Let’s take our Bibles together and turn to the Book of Hebrews. We are nearing the end of our series, “Christ Supreme in All Things.” And today we address the topic of morality, or what you might call “Christian ethics.”

Now this is a tricky subject. And I’ve seen churches and preachers make two mistakes in regard to Christian ethics. One mistake is to preach the Bible in such a way as to promote Christian ethics apart from Christ. This has been rightly deemed a kind of “moralism” that is devoid of the gospel. That’s a mistake. 

But another mistake that I’ve seen is preaching Christ and preaching the gospel apart from Christian ethics. That’s a mistake too. Because you have passages like Hebrews 13:1-8 that are clearly instructing us to live moral and holy lives before the Lord. How do we understand that in light of the gospel? Yes, we’re sinners saved by grace. But that doesn’t mean that we revel in our sinfulness for the rest of our lives and reject morality. 

No, the grace that saves us, changes us. There’s orthodoxy, but there is also orthopraxy. We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone. Our faith is inevitably accompanied by good works and fruitfulness and a pursuit of Christian ethics. And some of those ethics are quite restrictive. Some of those ethics are profoundly countercultural in our day. 

Just look at Hebrews 13:4 with me for a moment. “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.” There was a time in our country where that was the default standard for every American home and every American adult. But that’s not the America that we live in today. And so, if we are going to obey Scripture, and fulfill our obligation to Christ Jesus our Savior, we’re going to have to live lives that are radically countercultural. Not unlike, I should add, what the original recipients of this letter had to do.  

So let’s talk radical, countercultural, Christian ethics, church. Let’s talk “Love, Marriage, Money, and Jesus.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Write this down as #1 in your notes. I’ll give you seven things, today. Seven examples of orthopraxy that flows from orthodoxy. Here’s the first. 

As followers of Jesus, we are called to…

1) Love our brothers (13:1)

If you want to add the word “sisters” to that first statement, that’s no problem. The concept of “brotherly love” here is gender inclusive. The author of Hebrews says in verse 1.

1 Let brotherly love [φιλαδελφία] continue.

By the way, that short statement in English is even more succinct in Greek. In fact, this is one of the shortest verses in the Bible. It’s basically the word φιλαδελφία with the definite article, and then the imperative “continue.” 

And the fact that the author of Hebrews says “continue in brotherly love” clues us into the fact that this was a loving church. We’ve been critical of this church and the Jewish Christians who made it up. Throughout our study of Hebrews, we’ve seen them make a lot of mistakes. And this church had a lot of issues. But they had this going for them—they loved each other. They were like family. And that makes sense if they were being persecuted and ostracized like we’ve seen. Oftentimes tragedies and trials bring churches together. And that shared experience helps to galvanize bonds. And so this author tells them to continue. Continue in brotherly love.

And this is instructive for us. We, as the church of Jesus Christ, need to exhibit brotherly love one to another. We need to be kind to one another and forgive one another (Eph 4:32). We need to care for one another and bear one another’s burdens (Gal 6:2). We need to pray for one another (Jas 5:16). We need to outdo one another in showing honor (Rom 12:10). We need to encourage one another (1 Thess 5:11; Heb 3:13). We need to “one another” one another! Right? We need to show φιλαδελφία one to another.

By the way, brotherly love isn’t just an expectation of Christians in the local church. Also the absence of brotherly love is evidence of false conversion. 1 John 4:20 says, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” 1 John 3:14 says, “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers.” 

“I love Jesus, Pastor Tony. But I hate the church.” No, you don’t! Not according to the Bible! Loving Jesus inevitably results in love for the church. And this brotherhood that we share is essentially a brotherhood in Christ. It’s only possible in Christ. So if you love big brother Jesus, you will love your fellow siblings in Christ Jesus. You might not always like them, but you’ve got to love them!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Write this down as #2. We are called to love our brothers. But we are also called to love strangers. 

As followers of Jesus we are called to…

2) Show hospitality to strangers (13:2)

There’s φιλαδελφία, but there’s also φιλοξενία. 

2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers,

2 Do not neglect φιλοξενία 

Perhaps you can detect the literary artistry of this author here. He says in verse one, “Continue in φιλαδελφία.” And then he says in verse two, “Do not neglect φιλοξενία.” This would have been a memorable and pleasing exhortation for this first century audience. The wordplay has an effect. There’s love for brothers (φιλαδελφία), and then there’s love for strangers (φιλοξενία). 

By the way, φιλέω is one of the verbs used in Greek for “love.” And αδελφία is derived from ἀδελφός meaning “brother,” hence φιλαδελφία means “brotherly love.” You probably remember that from grade school when you studied Benjamin Franklin and the city of Philadelphia. Well the word φιλοξενία is a combination of φιλέω and ξενία (or ξένος) meaning “stranger.” Our English word “xenophobia” is derived from this word ξένος. So the idea here in the first two verses of this passage is show love to Christian brothers you know and also show love to people you don’t know, that is to strangers.

And “hospitality” is the right concept for this in English. Because φιλοξενία isn’t just lip service. It’s not posting platitudes on Facebook about loving your neighbor. It’s opening up your home to people. It’s taking people out to dinner whom you don’t know. It’s welcoming people into our worship service who are new to our church or who are visiting from out of town. I’ll just tell you, church, hospitality in our modern day, Westernized world is a lost art. If you travel to other countries, you’ll find that other cultures do this far better than we do. 

Now some of you have recaptured that lost art. I know because I’ve been in your homes. Some of you host small groups. Some of you have welcomed people into your homes from out of town. Some of you have bucked the isolationist trend of modern-day America. Let me encourage you to continue doing that. 

And here’s a little incentive for you. Let’s read verse 2 a little more closely. 

2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Charles Spurgeon said once, “Some people will never entertain angels unaware, [because] they never entertain anybody.” What the author is alluding to here is several instances in the OT where people showed hospitality to strangers, and those strangers ended up being angelic beings in human form. The most famous of which were the three visitors that came to Abraham in Genesis 18. One of those visitors, I believe, was a preincarnate appearing of Christ (a Christophany). The other two were angels. 

Also Manoah, Samson’s father, welcomed an angel into his home (Judg 13:3-20). Gideon likewise was visited by an angel (Judg 6:11-21). Lot welcomed angels into his home after they had left Abraham (Gen 19:1-14). You might say, “Is it possible that we might welcome angels into our homes unwittingly, Pastor Tony?” Yes, I think so. I think that’s the clear implication of this text. And this author is trying to stimulate this kind of hospitality in our churches. 

But listen now, stranger danger. Right? Let’s not be foolish. There’s Christian hospitality, but there’s also discernment. Philip Hughes says in his commentary on this passage, “The open-heartedness of Christian hospitality is liable to invite abuse on the part of unprincipled persons who regard it as an opportunity for eating and lodging at the expense of others.”

There was actually an early Christian document called the Didache that said that Christian travelers should be put to the test to determine their sincerity. And that their stay in a home should be brief and shouldn’t overextend the generosity of a Christian family. Of course this was in the era before they had reputable hotels, Airbnb, etc. So it was especially important for traveling missionaries and evangelists to experience Christian hospitality. Nevertheless, I think we can grow in this as a church. I think we can take this command to heart and obey it in wise and practical ways. φιλαδελφία and φιλοξενία. Let’s pursue both of these, church.  

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Write this down as #3. Here’s a third thing that we are called to do as followers of Jesus. 

As followers of Jesus we are called to…

3) Care for the mistreated (13:3)

3 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. 

In the first century world, prisons were used as holding cells for offenders awaiting trial. It was also a place used for those who couldn’t pay debts. And prisons were deplorable places of mistreatment, neglect, and abuse. Parents and family members were required to feed, clothe, and care for prisoners. And it’s remarkable when you study church history how Christians were the ones who oftentimes cared for prisoners, both Christians and non-Christians alike. That’s part of our compassionate Christian heritage.

But in the first century world, prisons were also used indiscriminately by authorities to punish Christians. Just read the book of Acts for more on that! And this is one of those places in the NT where I thank God for the country I live in. America has been a bastion of religious freedom for centuries, ever since its inception actually. And so, historically, we don’t put people in prison for religious convictions. But that wasn’t true in the first century world. And some of these Jewish Christians had actually experienced wrongful imprisonment (see Heb 10:34).

Now, here’s the question. Will it always be that way in our country? I don’t know. But I’ll tell you this, it’s trending the wrong direction. What’s that old adage? “Hope for the best; prepare for the worst.” I hope that revival breaks out and our country gets turned around, but it’s not trending in that direction. 

I think of people like Jack Phillips in Colorado who has basically had his business torpedoed because of his unwillingness to bow to the powers of the sexual revolution. I think of people like Barronelle Stutzman in Washington who likewise was targeted and discriminated against because she wouldn’t support same-sex marriage with her flower business. 

I can imagine a world where doctors and nurses are fired because they don’t support abortions or euthanasia or puberty blocking drugs for minors. I can imagine a world where teachers and professors are fired for not using students’ preferred pronouns. I can imagine a world where hate-crimes and hate-speech become imprisonable offenses. And if that’s the case, if that happens, then hear me on this…

3 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.   

I think we should do that now, already, with those who are imprisoned or mistreated. There are prison ministries like Chuck Colson’s Prison Fellowship that have done amazing evangelistic work in the American prison system. 

But I can imagine a world where church life and church ministry is going to get really difficult. And mistreatment might become more prevalent than it is already. And what’s frustrating to me is how so many “Christians” support the idea of tolerance and appeasement, and turn their backs on faithful, committed Christians who stand up for Biblical values. I’d like to see some Christians in this country grow a backbone!

“That’s not very loving, Pastor Tony.” Look we can be the embodiment of grace and truth. Jesus showed us the way. Jesus was full of both grace and truth. Warren Wiersbe used to say, “Truth without grace is brutality. Grace without truth is hypocrisy.” You’ve got to have both. You’ve got to be both gracious and truthful. And we as Christians can be grace-oriented and at the same time be absolutely unswervingly committed to the truth.  

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And speaking of that need for truth. Write this down as #4. 

As followers of Jesus we are called to…

4) Honor marriage (13:4)

If you think that last subject was controversial and countercultural, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Let’s talk about marriage. Let’s talk about sex. 

4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. 

Now marriage can be dishonored in two ways. Ambrose Bierce, the cynic, once said that “Love is temporary insanity curable by marriage.” That’s dishonoring. Also there are those in the Catholic church who think that marriage is not appropriate for spiritual leaders, and they forbid their priests to marry. That’s not only dishonoring to God’s gift of marriage, it’s also dangerous. And it’s unbiblical! Church leaders are called to be a “husband of one wife” (1 Tim 3:2).

But the other more common way that marriage is dishonored is by people who engage in sex outside of marriage. When we do that, we dishonor marriage and sex. You might say, “It might have been possible in the ancient world to be sexually pure, but that’s not possible in today’s world.” Actually in the ancient world, sexual sin was quite prevalent. Craig Keener in his Bible Background Commentary says, “Male sexual immorality was [especially] rife in Greco-Roman society, which also accepted prostitution; pedophilia, homosexual intercourse and sex with female slaves were common Greek practices until a man was old enough for marriage.” 

Now if you were to say to me in response to that, “Yeah, but it’s harder to be chaste in today’s world of ubiquitous pornography and rampant sexual sin.” I agree. But if you were to also say, “Honoring the biblical standard of sex and marriage is impossible.” I disagree. I think it’s not only possible, it’s expected of us in the church.  

Now here’s what’s interesting to me. I’m interested in the direct but tasteful way that this author addresses this issue of sexual morality. He says, “let the marriage bed be undefiled.” What does that mean? Well the “marriage bed” (Greek: κοίτη) is a being used here as a euphemism for sexual activity. And what he’s saying here, very tactfully but directly, is don’t sleep with people other than your spouse. Don’t be a fornicator. Don’t be an adulterer. Don’t be a polygamist. Don’t engage in premarital sex. Don’t engage in homosexual sex. God created sex to be enjoyed and to be a means of procreation in a monogamous, heterosexual, marital union.  

The Apostle Paul has a similar section in the book of 1 Thessalonians where he addresses both sexual sin and also, interestingly, φιλαδελφία. Concerning sexual sin he writes, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you” (4:3-8).” In other words, Keep sex pure. Keep sex in house, literally, between a married couple. Don’t spread your sex outside the home, and don’t wrong your brother in this matter. 

And what’s interesting is that right after this, Paul tells the church in Thessalonica, “Now concerning brotherly love (φιλαδελφία)… we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more” (1 Thes 4:9-10). In other words, “spread φιλαδελφία around as much as you want.” Be as liberal and freewheeling as you want in your spread of brotherly love. Sexual love, on the other hand, that’s different. Be restrictive with that. 

By the way, one of the dirty little secrets that the world will never let you in on is that married couples typically have a more satisfying and steady sex life than those who are not married. Hollywood has worked really hard to romanticize the one-night stand and to de-personalize sex-acts outside the safety and security of marriage. But it’s a fabrication. It’s as mythical and farfetched as most Hollywood scripts.

Now let’s get back to verse 4, because this is important. 

4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, 

“Among all” means “Among all believers in the church.” Our world may downgrade marriage… our world may make a mockery of marriage with same-sex marriages and polyamory and other ridiculous arrangements. But the church cannot.  

and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. 

How does God judge the sexually immoral and adulterous? Well, we anticipate final judgment where non-Christians will be judged before the Great White Throne for their actions (Rev 20:11-15), and Christians will be judged at the great Bema Seat judgment before Christ (1 Cor 3:11-14; 2 Cor 5:10). One of those judgments has to do with eternal rewards—The Bema Seat judgment. The other has to do with eternal death—the Great White Throne judgment. Now can God forgive sexual sin and those who are sexually sinful? Yes, he can. And praise God for that! But God doesn’t save you so that you can continue satisfying your appetite for sexual sin. There is this thing in the Christian life called repentance. We turn from sin, and we embrace Christ. And even though God forgives sin, he doesn’t always take away the consequences of our deviant, sexual behavior. Those things sometimes continue. 

Because the other way that God judges sin is by hardwiring the world to punish those who defy his commands. Those who belittle marriage and sexual union by adultery or fornication or easy divorce or pornography addictions, they sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.  

We read about this just a minute ago. 1 Thessalonians 4:6 says, “[God’s will is] that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you.” 

The Lord avenges those who have been mistreated in the matter of sexual sin. The Lord punishes those who violate the marriage bed and the covenant of marriage. 

You know one of the biggest lies that people use to convince themselves that sexual sin is okay is saying, “My sin only affects me! It doesn’t affect you or my family or anyone else. It only affects me.” But that’s not true! I hear the same thing uttered about illegal drugs. People say, “What does it matter if I smoke a little weed or smoke a little meth? I’m only hurting myself.” No, actually you’re not. What people fail to realize is that there are whole empires of evil that steal, kill, and destroy people to get those drugs into your hands. And when you decide to break the law in that way, you are complicit in crimes perpetrated in this country and others that have destroyed lives. 

The same thing is true with sexual sin. It wrongs other people. Adultery robs another man or woman of what’s rightfully theirs. Premarital sex violates what is rightfully another person’s in the context of marriage. Every girl in a pornographic video has a father. Every man in a pornographic video has a mother. And oftentimes those individuals are being naively exploited by others who want to use sex to enrich themselves. And by watching those videos you are complicit in that exploitation. 

There’s more that I could say about that. There’s more that I could say about human trafficking and the exploitation of sex in some of the darkest places of our world. But let me just say this—you are never just hurting yourself when you sin sexually. There are always others that you are harming. In some cases, it’s your own children that you are harming the worst, by inviting Satan into your home and allowing him to wreak havoc on your family. 

Now the Bible does say that God is slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness (see Exod 34:6; Ps 103:8; 145:8; Jon 4:2; Nah 1:3). Aren’t you glad God is slow to anger? Yes, God is slow to anger, but he’s not devoid of anger. And if you find yourself this morning stuck in a pattern of sexual sin… And if you are rightfully fearful of God’s vengeance in regard to a matter of sexual sin… here’s my counsel for you—Repent! Repent and cry out for God’s mercy! And you shall have it. And then, after you’ve repented, then take up the weapons of warfare and wage war on that sin. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here’s another thing we need to wage war on. Write this down as #5.  

As followers of Jesus we are called to…

5) Guard against greed (13:5-6)

Some of you might be saying this morning, “I’m doing great in the area of sexual sin, Pastor Tony. Let me pat myself on my back.” Okay! Good! Praise God! How are you doing in the area of greed? How are you doing with the love of money? Sometimes in America we like to disguise our love of money with the word “comfort.” “I just want to be comfortable.” Okay, well, is that a euphemism for sinful greed? 

By the way, I don’t think the author of Hebrews is picking on any one person in particular in this passage. He’s picking on everyone. I don’t think any of us are going to get to the end of this passage and say, “Yep, seven for seven, Pastor Tony. I might as well be the second coming of Christ.” No, we’re all being challenged in this passage to grow in the area of orthopraxy. 

The author of Hebrews says in verse 5, 

5 Keep your life free from love of money, 

There’s φιλαδελφία; that’s good. There’s φιλοξενία; that’s good. Then there’s φιλάργυρος (“the love of money”); that’s bad! In fact, the author of Hebrews basically says here, “Your life is to be ἀφιλάργυρος.” Your life is to be free from money-love. 

Just so you know, money isn’t intrinsically evil. And making money isn’t intrinsically evil either. I would say even that the accumulation of wealth isn’t intrinsically evil. More wealth means more opportunity for generosity and Christian charity. But there’s a danger in that, and we need to be careful. 

5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, 

“Yes, Lord, please give us contentment.” Paul said, “godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Tim 6:6). There’s an old story that is told about a King who was suffering from an incurable sickness. And he was told that if he wore the shirt of a man who was truly content then he would be healed. So the king sent out emissaries throughout his realm, and after a long search a man was found who was truly content. But there was a problem. That contented man didn’t own a shirt! What’s the lesson of that story? Contentment isn’t found in the abundance of possessions.

Someone once asked the millionaire Bernard Baruch, “How much money does it take for a rich man to be satisfied?” He replied, “Just a million more than he has.” Lord, help us to be content!

Now look at the reason why we can be content. Look at verse 5.

5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 

The Greek in this verse is so emphatic, it’s almost humorous. It reads like this. “Be content with what you have for he has said, ‘I will never, ever, leave you; no, never, ever forsake you.’” There’s a double negation in the first statement and a triple negation in the second statement. That’s nonsensical in English, but it’s how you emphasize something in Greek. 

So why should we be content and not greedy for money? Here’s why. Because we belong to Jesus. And Jesus promised he would never, ever, no not ever, leave us or forsake us. And Jesus is enough. 

If you have Jesus, you have everything you need even if you don’t have anything else. If you don’t have Jesus, you don’t have anything, even if you have everything else. “This world has nothing for me, and this world has everything. All that I could want and nothing that I need.” 

Look at verse 6.

6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” 

By the way, that is a quotation of Psalm 118:6-7. And that language of “helper” is striking. That’s the way that Eve is described in Genesis 2, when she was created to be Adam’s “helper.” And the idea that God is described this way as our “helper” is shocking. That’s a statement of intimacy. That’s a statement of security. That’s a statement that should buoy our spirits, even if our bank accounts are drained.  

“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

Now remember, these Jewish Christians had been persecuted. Their property had been confiscated in some cases. This right here is a statement of defiance. This is a statement that recognizes the long game in the Christian life. “Yeah, you can take my money. You can take my life. But you can’t touch my soul. You can’t take my Helper from me!”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here’s a sixth thing that we are called to do as followers of Jesus. 

As followers of Jesus we are called to…

6) Imitate our leaders (13:7)

7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. 

Now I’m going to punt on this sixth point, because we’re going to pick this up again in a few weeks. In 13:17, the author of Hebrews says, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.” Why would the author of Hebrews say what he says at verse 7, but also repeat similar ideas a few verses later in verse 17? Why not address them both now?

Here’s the reason. You see that word “spoke” in verse 7. That’s a past tense verb. The difference between the leaders in verse 7 and the leaders in verse 17 is that the leaders in verse 7 are dead. They spoke the word of God while they were alive. And for that reason, they should be remembered. Not in the sense that you make a shrine for them and worship them like Chinese do their ancestors. But you remember their conduct. You remember their actions. You remember the word of God they spoke. And you imitate them. That’s the idea here. 

In this world, there’s nothing better than living a good life by believing and speaking God’s word. And then you die and go home to glory. You live. You love. You speak God’s Word. And then you die. Put that on my tombstone. “He lived. He loved. He spoke God’s Word. He died. He went home to Glory.”

I have a friend right now who is in Switzerland. And I told him to go find John Calvin’s tombstone. But I didn’t tell him that John Calvin is buried in an unmarked grave, so no one can find it. John Calvin is like Davy Crockett… nobody can find his grave! But Calvin, unlike Crockett, wanted it that way. Because he was afraid people were going to turn his burial plot into a shrine. He was probably right in that. 

Nevertheless we can still remember the John Calvins of this world, the Warren Wiersbes, the Stephen Armstrongs, the Elizabeth Elliots, the Corrie ten Booms, and the Tim Kellers who have gone before us and have lived lives worthy of our imitation. Remember them, says the author of Hebrews. Remember them and imitate them.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And finally, write this down as #7. 

As followers of Jesus we are called to…

7) Depend upon the Changeless One (13:8)

Look at verse 8 with me. 

8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 

Philip Hughes states, “This affirmation has been a source of strength and encouragement to Christian believers in every generation.” That’s true. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus is quoted as saying, “Change is the only constant in life.” But that’s not true. God is constant. Jesus, our mediator, is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

 What the author of Hebrews is describing here is what theologians refer to as God’s immutability or his changelessness. Since God is changeless, and Jesus is God, his divine nature is intrinsically and eternally unchangeable. Even the incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension didn’t change God the Son’s divine nature. 

And here’s the idea for verse 8. The John Calvins of this world will pass away. Pastor Tony will eventually kick the bucket and will be buried in Texas clay. Every elder in this church will be pushing up daisies in a few decades. But Jesus Christ, the real senior pastor of this church, is the same yesterday and today and forever. 

Warren Wiersbe tells the story of how he resigned from pastoring a church once, and afterwards one of the members came to him and said, “I don’t see how I’m going to make it without you! I depend so much on you for my spiritual help!” And Wiersbe responded, “Then the sooner I leave, the sooner you can start depending on the Lord. Never build your life on any servant of God. Build your life on Jesus Christ. He never changes.”

And Jesus’s church, by the way, is going on 2,000 years strong. The world has ebbed and flowed. And power has moved from nation to nation. But Jesus’s church has been there all along the way. Why is that? Because God said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Because Jesus said, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:20). Because Jesus said, “I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt 16:18). And because God’s Word says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb 13:8).

There’s this husband-wife band from Illinois that I really like called Gray Havens. And they sing this great song called “She Waits.” And it goes like this. 

She’s seen empires come and go

Watched the kingdom's children grow

Sparks and embers far from home

Born to shine, and to behold

She waits, she waits, She waits

She waits, she waits, She waits

It's been a long time comin’

But she hopes and she hopes for it

Who’s the “she” and what’s she waiting for? Well we are the “she.” And she is the church. She is the bride, and she is waiting anticipatingly for the bridegroom to return. We are waiting anticipatingly for the bridegroom to return. The bridegroom who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And we wait, right? We wait. And as we wait, let me give you some homework from the book of Hebrews. Here you go. 

1) Love the brothers (13:1)

2) Show hospitality to strangers (13:2)

3) Care for the mistreated (13:3)

4) Honor marriage (13:4)

5) Guard against greed (13:5-6)

6) Imitate [your] leaders (13:7)

7) Depend upon the Changeless One [Jesus Christ] (13:8)

Amen. Pray with me.