right?
That's the tattoo that you get when you're 20.
It's just, it sounds great, but it's wrong.
Right?
That's foolish.
Moderation is for count.
What?
I mean, all it takes is just a little bit of thought, you know, and you're able to work past that one.
And what I mean is that sentiment is basically saying that in terms of prioritization of our effort, our energy, our time, and our talents, that basically we should only do a few things.
And the few things that we determine are worth doing in life, we should do them all the way.
And then everything else, we shouldn't do at all.
And that's not actually a biblical concept.
The Bible does not have that worldview.
The Bible doesn't say there are things that are of infinite value.
You should give yourself entirely to those things.
And anything that does not have spiritual, eternal, infinite value has therefore no value at all and shouldn't be done at all.
That's not what the Bible teaches.
The Bible says this body that one day is going to go six feet in the dirt, even though it's temporal.
It will be also resurrected, that matters.
But even though it's going to die, it's going to decompose, it's your temporary life here on earth in this body, in this age, this gospel age, is temporary.
And not only temporary, but according to multiple other verses in Scripture, it's just a vapor.
It's just a moment.
It's just a breath.
It's like the dew of the grass.
It's not just there for a day and gone tomorrow, it's there in the morning and gone by lunch.
That's how temporary.
But then at the same time, the Apostle Paul says, this thing that is so fleeting and so temporary is not of no value.
It would be so tempting to say, and therefore, because it's so temporary, it doesn't have any value at all.
But that's actually not a Christian teaching, but a heretical Gnostic teaching that views the physical body as though it's actually a prison that's entrapping the soul, and that the soul is pure, and if it could only get out of this prison of the carnal, evil, Physical body.
That's not a Christian worldview.
That is a pagan worldview.
That's a Gnostic worldview.
No, the Bible actually says spiritual training is of far more value than physical health.
But spiritual training being of more value doesn't necessitate that we say physical training is of no value.
We can attribute to physical training some value.
Do Not Trade Your Faith00:06:14
So, the foods, I don't think that the proper interpretation, even though I'm tempted to do it, Because of just my personal disposition, I'm tempted to read verse 9 and say, and see, there it is.
You're wasting money on organic food.
Repent, you crunchy members of my church.
That would be wrong.
That's not what it's saying.
I don't think that the text is saying it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace and not by foods.
No, I think that the strange doctrine, reading it in context, when we interpret the scripture, we have to look at the context.
Who's it being said to?
What's going on at that time?
I think what was going on at that time is there were certain religious rulers.
That we're saying to think about this again.
He's writing to Hebrew Christians.
So these are Christians, but of Jewish descent, who previously, before converting and coming to Christ, they were participating in an intimate degree in Judaism, in the temple, in the sacrifices, in the ceremonial laws and rituals, and all these things.
And now they've come out of that because they're trying to put their money where their mouth is, right?
They're trying to actually back up with their lives what they say they believe in their hearts.
And what they say they believe in their hearts is that Christ is.
Is the final sacrifice.
Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
Okay, you're saying Christ, you're saying you believe in the sufficiency of Christ and his sacrifice.
Well, it's a bit hypocritical if you say Christ is the sufficient sacrifice, but you still go make sacrifices.
So these Christians, they're trying to put their money where their mouth is.
They're trying to back up their faith with life, right?
Life and doctrine, guarding it closely.
And so they are opting out.
Some are probably being persecuted and kicked out of the synagogue, most probably.
But even those who aren't, Are voluntarily opting out of Judaism and their status in the synagogue and their participation in what goes on there, namely animal sacrificial rituals, this thing that's going on.
And then they're saying, all right, I'm turning my back on that.
I'm not going to hedge my bets.
I'm going to put all my faith in Jesus.
I'm not going to believe in Jesus, but then also put some faith in this other thing in case Jesus fails, because that ultimately proves that I'm not really trusting in Jesus.
If I'm really going to trust in Jesus, I'm going to only trust in Jesus.
And so they're, I'm only going to trust in Jesus.
I'm letting go of the sacrifices.
Now, what are these Jewish leaders going to say?
Oh, well, you know, you didn't know this teaching, but it's legit.
Trust me.
I went to seminary.
This teaching, not only do these sacrifices atone for sin, and you're losing out on atonement, but these sacrifices actually have certain properties that when you eat after the sacrifice has been performed, if you eat of this, Meat sacrificed in the temple by this rabbi or this priest from this animal at this time, it actually has, you know, it gives you certain properties, certain graces, certain advantages, certain benefits, right?
They're trying to manipulate the Hebrew Christians to come back to Jerusalem, to come back to the priestly animal sacrificial system, to ultimately to renege on their faith in Christ and the sufficiency of Christ.
And so the apostle writes to these Jewish Christians, encouraging them, saying, no, You want strength?
You want to be strengthened?
I'll tell you where strength comes from.
It is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace.
And there is only one source where grace can be found.
And you have a monopoly.
Don't forfeit it.
They're lying to you.
It's like an older sibling who has the lesser, the clearly objective, obviously lesser toy.
And really wants their younger siblings' better toy, but they know if they just take it that they're going to get in trouble with mom and dad.
So they're trying to work a trade.
I have this piece of paper and it is magical and amazing and has, you know, and would you give me the remote control dinosaur for this magical piece?
It's like Jack and the Beanstalk.
Magic beans for a cow, right?
And you're just trying to rip someone off.
And it's not the greatest illustration because the beans turned out to be magic.
But just for the sake of argument, imagine that they were just beans, right?
Well, if you get five beans and they're just beans for a cow, you got swindled.
That's what the Jewish leaders in the synagogue were trying to do.
Come back to this goat.
It's not just any goat.
I know we've been doing the goat thing for about 1500 years, and it starts to get old.
But hey, there's a new teaching, a strange teaching.
If you eat the meat or even the hoof and you grind it up in a stew and you drink that, then it's going to happen.
And the apostle says, No, It is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace.
And not buy foods which have not benefited those who have devoted themselves to it.
These guys are trying to work a trade.
You've got infinite value.
You have the most precious commodity in the universe the grace of God.
Salvation in Christ.
By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
Don't trade it.
Don't be like Esau who traded his birthright.
For food, for a bowl of soup, which the apostle says in Hebrews just a chapter earlier, if you guys remember a few weeks back.
I think it's that same principle, that same concept now being further fleshed out and saying, look, there are diverse teachings that really came from God and really were legitimate for a time, but they were types and shadows pointing towards the substance who is Christ and he has now come.
Sacrifices Point To Christ00:05:18
Cling to him.
And you'll also find from time to time, not just diverse teachings, but some strange ones.
And that's just the religious rulers being jealous.
That's what that is.
Don't fall for it.
Don't make that trade.
You have grace.
It is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace and not by foods that have not benefited those devoted to them.
That's verses 7, 8, and 9.
I'm going to go real quick.
I have to.
Through 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14.
And we'll leave it there.
Let me read it.
We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat.
Now, I don't think this is speaking of a literal tent.
You guys, I've already showed my hand multiple times.
You guys know what I think.
I think probably AD 65, 66, 67, 68, 69 is the timing, the dating of this letter.
So I believe that the temple, not just the tent, the tabernacle, but the temple is still in full effect.
It's still standing.
This is before AD 70 and the destruction of the temple and the fall of Jerusalem.
I think the reason why the apostle refers to it as the tent, because he is talking about the tabernacle in a sense, but he's Specifically referring to the temple because that's what they have at this time.
The reason why he calls it a tent is because at the end of the day, now that Christ has come, that's what it is.
It is a tent.
Despite all its riches, all its glory, all its majesty, all its beauty, all its aesthetic superiority in every single way, it amounts to a tent in comparison to the temple being built with living stones now that Christ has come.
And so he says, verse 10 we have an altar from which those who serve the tent.
Have no right to eat.
These priests are trying to call you back to Judaism.
For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin, they're burned outside the camp.
So, too, Jesus, right?
All he's doing here with these verses, 10 through 14, notice it's a very simple pattern.
It's just compare and contrast compare and contrast.
Here's Judaism, here's the tent, but we have an altar.
Here's their animal sacrifices that are burned, right?
They're sacrificed in the temple, but then taken out.
Some of them could be eaten afterwards, some of them were whole burnt offerings.
That the sacrifice had to be made in the temple, but then you couldn't eat of it.
The rest of it, the carcass of the animal had to be fully consumed by fire and burnt, but outside of the city.
So he's saying, they have a tent, we have an altar.
They burn animals outside the city, but we have Christ who was suffered.
He suffered outside the gates.
Therefore, let us be willing to follow in his example.
We have the better commodity.
We have the better treasure.
We have the better source.
We have the better grace.
We have the only grace.
So who cares where we live?
Who cares where we partake of this grace?
This grace, he himself was rejected and sent outside the camp to be crucified.
So if we have to live outside the city of Jerusalem like Christ in order to feast on him instead of temporal animal sacrifices that come out of some tent, we actually have.
The living temple built with living stones, and it's outside of the city of Jerusalem, outside of Judaism.
If we're banished, but we get banished with Christ, better to be banished with Christ than to be in Jerusalem without Him.
That's the concept.
That's what's being said.
So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through His own blood.
Therefore, let us go to Him.
Let us go to Him outside the camp and bear the reproach He endured.
This is what's happening.
The apostle is picking up on it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
What's happening is this in God's providence and sovereignty, he is kickstarting the global spread of the gospel to every tribe, tongue, and language.
And he's doing so in one of the chief methods that God has used at that time and for the last 2,000 years, namely persecution.
The most powerful motivating force.
Of just about every major evangelistic crusade across the planet has been persecution.
The blood of the martyrs is the seabed of the church.
The persecution of Christians is what caused them to move from Jerusalem to Antioch.
Notice in the book of Acts, by the time you get to the second half of the book, first 14, 15 chapters, the central focus is Jerusalem, the council of elders there being the apostles and Peter.
Peter's the main character in the story, and the main context is Jerusalem.
Second half of the book of Acts, who cares about Jerusalem?
It's Antioch, and it's Paul.
All of a sudden, it transfers.
Plant Churches Outside Cities00:07:50
That it's not just about staying in this one little place and performing, sustaining your holy huddle.
But it's no, no, no.
If Christ has really come, what are the implications of that?
If Christ really is the source of all grace, what are the implications of that?
One practical implication is that if Christ is everything, then you don't have to be in a certain geographic location.
You don't have to stay here in Jerusalem and endure this persecution.
They crucified him outside of the city, so why don't you go join him outside of the city and take Christ with you?
Go to Christ.
He is the Savior who is rejected by men.
He came to his own, but they received him not.
They crucified him in the public square outside the city.
They cast him away.
They rejected him.
So take Christ, go to him outside of the city, and don't put up with this garbage any longer.
Don't put up with it.
You don't have to.
And one practical application, that's the primary point of what's being said in the text.
So this is, I'm stretching it in terms of application.
I'm not saying, and this is what the text is all about.
What it's all about is what I just said.
But in terms of a practical application for our day and our time, I think of urban inner city ministry.
That was all the rage and still is.
I don't know how, but apparently, still is.
For the last 30 years, 40 years, right?
It's like, if you want to be somebody, if you want to be a serious Christian, You need to be a pastor, and not just a pastor, you need to be a church planter.
And not just a church planter.
If you go plant a church in a small town in Texas or Tennessee, we're not going to say it verbatim, but I mean, you're kind of disappointing God.
Right?
You're going to go minister to those primitive, Neanderthal, blue collar, flyover country, hillbilly Christians?
No, no, no, no.
You want to do something that pleases the Lord?
Go to Manhattan.
Right?
Go to Seattle.
And I personally think that in the last 30 years, an immense amount of discipleship has happened in the ministry of Tim Keller.
The problem is, I think that the discipleship happened the other way around.
I think that New York has discipled Tim Keller really well.
I don't think that Tim Keller has discipled New York.
I think he lost.
And so I don't think that it's particularly advantageous for us to continue to encourage young men who are called to marry, to have children, to honor their father and mother in tangible ways, provide for their wives so that predominantly they can be keepers at home, provide for their children, seek to fill a quiver with children, not hand them to Caesar in the public school system, but to raise them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord, the paideia of the Lord, Christian curriculum.
And seek to leave an inheritance not only to their children, but their children's children.
And then say, and you should do that while being a church planter in Manhattan?
What?
No, no, no, no.
Just leave.
Outside the gate, outside the city.
No, just leave.
You don't have to go and plant in Manhattan.
You don't have to go to Seattle.
You don't have to be a church planter, a missionary, or a faithful Christian in San Francisco.
God may call some to stay in those contexts.
But I believe currently, This isn't for all times and all places, but the sons of Issachar, the skill that they had was they were able to know the times.
We as Christians need to be able to know the times.
Not just ideologues that think that, well, it doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter.
We don't need to be ideologues, but we also don't need to be opportunists.
So we don't just stick our finger in the wind and see whatever the popular culture is saying at the time and we just echo that.
We're not opportunists who are compromised, but we're also not foolish ideologues who are.
Suicidal.
Kamikaze fighters.
No, no, no, no.
We want to have not just a five year plan, but a 500 year plan.
We want to build to last.
If you want to be a farmer, don't start a crop in the Sahara Desert.
Move.
It's like, well, but I just want to be faithful.
And I just want to prove that I'm the best farmer who ever was.
Okay, well, you could do that by growing one potato in the Sahara Desert.
Or you could be the best farmer there ever was by growing the most potatoes that have ever been grown in Idaho.
Why not opt for the latter?
But there are people in the Sahara that need a potato.
Yet, you know what?
Well, you can ship them a million potatoes from Idaho instead of carving up and sharing one that you grew right there at ground zero.
We can't afford to be ideologues and suicidal.
We also cannot afford to be compromised opportunists who just go where the wind blows.
But I believe in this current moment, a very practical application of our text, the Hebrew Christians, ultimately, the big idea that I'm trying to get at with this text, and I'll land the plane here, the big idea is this if Christ is really enough, Then you don't need Judaism.
If Christ is really enough and the temple that he's building is a living and spiritual temple, then you don't need this geographic place.
You don't need this temple of stone.
You don't need this city that crucified him.
But you can actually follow him.
He was taken outside of the city to be put to death, and you can go and find him right out there.
And you, as Christians, you can seek to live quiet lives.
As the scripture says elsewhere, to work with your hands.
You're allowed to do that, brothers and sisters.
And any high minded, sophisticated, ivory tower seminary professor, professional pastor on the internet who tells you otherwise is lying.
You are not being faithless or compromising or being displeasing to God by saying, I want to raise children, I want to have grandchildren, I want to own a couple acres of land, and I'm going to do it, not in Manhattan.
You're allowed to do that, brother and sister.
You're allowed to do that.
And that doesn't mean you quit.
It doesn't mean you surrendered.
It doesn't mean you lost.
It doesn't mean you send.
I think it means you're wise.
And to do the alternative, I think, is foolish.
Some can do it.
If you're a millionaire, okay, maybe you can do it.
Even then, though, I would make an argument theologically and practically some can do it.
Live in that bright blue liberal city and a blue state.
Some can do it.
Even then, you have to make a reasonable biblical argument that you should do it.
What do your taxes go to?
Is there a state tax?
All right, let's read it.
Do you see Planned Parenthood popping up?
Are you literally giving money to kill children?
Okay, let's just do some math here.
Can I live here?
Can I live here?
Those are questions that Christians should ask, real questions.
And I understand that, well, we're going to have to go to the moon.
All right, well, let's keep rooting for Elon then.
I understand no matter where you live, you're going to be funding something that's vile.
Protect Future Generations Now00:02:34
But not all evils are equal.
I don't like paying property taxes for schools that I'm not even going to use, especially schools in the Austin area and surrounding that you walk in and it's just like you're swimming in a rainbow.
I don't like that.
But there is a lesser and greater of evils.
And the Christian can opt for supporting a public school that's progressive and liberal versus supporting health care that sucks babies out of their mothers with a vacuum.
Those are not equal.
There is a sliding scale.
And we have a choice where we're going to raise our kids, where we're going to start a business, where we're going to pay our taxes.
We have a choice what church we're going to be a part of.
We have a choice what land we're going to buy and leave as an inheritance to our grandkids.
Right now, you have an opportunity to be thinking about not the five year plan, but the 500 year plan where can I best set up my great, great, great grandchildren?
Last thing, I heard it said like this, and I thought it was incredibly wise and beautiful.
When it comes to our great grandchildren, most of us, not all of us, but most of us will never even meet them.
And the only direct link that you have to your own flesh and blood descendants that you're called to love, right?
Love your neighbor?
Okay, but start with your neighbors at home.
Start with your future neighbors of your great grandkids, the neighbors that you share their own blood.
Start there.
How do I love the neighbor that I may never get to meet, but who is a very close neighbor?
My own kin.
Well, the direct link that you have to your great grandkids is your kids and grandkids.
Right now, as I'm raising my children, it's a profound and weighty thing to think about that the best way I'll ever love my grandchildren is that I get to shape their parents.
I want my grandchildren to be raised by.
Godly parents.
And I can love my grandchildren who do not even exist currently.
And I can love them directly and acutely and profoundly by shaping the people in their life, namely their future parents, who have more impact than anyone else.
We can set up future generations.
We don't have to win in the next 15 minutes.
Patient Victory In Eternity00:03:16
The Christian lives in light of eternity, therefore, we can afford to be patient.
So, it's okay to get out of the city gates.
It's okay to go and put down roots somewhere where there's actually fertile soil, where you can stay a while.
It's okay to have a tactical retreat in order to secure the final victory.
And there's a fine line, albeit, but there is a line, there is a road, a tightrope, if you will, between the ideologue who only loses.
And the opportunist who wins, but not really, and is compromised.
We, as Christians, should live right in between.
We're not just ideologues who hold to the same applications of principles even when they fail and fail and fail again, but we're also not compromised opportunists who put our finger in the wind and just follow the culture in order to get their praise.
We, brothers and sisters, are Christians.
It's good for the heart to be strengthened by grace.
So go, find a place, give your life to it, build, and drink deeply of the grace of God there for you and your children and your children's children to the glory of God.
Let's pray.
Father, thank you for your word.
Bless it to your people.
And we pray that you might be glorified with all that we say and do over the course of our lives.
We pray these things for Jesus' sake.
Amen.
Can I be frank with you for just a second, right here at the end?
Look, some of you guys, you're financially supporting this ministry, and from the bottom of my heart, I say thank you.
I cannot thank you enough.
However, some of you, you just, you can't afford it.
In fact, some of you, you shouldn't afford it.
Let's be honest.
I mean, we're living in Joe Biden's ridiculous economy.
Our nation and our totalitarian political elites lost their minds over the last three years due to COVID.
We have written checks that we simply cannot cash.
It doesn't matter if people change the definition of a recession, we are living in a recession right now, regardless.
Some of you are struggling to afford a carton of eggs at the grocery store.
You cannot support financially this ministry at this time, nor should you, but you could still help us tremendously.
I am asking you, please, if you're willing to do so, take one minute of your time.
Leave us a five star review on your favorite podcast platform iTunes, Spotify, whatever that might be.
This is the way the system works.
We want to be innocent as doves, but shrewd as vipers.
We need to be strategic.
You leave us a five star review, and our podcast shows up for more people.
And the Word of God and courageous theology applied in practical ways to every realm of life gets out there.