Hebrews #41: an exposition of Hebrews 13:7-16. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, February 8, 2015.
Intro:
Daily we are reminded that we live in difficult times. Our culture grows increasingly hostile toward traditional, biblical faith with each passing day. Long-held and cherished beliefs are questioned if not outright rejected. Those who hold to orthodox Christianity are thought to be unthinking religious fundamentalist who pose a real threat to society’s well being. If you hold that marriage is exclusively between a man and a woman you are a dangerous holdover from the Dark Ages. If you believe that salvation is to be found in Christ alone you are a hate-mongering bigot that will not be satisfied until all those who disagree with you are imprisoned or silenced. In short you are the problem! There are dark clouds on the horizon. How are we to navigate these troubled waters? How do we live out the faith in a hostile environment? The book of Hebrews provides us some answers. A small, struggling house church in Rome is fighting for its existence. They are hard-pressed on every side. Pressured from without and from within. The biblical writer assures them they will survive. He pleads with them to look to Christ and continue the race. Our text this morning is found in chapter 13 beginning with verse 7.
Text: Hebrews 13:7-16
Chapter 13 is, to some degree, a laundry list of ideas.
The writer has much to say but little time to say it.
Thus they are more like bullet points.
He speaks of church ethics – our responsibilities to one another:
Chose to love unconditionally
Demonstrate hospitality
Care for those who are imprisoned or mistreated
He then speaks of personal issues:
A high view of marriage and a commitment to sexual purity
Guarding against covetousness and learning to be content
Resting in His gracious care and provision
In this morning’s text we are given some principles for weathering the storm. From these verses we learn that…
Thesis: Surviving life’s uncertain and troubling storms demands a fixed reference, an enlightened understanding of the Gospel and a sustaining lifestyle.
There are three (3) things I want to point out from our text.
- Surviving the storms demands a fixed point of reference. (13:7-8)
- Surviving the storms demands an enlightened understanding of the Gospel. (13:9-14)
- Surviving the storms demands a sustaining lifestyle. (13:15-16)