A Greater Love

Good morning, church. It's good to see all of you here. This morning we're continuing our series through the book of Hebrews. And we've been going verse by verse through the book of Hebrews, and we have found ourselves near the conclusion. We're in chapter 13, the final chapter, and we've got this sermon and then two more with the next couple of weeks leading up to Thanksgiving to finish up the book of Hebrews.

And it's been quite a wonderful journey going verse by verse through this book. We've entitled this series, Jesus is Greater. We find the theme in chapter one, verse four. It says this.

Hebrews 1:4 (NLT) “This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names.” It seems clear that the author of the book of Hebrews was writing to a Jewish background, people that had come to faith in Jesus and they needed to understand how to read their Old Testament through the lens of the New Testament. More specifically, how to read the Old Testament through the lens of Christ and to see that Christ is the exclamation point at the end of the book, that he's the fulfillment. He's greater. He has a greater covenant, a greater sacrifice, a greater kingdom.

He's greater. Now today, as we get into chapter 13, we'll see that he offers a greater love. A greater love. And coming to chapter 13, we have to recognize what's the shift. It is very clear here that we've had 12 chapters of propositional truths. We've had 12 chapters of doctrinal truth.

Why is Jesus greater? And he's proving that to us for 12 chapters. Now, chapter 13 is going to move from the idea of propositional truth to a prescriptive one. Here's what you do with that information. Here's how you should respond to that information.

So last week we realized that we are part of a greater kingdom, an unshakable kingdom, as followers of King Jesus, and therefore we should worship him with reverence and awe. And now he begins to tell us, and here's what it looks like to demonstrate Christ's greater love in the kingdom. We live in a world today where love is often reduced to a feeling, a passing urge, or a matter of personal preference. We say, I love my wife, I love my dog, and I love chocolate. And we just kind of throw that word around.

But the Bible speaks of a greater love. And he then begins to describe here in chapter 13, what it looks like for us to demonstrate the greater love of Christ. And so you can't manufacture this kind of love, this is not something you can urge up that you can make happen, but you can receive it through Jesus, receiving him as Lord and Savior. He pours his love out in us. And then, if we will allow it, he gives us love so that we accept ourselves and we know who we are in Christ.

And then it flows to us and through us to others. And that's what we see in chapter 13. Now you start to think, this is what it looks like to live as kingdom citizens of this greater unshakable kingdom. And it's going to look like we start loving each other. In the book of Hebrews, chapter 13, he's concluded his appeal for believers to live as grateful worshipers of this unshakable kingdom.

And now he moves us to exhortation, and has really given us these exhortations about how to demonstrate Christ's love. And as we look at the text today, I think we'll see five ways that we can demonstrate this greater love of Christ Jesus. Now, I know some of you are worried. He can do 20 verses with three points, and now he's going to do six verses, and he needs five points.

Okay, so here's what those of you that have been coming here for a while know. I just try to get out of the way of the text. And I try to look. I let the points emerge from the text. Rather than me telling the text what it says, I want the text to speak for itself.

And I think you'll see, as you look at these six verses, you'll see those five exhortations too. And so that's where the points come from. I don't just make them up. I do try to smooth them out so you'll remember them. But I think you'll agree when we conclude these six verses, you see them too well.

Let's dig in. Verse 1 of chapter 13, Hebrews 13:1-6 (ESV) 1 Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 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. 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. 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.” 6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear;

what can man do to me?” This is God's word. We're looking for five ways we can demonstrate Christ's greater love. Here's the first way: 1. By continuing in love for the saints.

By continuing in love for the saints. Look at verse one. Circle the word. If you're taking notes, circle the word continue. Continue.

This is not a call to start loving each other. This is a call to continue love. The idea of sustained, sustained love. To maintain this active affection that we share as members of God's family. The Greek word here for brotherly love is the name of a well known city in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

It comes from the Greek word the New Testament is written in Koine Greek. Koine means common, it means southern Greek. Basically it's y'all Greek. The New Testament's written in a very accessible language to that first century reader. Koine Greek.

And so the Greek word there is Philadelphia, which means affectionate love, brotherly love. And so it seems that he's saying, let that continue. Well, it makes sense because the author has already commended them back in chapter six that they were loving one another. It says in Hebrews 6:10 (ESV) “For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.”

So he's commended them for their love and now he just says, keep doing it, continue in the love for the saints. It might seem a little abrupt if you've been here for several weeks with us. We've gone from this propositional truth. In fact, the last thing he said to us in chapter 12 is in verse 28 “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,

29 for our “God is a consuming fire.” Very propositional truth to calling us to worship. And then he says, now that you know you're members of this kingdom, bring your worship. And here's what it's going to look like to live in the kingdom. It starts with loving your brothers and sisters.

Now I've heard some people say, well, I love Jesus, but I don't care that much for the church. Have you ever said that, you ever thought that, you know, it's kind of like saying, hey, you can say this to a husband, hey, I really like you, but I hate your wife because the church is the bride of Christ that he gave his life for. And when you are adopted into the family of Christ, into the body of Christ, you become a member of the church. And in a way saying, I don't like the church, you're saying, I don't like myself, because we are the church. The church is not the steeple.

The church is the people. And so we're to love one another. We're to stay in this affectionate, maintaining this active love for one another that we're called to. Here is what John actually writes of Jesus. Jesus is telling us, this is how people will know you as a follower of Jesus.

John 13:35 (ESV) “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” It's the trait of members of the church that the world should see. Hey, they must be followers of Jesus. We can tell because of the way they love one another. And so we're called to this.

So don't let your love grow cold. Stay in fellowship. I commend you for being at church today. Thanks for coming. Hope you'll come next week.

In fact, why don't you make it a habit of your life? One of the most practical ways that you can show brotherly love is to show up. Show up. That way I'll know you love me and I'll show up too. That way you'll know I love you.

And so we get out of the habit. It's so easy to get out of the habit. I think it only takes a couple of weeks to get out of a habit. Psychologists tell us it takes six weeks to get into a good one. So try going and doing this.

Why not start the first day of your week off, like tithe the first part of your week to God and say, I'm going to give him the first part of the first day of every week. And then in this way I will be keeping his exhortation to love each other with brotherly love. We are brothers and sisters and every Sunday is a family reunion. Just think of it like that. It's a practical way to show that we love one another.

Don't let your love grow cold. Keep it hot for Jesus and for each other. Love the saints. Well, here's the second way. The first way to demonstrate Christ's greater love is to love the saints.

By showing hospitality to strangers. It says in verse 2, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers.” The word hospitality is of interest.

Remember I told you the New Testament is written in Koine Greek? It's another phileo word. It's another compound word. The first one was “philadelphia,” which is brotherly love.

And this is “philoxenia.” Maybe you've heard the word “xenophobic,” which means fear of strangers. Did you know that word? But “xenia” has the idea of a stranger.

And “philo” is love. It's translated as hospitality. So the word translated here, hospitality is love. Strangers. Love people you don't know. Invite them over, be good to them, be hospitable, be generous with people you don't know.

That's where he picks up. Here. So love each other, love the saints, love strangers. So how, through hospitality. Let's look at it closely.

Do not neglect what's easy to do, because you don't know them and it's easy not to notice them. But when you are in Christ, he gives you this awareness of others. You start looking around and noticing someone who's sitting by themselves or they're standing off in a corner and they're not fitting in. You start noticing them because Christ in you causes you to go towards those that might feel excluded. This is what Christ does through his love for us.

Because when we were far from God, he came to us and brought us near. And then that urge, that kind of love now calls us to hospitality. He keeps going here, gives us a little bit more than he did the first verse. He only gave us four words. “Let brother love continue.”

But here he goes. “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” What is going on here? What is going on here? We have angels coming to the door.

What do we have here? Angels coming and saying, can you help me? I need food. I'm hungry. What is this?

What is he talking about? Remember, he's writing this to the Hebrew background believers who have come to Jesus who need to reconcile their understanding of Judaism and of the Old Testament through the lens of the New Testament we've been calling the book of Hebrews. It's kind of like the Reader's Digest version of the Old Testament, because it keeps quoting the Old Testament. And even when it's not quoting it, it's referring to it.

And here it seems to clearly be referring to Genesis 18, where Abram, before his name was changed to Abraham, is outside his tent. Three men, three strangers approach and they begin to talk to him. They begin to talk to him about what's about to happen to Sodom and Gomorrah. They begin to talk to him about the promise that he will have a son and that he'll be the father of nations.

And it turns out he goes to Sarah, his wife, and he says to her, hey, cook something up, dear. Three guys showed up here, and I want to take care of them. He's hospitable to these three strangers, two of which turn out to be angels and one

of which speaks as if he's the Lord himself. He speaks as if he's Yahweh. I believe he's actually a pre-existent Christ appearing here. This is a Christophany. So that seems to be.

He's saying, hey, look what happened to Abram. He was hospitable to strangers and they turned out to be angels. And one of them was an angel of the Lord and spoke on behalf of God himself as if he were the Christ even. Okay? And so here's what he's saying.

When you're being hospitable to someone, think of it as if you were serving Christ. Think of it as if somehow serving a stranger, loving a stranger, being hospitable to a stranger as if you were serving Christ. Here's what it says in 1 Peter 4:9 (ESV) “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.”

Show strangers love, hospitality without grumbling about it. Do it because Christ lives in you. In the 4th century, the Roman emperor Julian, who was his predecessor Constantine, who had actually converted to Christ. Julian became one who was complaining about Christianity and he wanted to revert to a pagan religion. He became known as Julian the apostate.

He tried to revive paganism, but he had a complaint. Here's what he said. He said,“The Christians support not only their own poor, but ours as well!” How are we going to overcome these Christians? They not only take care of their own people, they take care of the pagans as well.

We'll never overcome them. They care as much for outsiders as they do insiders. Is that us, church? Are we like that? Do we show hospitality to strangers?

Let's look for opportunities to do this, to open up our hearts and our homes to people we don't know. Can I give you a practical, maybe a practical challenge before you leave today? Here's a way you could respond to today's sermon and never even have to leave the building. Okay? I know you're nervous.

What's he going to call us to do? Well, it'll be up to you whether or not you want to do it. But I want to give you an exhortation. Very practical. I want you to think about doing these three things before you leave.

Meet someone you don't know. Encourage one, pray for one. What would that look like if we as a church, every time you came together into the fellowship of believers, you were to meet one, encourage one and pray for one?

What if you did that? Week after week, people would show up here for the first time and they'd think that is the most amazing group of people. I had people coming up, introducing themselves. I met ten people. They were so encouraging.

Several of them offered to pray for me. Meet one, encourage one, pray for one. I offered this challenge at the first service today and I had people coming to me in the lobby saying, I've done all three. I've done two. Do you need prayer?

I didn't mean for everybody to line up to talk to me to tell me. Go do that. Go meet someone you don't know. Encourage them; pray for them.

Good, practical ways that you could obey God's word today and show and demonstrate the love of Jesus. So that's the second way that we can demonstrate that we are members of his kingdom, that the love of Christ, the greater love, it's greater than the love of the world, could be demonstrated in us. Here's the third:

By remembering the sufferer. Have you noticed that we've got a point per verse so far? Maybe you're now understanding why we have five. We're on verse three. And we have another command here, another exhortation.

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.” Remember those that are easily forgotten. Who are they? Prisoners, people that have been locked up. People that are out of sight, out of mind. Remember them.

Remember those who are in prison. How do we remember them? As though in prison with them. Hmm. Wow, that's pretty strong.

Picture yourself as if you were in there with them. Now, to give you the setting here, contextually, probably he's speaking to a people who are being locked up because of their faith. This is happening with great regularity. They're being locked up. So their pastor's in jail, their deacons are in jail, their brother in law who came to Jesus, he's in jail.

And they're not only in jail, they're not only in prison, but they're being mistreated. Can you see this? “Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated,” which has the idea of suffering, of torture, of being denied proper care, of food and shelter and these kinds of things. And so certainly in the context of this time period, there was a great amount of persecution.

And even as we conclude this chapter, if you went all the way to the end of chapter 13, you can see that he says something about Timothy being released in chapter 13, he says in verse 23, “You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon.” So Timothy's been locked up. But he's got news here at the end of the letter that he's been released from prison, apparently somewhere in Rome, because he references that this book was being written while he was in Italy. So I keep saying he because the traditional view is we think Paul may have written it.

I'm more convinced that Luke is the one who's actually the pen. But very much under the influence of Paul. I think Luke was acting as his secretary in the writing. The reason I suggest that I've offered many reasons for it, but one is that it doesn't have Paul's signature at the end. But it does sound very much like Paul's way of writing.

However, it lacks his signature. And so I think maybe Luke was the one writing on his behalf. But he refers to Italy and we know Paul was probably in prison himself in Rome when he's writing this. So it's easy to forget the Christians around the world that are being persecuted today.

We don't know them, they're strangers to us. We don't see them. Now one of the things that happens to me quite regularly is because I've made so many mission trips to Uganda, to Africa, and people see on my social media and on our website they see photographs and stuff of us taking teams there. And we're planning on taking another team this coming June 2026. We do regular work there with Pastor George Mybonye.

But what happens is African countries that surround that area see that on social media and they begin to send appeals to our church website to me and they will talk about Nigeria especially, which in the northern part of Nigeria, the Muslims are persecuting them greatly. They're burning down churches, they're killing people, they're torturing people. It's a terrible, terrible thing that's happening today in Nigeria. And I get word from many of these pastors and what they'll say to me. They'll email me or they'll text me on Facebook Messenger, I found your name.

I saw your website. Would you pray for us? Would you remember us?

What does that mean to remember somebody? What's the idea there? I think we can remember people by praying for them. We can remember them by writing to them. We can remember them by giving towards helping them.

We can say, I will not forget the persecuted that have been locked away. Nor will I forget the wife and the children of that one that's locked up now that can't care for them. And maybe we can also apply it not just to persecuted Christians around the world. But we might just think about, even in our local judicial system, the hurting, the suffering. And I don't know if you've ever been locked up.

I'm not going to ask for a show of hands, but maybe you have. Maybe someone here has been locked up and you know what the isolation feels like, the shame, the separation from family. What I've noticed about people that have suffered, whether it's being locked up or whether it's suffering from some physical ailment or some relational brokenness. Suffering is suffering, isn't it? I've noticed that when we receive Christ and he brings comfort to our suffering, he brings healing to us.

He always gives extra. He always causes the cup to overflow so that there's enough for us and then there's extra for those like us. So that as Second Corinthians chapter one talks about, 3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” We have comfort to comfort those with the comfort that we've been comforted with the same brand of comfort. And so maybe there's someone here that feels called to a ministry to the suffering because you've suffered or you've been in prison and so you feel called to minister to them. Jesus talks about this.

Remember how I mentioned a moment ago how you never know when you're showing hospitality to a stranger that it might be an angel unawares? Well, here's what Jesus says in Matthew, chapter 25. He says, Matthew 25:35-40 (ESV) 35 “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,

36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?

39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Isn't that something? Just think about that even today. Think about, meet one, encourage one, pray for one.

It's as if you're doing it unto Jesus. He says, “when you do it to the least of these,” this is what it looks like to have this great love in the kingdom that we would remember. Remember is an interesting Greek word. I've been teaching you Greek words.

It's where we get the English word mnemonic. It's like a strange word. It starts with an m and an n: mnemonic. How do you say that? Mnemonic.

But the M is silent. It means to carefully remember something. To come up with a little way, maybe an acronym or something to help you not forget it. Use a mnemonic device to remember something and things like that, you know. And so when I'm trying to meet new people, I try to memorize their names, I try to say something to them that'll help me have a mnemonic way of remembering.

That's the word underneath. Remember here. Very careful remembering. Don't let it be out of sight, out of mind. Really remember people that are suffering. Well, let's go to the fourth way that we can demonstrate love. We've been talking about love of the saints, hospitality towards strangers, remembering the sufferer.

By honoring the sanctity of marriage, he's worked his way from the family of God to those that might be outside the family, or they could be within the family, but we haven't met them yet. To those that are out of sight, out of mind. And now he comes right into my house and your house, but not just our house, because he talks about it in a bigger way, as if it's something that would impact our nation, as if it would impact our church.

He says it very broadly here. He says, in verse 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.”

Marriage, he says, is to be honored by all. It's something that you should lift up. It's something to be honored. And he really gives a two-fold instruction here. One in the positive, one stated in the negative.

Let marriage be held in honor. That's positive among all. And let the marriage bed be undefiled. Don't defile the intimate relationship in marriage, because sexuality, human intimacy is ordained by God within marriage, but it's considered a defilement outside of marriage. He says intimacy is so powerful, it's like dynamite.

It's that which provides for the next generation. It creates progeny. It creates intimacy between the two so that the two become one flesh. He's designed it. Where did marriage come from?

Marriage was God's idea. You don't have to get far into the book of Genesis before you find out marriage was God's idea. It's the basic building block of society. If you want to destroy a nation, redefine marriage, destroy marriage. And that nation will not long endure.

You can look at history, you can find it. We live at a very shaky time. Last week we talked about how the world is shaking and we want to be part of an unshakable kingdom. This is what it looks like to have this greater love in an unshakable kingdom. It's to honor marriage and not to allow the marriage bed to be defiled.

Now, he's not talking about sleeping. He's using the metaphor here for intimacy. It should not be defiled. It should not be made dirty.

It should be kept pure, not soiled. Pure and holy. And then he puts extra emphasis here by saying, “for God will judge.” He will judge. Why does God care about this?

Well, ask God. He tells us he cares about your sexuality. He cares about it because he made you, he designed you, and he ordained marriage. And he cares about it. He says, for God will judge the sexually immoral.

The King James version translates this as fornicators. He will judge fornicators. That tends to mean those who mishandle sex outside of the marriage commitment.

This is a trend in our culture today. In fact, I was reading several surveys getting ready for this sermon, and 80% of US households only 50 years ago were headed up by married couples. It's fallen to 50% now. Whenever people do their taxes is how I guess they find this out. But 50% now, and it's continued to decline.

One survey said that four in ten Americans believe that marriage is becoming obsolete. And so there's one group of people who are afraid to get married, probably because their parents divorced and they saw the brokenness of it, and possibly because they're afraid of commitment. So we have a group of people running away from marriage and trying to redefine it that way. And we have another group of people that think if they could legally be married, it would somehow be an endorsement for their sexual lifestyle. It's strange what's been happening to marriage in our culture today.

Make no mistake, it's contrary to the kingdom of God and contrary to God's definition and desire for what? Real love. Not that fuzzy feeling, that urge that we use that word for, but God's unconditional covenantal love.

He calls us out to that for marriage. And so fornication, sexual immorality might be speaking to the single person and adultery certainly to the married person who sleeps outside of their marriage bed. And so both categories are being addressed here. Love looks like honoring marriage. Christ's kind of love honors marriage.

Whether you're married or not. You honor it as something untouchable that is holy and sacred, designed by God. That's why Jesus talked about it in Matthew 19:4-6 (ESV) 4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh.

What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” This is Jesus speaking. He's quoting the book of Genesis. He's talking about God's intent for marriage.

This past Thursday, I was in my study. I was trying to write the final copy of what I would preach. Today. We study together as a team on Wednesdays, and I sleep on it Wednesday night. Thursday morning, I get up and I pray and ask God to show me what I was.

working on this particular part of the sermon about marriage when I got a phone call from my former boss. When I worked in the corporate world running drug stores, I worked for this man for 12 years. We started off a little bumpy in our relationship. He was big and loud and intimidating. And I didn't know how to deal with him as a young man.

But I came to view him really as a father figure because of the way he disciplined me when I needed it and complimented me and encouraged me when I needed it. And we became close. His name's Mike. We talk to each other maybe every five or six years because I've been a pastor now with you for 34 years. We started in my living room in November of 1991.

We had our first public worship service in January of 1992. So it's 34 years for me this month, me in my living room. So it's been a while since I worked for Mike. But as soon as I heard his voice, I knew it was him. And his voice broke immediately.

When he heard my voice, he said, hey, boy. I said, hey, boss. Sandra died this morning. That's his wife. He said, you know, she always loved you and Robin.

He says, well, you know she had Alzheimer's. I said, yes, sir, I know. He said she's had it for the last 17 years. She got it at age 60; early onset.

And he says, she went fast in terms of her mind, but her body was strong. And the doctor said she lived way longer than most people do with Alzheimer's. And I said, probably because of you, boss. And he goes, well, that's what the doctor said. I just couldn't put her in a nursing home.

I said, tell me about it. He said that she still knew me, but she couldn't talk anymore. She couldn't feed herself. She would be in the bed. And he said, I would get her out of the bed and I would bathe her and I would brush her hair and brush her teeth and I would put her at the dinner table so it felt more normal.

I would hand her a fork. She couldn't pick it up, but I'd hand it to her and I'd take her hand and I'd feed her. And she would look at me and sort of smile. She still knew me. I could tell that she knew me by the way she looked at me.

Especially if I messed up, she cut those eyes at me.

He said, I took her to the bathroom, I took care of her every need. And he said, a couple of months ago she got bedsores and it broke my heart and I couldn't figure out how to get her healed up. He said she even had them on the bottoms of her heels. He said, I took her to the hospital, it took them a couple of weeks and they put her in rehab. And the rehab said, you're going to have to put her into a retirement home.

And he said, I didn't want to do it, but I didn't want her to keep hurting. And so I did. So then I ended up spending nights with her at the retirement home. He said I would go home exhausted. And he said, this past week, he said, I spent every night with her because hospice had been called in.

And I thought, lord, I loved her and I've taken care of her. But if you want to take her home. I told her, I said, honey, if you want to go home, don't worry about me, you go on home and I know you're hurting. So Wednesday night, I was so tired, I'd been spending the night out there. At 10 o'clock, I told her, I'm gonna go home and sleep in our bed tonight. Give me a kiss. He said, she puckered up and she looked at me and she knew me and I knew her.

And I said, honey, I'll see you in the morning. And he said, I came back the next morning and she was already gone.

I asked him, do I have your permission to tell this story about how you honored your wife for 51 years and for the last 17, you were her caregiver? See, for me to imagine him, this big old six foot four guy, always so rough and ready, the way I knew him, gently carrying her and bathing her and brushing her hair, well, that's the picture of how Jesus loves us. And that's the way to honor marriage.

Honor marriage. Let all honor marriage. This leads us to the fifth and final way that we can demonstrate Christ's love:

We're in verses five and six and he's been telling us to love, love, love, love. And then verse 5 he says, don't love. See, one of the marks of Christlike love is there's things you don't love too. There's things you love and there's things you don't love. And it's another one of those “phileo” words here. It's an unusual one. I'd never really studied this one much before;

“aphilarguros” means something shiny, like a coin. It's a synonym for money. Don't love money. Keep yourself free from the love of money. That's what he says.

Love marriage, love strangers, love the suffering. Love each other, but don't love money. Instead, love Jesus. Be content with what you have. Be content with what you have.

Keep yourself free from the love of money. Be content with what you have. And so then he says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” This is a quotation from Deuteronomy 31, where God speaks to Moses and tells him to tell the people of Israel, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Then again in chapter 31, telling Joshua the same thing.

Then the Lord tells Joshua personally in Joshua chapter one. So it's in the Old Testament three times. This is a well beloved statement from Yahweh God to the people of Israel. But now it's being repeated to the people of God in the church.

“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Don't worry about loving money. Love me, serve me, Be content in Jesus.

Now I've used this before, but I want you to understand that “I'll never leave you and I'll never forsake you” are not synonymous statements. I will never leave you. So that this is Jesus and this is me. Okay, kind of picture. This, this is Jesus, this is me.

Jesus says, I'll never leave you. Well, I was never worried about that. I trust him. I'm worried about me. I will never leave you nor forsake you.

That's the one that means the most to me. I ain't letting go. You can be content in me. You can be content in Jesus. I'll never leave you.

I'll never forsake you. And so he's quoting the Old Testament, but he's not finished. In verse six he has to quote the Old Testament. Again, he quotes from Psalm 118 in verse 6, “So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper;

I will not fear; what can man do to me?” He's my helper. The word helper here has the idea of one who runs to answer the call.

One who runs to answer the call. He's my helper. When I call, he runs to answer the call. He's my Lord.

He's my Savior. I can be content in him. Love one another. Show hospitality to the stranger. Remember those imprisoned.

Right. Remember the suffering. Honor marriage and look to the Savior. Be content in the Savior. This is what Paul says.

Philippians 4:11-13 (NLT) “…I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” We can love John says in 1 John 4:19 (ESV) “We love because He first loved us.”

We can demonstrate Christ's love. We can show it in the way we live in the kingdom today. Let's pray. Lord, I pray first of all for that person that's here today. And you've never committed your life to Jesus.

I want to give you an opportunity to do that right now. Every Sunday, it's our sincere desire that people far from God would be brought near by the hearing of His Word that would move them to faith. And I pray that that's you today. And if your heart is being stirred right now, then know this, that that's the spirit of Jesus knocking at your heart's door. Would you say yes to him today?

Would you say yes to Jesus today? Pray like this with me if it's your desire to follow Jesus. Dear Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner, but I want to be forgiven. I believe you died on the cross for my sins, that you paid for my sins, that you are raised from the grave and that you live today. I believe that.

Come and live in me. I invite you now to be my Lord and Savior. Forgive me of my sins and make me a child of God. If you're praying that prayer of faith, believing, he'll save you, he'll adopt you into his family, and he'll pour out that love of Jesus into your heart. Others are here today, and you are a believer.

But today there's someone you need to forgive. There's someone you need to reconcile with. There's someone that you need to go and encourage and pray for. There's someone you've forgotten that you need to remember.

Would you give that to the Lord right now? Holy Spirit, bring it to our minds that which we've overlooked. We're a forgetful people, Lord. Help us to remember. We thank you now, in Jesus’ name, amen.

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2. By showing hospitality to strangers.

3. By remembering the sufferer.

4. By honoring the sanctity of marriage.

5. By being content in the Savior.

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True Worship in the Life of Mary

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