Hebrews: Answers for Today, Part 1

Hi, I'm John Lynch and this is John Lynch Speaks.

Recently, I was looking through this passage in Hebrews, to just share with a couple of friends, and it blew me away. Chapter 13 in Hebrews. I've never felt so identified to these communities than I did in reading this. It's a hard time. Whoever the author of Hebrews is, some think it's Paul, but most think it's either Apollos or Barnabas. I wish it was Paul. But anyway, it's right before the fall of Jerusalem. The church is hurting, the church has been separated, the church has even had schisms. There's no martyrdom, but there is a lot of separation and a lot of not being together. And over time, this author says there's some things that happen to us that I just want to prepare us for, warn us about, and love us in and comfort us in them.

So these feel like they were written for today. So let me just go through it. I'm going to try to do it in two weeks. So I'm going to awkwardly and clumsily cut it off at one spot so I have some good material for next week. 

Let love of the brethren continue. It's that word philadelphia, that brotherly love because that's what gets messed up when we are told we can't be together and we are separated and things get divisive. I love, there's an author named Walt Hendrickson who wrote on Hebrews, like 40 years ago, I used to, early on, when I was preaching… He makes this statement: It is particularly during any severe time of testing that there is a tendency to see heresy in every form of disagreement. With good friends, with friends. Suddenly, if you disagree with... “Whoa, we have gone the whole way over… You now hate children. You now hate…” You get lumped in. And so he says guard that. Guard that you love each other. Let the love, the beautiful brotherly and sisterly love, of the brethren continue. Do not let anything cut in on that.

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers for by this some have entertained angels without knowing. There's going to be a lot of strangers now during this season. Remember the prisoners as though you were in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated since you yourselves are in the body. I kinda think of this during this time, as some of those who have been imprisoned at home even, but it still, those around the world, those here who have been imprisoned for the love of Jesus.

And he says something else. Marriage gets funky because you are together and maybe you're together too much and everything gets revealed and exacerbated during that time. Marriage is to be held in honor among all; and the marriage bed is to be undefiled. He's saying, don't anybody, during this time, twist and distort this beautiful thing called marriage. And then he, we're going to end this section today in this first…

Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have. Wow. There's nothing wrong with money, but he says, in this time, it's easy to envy and be jealous of and resentful for because you don't have, and it feels like God is holding out on you. And He's not as we're going to read in a moment. He says, you can be content. Do you know that this life that He's given you, if you can see it, is the best you can have? It's your best life. He says, so don't worry about… 

My gosh, the other day, I'm talking to a guy who's making millions of bucks on a deal. He just, he's just an entre… I can't be that. I can't do that. I have trouble with coupons. But this is who I am, this is what I've been given to do. And there's people around me who protect my heart, there's people who let me go on boat rides, and there's people who stand with me in what I'm doing. So I get to be content and say, “God, You've made no mistakes with me and You love me as much as any other human being. I'm having a great life.” He says, you can be content because He Himself has said “I’ll never desert you. I'll never forsake you.” No matter what happens. I promise I've got your back. I'm right in the middle of this arena with you. I promise you. Oh, how I love you. 

So we'll do the second half next week. But for now, along with the Hebrew believers, this is John Lynch and this is John Lynch Speaks.