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you you you you you you you you you Oh Baptist Church if you would please be seated take your songbook discern song number 154 154 Let's be the ties that bind Again that's 154 we will sing all four verses begin at first Let's be the ties that bind Our hearts in Christian blood The fellowship of kindred minds His light to that at the heart We pour our fathers' souls We pour our hearts in praise Our fears, our troubles, our reigns Our one hope, our cup of praise And our fears We share our usual words Our usual word is fair And available for both each other For both us in the rising year He's leading us under fire It gives us anymore pain But maybe we shall soon be jointed hard And hold to me again For God's sake put up some prayer Dear heavenly father thank you for this opportunity to come and worship you and to hear your words being preached Pray, Father, that you fill past groups in your spirit and that we'll all have something we can learn from this doctrine so we can all take away from these better Christians and better citizens of Christian society. Amen. Alright, for the next song, we're singing song number 162. 162, To God Be the Glory. We will be singing all three verses. Again, that's 162, To God Be the Glory. To God be the glory in great things he hath done, So loved be the world that he gave us his son, Who, in his life, had a token for sin, Had doth make a liking that all may go in. Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Let the earth hear his voice! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Let the people rejoice! O God, to the God of the Jesus, the Son, And give him the glory great things he hath done, O perfect light, to the purchase of blood, To many beneath the earth, the promise of God, O God, yes, a great deal should he believe, That love is from Jesus, our holy receipt. Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Let the earth hear his voice! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Let the people rejoice! O God, to the Father, through Jesus, the Son, And give him the glory great things he hath done, Great things he hath taught us, great things he hath done, And pray our rejoicing through Jesus, the Son, The purer and lighter and greater will be, Our wonder, our transport, with Jesus we see. Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Let the earth hear his voice! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Let the people rejoice! O God, to the Father, through Jesus, the Son, And give him the glory great things he hath done. Amen. All right, great singing this evening. At this time, we're going to go through our announcements. Thank you. If you do not have a bulletin, just slip your hand up real high. We'll make sure that we get one out to you. If you open up to the first page, you'll see our service times listed there. Sunday morning at 10.30, Sunday evening 5 p.m. not 4 p.m. That was a typo from an old, old bulletin I had to copy from. And then, of course, Wednesday night 7 is our Bible study. We've got the soul-winning opportunities listed there, as well as the salvation and baptisms for the month of November, as well as for the year. Let's go ahead and count up any salvation for the week. If anyone has any salvation reports, slip your hand up real quick. We'll get those counted up. Yes, sir. Saturday? Amen. Is that in California? Amen. Cool. Anyone else have anything to report? All right, very good. Now, keep up the good work preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. We've got the offering tolls on there at the bottom of the page. Again, instead of through the month of January, that should say through the month of November, because that is the actual offering tolls for November. Prayer requests, we don't have the list for this week. How's your husband doing? How is he just hanging in there, just in pain? Nothing to do, just wait it out and heal? Truck? Is the truck going to live? No? Oh, man. That's too bad. No more truck. All right. Well, I guess, brother, you have to get over that. But continue to pray for him, pray for his comfort, and he gets healed properly and well. And, of course, pray for everyone else that is on our list. We had good news with the Smith baby being born without any problems. I went over the weight and length on Sunday. I don't have that committed to memory right now. Trying to think, is there any other updates? Brother also gave us an update on Sunday that the lady we've been praying for has a cancer, which we're still praying for, got saved. So that was really good news. And then is there anything else for the prayer updates? That's harder. I'm not looking at the sheet, but all right. On the next page. So last Saturday, we went to Columbia, South Carolina. Had a great success there, a great day out soul winning. And we had 43 people show up to the event and had 39 people get saved. So it was really, really a good day. Couldn't ask for a better day. Perfect weather. Everything worked out really well. So appreciate everyone who joined us out there. And if you didn't make it to that one, hopefully you can make it out to our next one. We're planning one for first quarter next year, and that one will be a little bit closer to home. So I'll give you the details on that when I have them. November Challenge, Bible Memory Challenge. Memorize any 25 verses of the Bible that you want, but you have to be able to quote them all in one sitting, all at one time from memory, word perfect, without making any mistakes in order to complete this challenge. If you're able to do that, you get a prize, as well as the Hebrews chapter five passage. So we've got about a week and a half left for this. The last two verses of Hebrews chapter five are where we're at. And if you memorize the entire chapter, you'll get a prize for that. And yes, if you were able to overlap November with 25 verses, you can do those Hebrews five passages count towards the 25 if you're memorizing that. But just not necessarily all of them if you started on it before November. So anything that you had up to November doesn't count, but anything after November does count. So that's the way we're doing that. Upcoming birthdays are listed there. I am so bad with the days of the week anymore or the dates. Today is like the 16th. So next week we've got a couple birthdays, looks like. Upcoming events are listed there. Homeschool field trip. So we have actually with us today vehicle parking passes for some of the people who are, some, all, I don't know, maybe some because if you're one of the three families we talk about on Sunday, then your name will be on the list. So you just tell them if you've got that big passenger van, then you'll be on the list. Otherwise, we have a scannable barcode for you to use when you show up to the event so that you don't have to pay for your parking. And we have those with us today. So talk to my wife about that if you want to pick that up today. We'll bring them on Sunday as well because the homeschool field trip is on Monday. Gingerbread house, Christmas caroling. It's going to be Saturday, December 10th. And then Christmas service. We will have a potluck in between the services and the evening service will be pushed up a little bit earlier. And then the last event for the year is our New Year's Eve fellowship from 2 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, December 31st. So hopefully you can make it out to that. And let's see. So I do have a schedule now for all the construction and the demo work. We have the permits approved. And we scheduled for Monday after Thanksgiving. So I figured they could have got started next week, but no one's working through Thanksgiving and the project's going to take a while to complete. I want to give them a full week so that way our Sunday service will have the least amount of disruption when it comes to construction work that's going on and how the place looks. So the Sunday before that Monday, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, we will need to be moving things around here, getting stuff out of the way for the crew to be able to do their work without having to worry about our stuff being in the way. So the bookshelf, things over there in the foyer because that wall is coming down, we'll move some of that to the space next door and we'll have a lot of things to do on that Sunday. So anyone that wants a plan on helping us out, moving stuff after evening service, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, which will be a week from this Sunday, then we appreciate that. And we also have just more work to get done. We need to do some painting on that back wall because once this wall is taken down, we're turning all the chairs around and the pulpit's going over there. So there's still quite a bit of work for me to do, for us to do I guess, getting the camera turned around, getting some other things ready so that way once this is down, we'll rearrange the chairs, everything will be facing that way and we'll be able to utilize all of this space. We're trying to get the same carpet to match and we are uncertain if that is still sourceable. So the same company we used last time is going to investigate for us to see if they can still source the same product. Hopefully they can. It'll make everything look a lot nicer to just have the same thing. If they can't, I'm not certain exactly what I want to do and I don't necessarily want to re-carpet all of this either. So I'll just think about options if I have to cross that bridge. So that's kind of where we're at with that. In any case, it's looking like we're probably, though, going to be stuck with maybe some different carpet for a while. I don't know exactly how long, but it is what it is. It all depends on if this stuff is sourceable and how long it'll take to get it here and be able to lay it. So those are all the updates. And if you have any questions about any of these things, you can talk to me after the service. And I'm going to turn the service back over to Brother Jesse right now and he'll lead us in our next song. All right. The next song we're singing is song number 160, 160 crowned with many crowns. Yes, 160 we will be singing all four verses. The crown with many crowns The lamp upon his throne Hark out the heavenly anthem Hark, all ye faithful in song Await my soul and sing Hark, all ye who died for thee And hail him as thy masters Through all eternity Proud and Lord of God Behold his hands and sigh Rich roots yet visible above And guilty for refine No angels in the sky Can fully bear that sight But downward bends his wondering heart And mysteries surprise Proud and Lord of life Who triumphed o'er the stream Who rose victorious to the shrine For those he came to save His glory now we sing Who died and rose up high Who died eternal life To bring and live that death may die Proud and Lord of Hell One with the Father Lord One with the Spirit through him From yonder glorious Lord To thee the endless praise For thou for us has died Be thou, O Lord, to end this day Adoring magnify Amen, great singing. And at this time we would pass down the tithe, or the opera, excuse me. This time we would be passing out the opera plate that is used to collect to support missions. Brother John Carley, pass me out. And while the opera plate is being passed around, please turn through your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13, that is the last chapter in the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 13, we will be reading the entire chapter. And you can follow along silently as brother Austin reads. In Hebrews 13, the Bible reads, Let brotherly love continue, be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them, and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body. Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. Let your conversation be without covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have. For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee, so that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Jesus Christ the same, yesterday and today, and forever. We are carried about with diverse and strange doctrines, for it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace. Not with meats, which have not profit them, that have been occupied therein. We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat, which serve the tabernacle. For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into this sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. For his own blood suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. But to do good, and to communicate, forget not. For which such sacrifice is God as well pleased. Let us pray for you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account. That they may do it with joy, and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you. Pray for us, for we trust we have a good conscience, and all things willing to live honestly. But I beseech you rather to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner. Caught again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work, to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. I beseech you brethren, suffer the word of exhortation, for I have written a letter unto you in few words. Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty, with whom, if ye come shortly, I will see you. Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all the saints. They of Italy salute you. Grace be with you all. Amen. Brother DJ, if you could pray for us. Amen. Amen. Alright, now before I even get started with Hebrews chapter 13, there are a couple other announcements I wanted to make, I just didn't think about them during announcement time. One is a special thank to Josh Hill for, he built this website, we had talked about this before, did you get this idea from talking to me about it? This is, he built exactly what I've been wanting to do for years and he was able to do it in probably like an hour or something, and I really, I think that's awesome, so thank you for doing that, this is great, this is exactly what I've been having in mind for a long time. He brought in these cards as well too, and we're going to start using these immediately. These cards are it's got a QR code linking to bw2h.com by the way to Evan, and basically all it is, is a site that you can select what language you speak from a real simple list. It's got a little picture of a globe, so it's pretty obvious no matter what language you speak that you click there, there's not much else going on on the site. You select your language and then it'll pull up the appropriate video for your language to hear a gospel presentation. That's what the whole site's about, it's not distracting, there's nothing really else on there, it's for situations when you go out soul winning and you come in across somebody who doesn't speak English or doesn't speak English very well, they can't really understand what you're saying when you try to give them a gospel, you can't communicate with them. What I've been doing with that situation is trying to play for them using the faithful word app, there's the same types of videos, the different languages and soul winning and stuff, and I think that's great, I think we should still do that. However, this is a great resource to be able to leave with people so that way as many people that won't sit there through a video and everything else, and you can give this anyways on their own time, they can share this with other people and everything else, so this is an excellent tool. And the cool thing about this is that it doesn't matter if YouTube takes down channels or anything like that, this will stay up, and we'll have control over this, of what videos are up, embedded videos it's great, so thank you for doing this and taking initiative and getting the cards and everything else, like I said, we're going to start using this right away, I'm going to make a mirror of this site as well, and get going on some other things, but this is great and also speaking of soul winning, finally got some more invites. These ones actually have the right service times and they don't say we're a new church, so it looks like everything came out correct on these cards which is good because I ordered like 8000 of them, so they're over there by the by the front, and you can go ahead and stock up and use these when you go out soul winning now, and we pretty much blew through all the rest of them at our last soul winning event, so that's great, alright, that's it for those extra announcements now let's continue on here, Hebrews 13, last chapter, we're closing up the book of Hebrews, and so many great things to get into here, I want to as I've done a few times in the past, start with the end of the last chapter, because it flows together and just to make sure we're kind of continuing in the same context we're going to just pick up here in verse number 28 of chapter 12 where the Bible says, wherefore are we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear for our God is a consuming fire, let brotherly love continue, be not forgetful to entertain strangers for thereby some have entertained angels unawares and as we continue through the rest of this chapter you're going to see more admonitions and just things to be mindful of and things to be paying attention to just in your own life, like hey, don't forget to let brotherly love continue, this is continuing from chapter 12 verse 28 where he's saying, hey, let us have grace, right, as we serve the Lord, let's have grace, as we serve the Lord, let's let that brotherly love continue, and he expounds a little bit on the brotherly love he's talking about I think in the next verse where he says, be not forgetful to entertain strangers, so having brotherly love for people is pretty much what it says, you know, you love someone as a brother, right, you have that just like you'd have a love for a brother, you'd have a love for other people as a brother, and that's a good thing to have, right, obviously be not forgetful to entertain strangers, strangers would be just foreigners or just people you don't know, I mean, someone who's strange to you entertain them, it doesn't mean get up and do a dance for them, not that type of entertainment, right, it's entertaining them by taking care of them, maybe they're passing through town and say, hey, why don't you come over to my house, we'll make food for you, you know, you can take a rest before you continue your journey or whatever, that's what's considered entertaining strangers, and then it says, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares, now keep your place here in Hebrews chapter 13, go back to Genesis chapter 18, because we're gonna see when this actually happened, what is the Bible talking about here, what do you mean some people have entertained angels unawares? Well, if you have the concept that every angel has these big wings and they fly down and they have a halo over their head or something like that, you'd be like, how could anyone not know that they're entertaining an angel? Well, that's not what the Bible's talking about mostly actually when the Bible's talking about angels, now there are cherubim and seraphim and there's different creatures that God has made that are part of the heavenly host, that they're creatures that exist in heaven that do have different appearances, right, you read about them in Ezekiel, you read about them in other parts of the Bible where you got all these eyes and wheels and all these different things that God has made these creatures, but that's not what the Bible's talking about here when they're talking about angels because obviously you would know when you see something like that, right? So, an angel literally is a messenger and when angels come down to earth, they have a specific job, they have a duty, they have a message, they're messengers that come down and what we see in Genesis chapter 18, it's a chapter right before chapter 19, Genesis 19 is when God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah, right, where the angels of God go into the city and they go in order to get Lot out of the city, right? Before God cast down his wrath, the whole point of them going in there was to get Lot out and if you remember from that story, the men of the city said, hey, bring those men out unto us, so we know that they're angels but the people of the city think that they're men, right? So, pretty simple, pretty straightforward, but what we see in chapter 18 is when they encounter Abraham as they're on their way to Sodom to complete their mission, so they're traveling by the way and let's just read this story, look at verse number 1 of Genesis 18, the Bible says, and the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day and he lift up his eyes and looked and lo, three men stood by him and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door and bowed himself toward the ground and said, my Lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant. Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched and wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree and I will fetch a morsel of bread and comfort ye your hearts. After that you shall pass on, for therefore are you come to your servant. And they said, so do as thou hast said. So, Abraham sees these three guys, they're traveling on their way, he sees them fall off and then he runs out to them and he's like, hey, hey, hey, why don't you guys stop in here, take a load off, right, let me prepare some food for you, let's wash your feet and then, you know, after you've refreshed yourself, then we could send you back on your way. This is brotherly love that Abraham is showing to these strangers, to these foreigners, these people who are just passing by and he's trying to help them out and he's trying to just be very hospitable and friendly to people that he doesn't even know. And he doesn't know that these people are angels, that these two men are angels here, he ends up knowing he's speaking to the Lord, okay, as we continue on in this, but he's not, when he sees them he's not just thinking like, oh yeah, here's a couple of angels traveling by the way, he's just looking at them as people who might need to take a load off and he's trying to be very helpful to them. Bible says in verse 6, and Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah and said, make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it and make cakes upon the hearth and Abraham ran unto the herd and fetched a calf tender and good and gave it unto a young man and he hastened to dress it and he took butter and milk and the calf which he had dressed and set it before them and he stood by them under the tree and they did eat. Notice the service here, Abraham's saying, my Lord, he's humbling himself, hey, why don't you guys, he's treating these people very well, right, he's not just saying, well, I'll throw you a bone. I mean, he's literally getting out the calf, the butter, the milk, like all this good food. You know, and even just think about, you know, we take most of this stuff for granted, like it's nothing, but butter, I mean, milk, this stuff, creating the butter and this, you know, these are more luxurious items than just your average food, killing the calf, right, this was all nice stuff that he didn't have to do but decided to just be a blessing unto these people who were passing by and this is a great example and what a blessing it is for Abraham when ultimately he ends up, these end up being angels, right, God sees what you do and what an extra blessing to be able to entertain these angels when you have no idea who they are and look, I believe that this is just as possible today for anyone in our situation, there is a spiritual warfare going on, you don't know when you may end up being the presence of angels. I mean, think about it, what if you were one of those disciples that was walking by the way when Jesus pulls up, they didn't recognize him as Jesus, but how embarrassing that would be if you started treating Jesus like garbage. I mean, think about that now, and I'm not just saying like just talking trash to him, but you're going about your business, you and your buddy are walking down the street, right, someone approaches you, hey man, get out, you know, if you just have a really bad attitude towards someone just because you don't know them, those two disciples could have easily done that to Jesus, right, we don't want to be just rude and abrasive and closed off and not wanting to just have anything to do with anybody and just, well I just want to keep to myself and everything else, look, why don't you have some grace in your heart and have brotherly love towards just people in general, right, I mean be kind hearted and be not forgetful to entertain strangers, now obviously if someone's approaching you and you know they're either up to no good or trying to get money from you or something, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about being accosted by people, I'm just talking about people in general, I mean you're walking by the way, there's someone else there, look, you never know who that person might be, and you know, again, we're supposed to act as not respecters of persons, right, but you don't know what day you might be entertaining an angel, you don't know who that person might actually be anyways, but we ought to treat everybody with that respect, let's keep going here, verse number three, the Bible says, remember them that are in bonds as bound with them, so we're being admonished here to remember people who are in prison, right, the people have bonds, and as being bound with them, and them which suffer adversity as being yourselves also in the body, when people are going through their tough times, even to imprisonment and stuff like that, you're not supposed to just turn your back on people and just forget about them and oh, everything's going okay for me, right, and just forget about everyone else, no, we can't forget about people like that when they're going through their adversity, when they're struggling through their times, it's all the more important to not forget them and to go and visit those who are in prison and go and try to help out and be a good help for people in their time of need. Verse four, as we continue on, I mean, I could literally, we could spend entire sermons on each one of these verses, but we need to get through this chapter, and I'm sure you all want to go home at a decent hour tonight, so let's keep going here, verse number four, marriage is honorable and all and the bed undefiled, now, I was trying to remember, I don't remember where I've heard this before, and I didn't want to waste too much time trying to figure it out, someone, somewhere, some religious sect treats a relationship between a man and woman as being like a sinful thing or kind of almost an evil thing or something that's only done, I mean, how many times have you heard people say, oh, Christians only think that it's just procreation and that's it, right, to have a relationship, no, look, the Bible says that marriage is honorable in all and the bed undefiled, so it's not like a sin to have a relationship with your spouse in the confines of marriage, there's no defiling there, it's a totally normal, healthy, great thing for married couples to have a relationship and again, I wish I could remember, at first I was thinking like, is that a Catholic thing, I don't remember where I heard it before, you think it is, I don't know, I've heard that, but when I went to look it up, I couldn't verify that, I couldn't find the teaching that says that, I've heard that, but I don't like committing it to someone without actually seeing where it's taught in their doctrine, so, I mean, maybe I just missed it, but that was what I was thinking, like the Catholic thing, kind of just treating it as like a dirty thing, and it's something that's only useful for procreation and even then, it's like, no, that's not what God made that relationship for, it's actually a wonderful, beautiful thing, marriage is honorable and all, the bed undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers, God will judge. So, yeah, while that relationship is a great relationship to have within marriage, it's great, it's undefiled, no problem, but on the other hand, the whoremongers and adulterers, the Bible says that God will judge. And, you know, as, especially as believers, who I'm preaching to tonight, don't let that slip out of your mind. Don't forget who God is and how he feels about this subject, because whoremongers and adulterers, this is a big deal, and I can't overstate this at all in today's culture, because it's been so accepted in society that people are going to whirl around and sleep around and not get married and just have these physical relationships. Hey, child of God, don't forget what God says here, what the Bible says, whoremongers and adulterers, God will judge. God will judge. Okay, you don't want to, we just got done reading in chapter 12 for our God is a consuming fire, okay, where there's a few verses later in verse 4, God's going to judge. Don't forget that. I'm not going to go on and on about that again. A whole nother sermon for another day, we could go through all the passages that talk about fornication and adultery and the wickedness of that. If you want to have that relationship, do it the right way. Get married. Get married. And then you can have that relationship and guess what? It's undefiled and it's great. And you can be blessed, and God could bless you with your children. Let's keep reading here. Verse number 5, let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as ye have. For he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Now this is kind of a two-part verse and they definitely are conjoined, but I want to deal with just that first part first and as we go through this, turn over to Philippians chapter 4. Similar teaching here. But when it says let your conversation be without covetousness, conversation isn't just having speaking with someone else. Conversation is the way that you live your life. So let your conversation, just your life, the way that you live, be without covetousness. And how are you going to do that? By being content with such things as you have. If you are content with everything that you have in your life, then you don't have to worry about being covetous. Because when you're content with what you have, you're satisfied. Covetous stems from people not being satisfied. And this is one of the Ten Commandments. It's a Ten Commandment not to covet, you know, your neighbor's house, not to covet your neighbor's wife, not to covet your neighbor's ox or ass or, you know, their house or anything that they have. Other people, what other people have, you're not supposed to covet those things. Well, if you are totally satisfied with what you have, why would you covet anything anyone has? It makes sense. And here's where it gets really wicked is when people aren't content with what they have because, here's why it's wicked, because that's what God gave you. What you have is by the grace of God. The things that you have in this life you can attribute and give thanks to the Lord for giving you what you have. And when you stop being content with what you have, God sees your heart and sees your attitude and that's a wicked attitude to have. It's like being a spoiled, rotten child that just wants, wants, wants, wants, wants, wants. And that's wicked. And I'll tell you what, not only is that wicked, you will never have joy or peace in your life if you have a covetous heart. You will never be satisfied with those things that you don't have. Your eyes will always be on the things that you don't have instead of your eyes, when you could focus your eyes on the things that you have, you could be thankful, you could be content, you could live a peaceful life and not stress out over, wow, we don't have this and we don't have this and we don't have this. And look, nobody wants to be around the person that's always talking about the things that they don't have. Nobody wants to be around that. It's a vexation of the soul for people not to be content with what God has given them. And I'll tell you this much, if you want to continue on down having a path of not being content, you better watch out because God might just start taking away the things that you do have so you can show appreciation for what you have, for what He's given you. The Bible says that every good gift and every perfect gift coming from above, from the Father of lights. Philippians 4 verse 10, the Bible says, but I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. The great passage, I can do all things through Christ, I mean this is posted on posters and you buy this online, people have it up on their wall, great verse and amen, I love this verse, but let's get this in the context of what he's talking about. He's talking about being content. Like whether I have a lot and I'm abounding and God's really blessed me and I'm overfilled with all the great blessings of the Lord or whether I am abased and brought to nothing, okay, I'm still going to be content. He said I've learned to be content. I'm satisfied. How satisfied would you be if you lost everything today? Would you be content still with what you have? Like Job. Job had everything and abounded, but you know what? Job was good with what he had, he was a good steward with what he had, he still offered up sacrifices to the Lord, he still honored God, he didn't lose sight of who God was when God blessed him, as many people who get riches do, they forget God who is the Lord. Not Job. And then on the flip side, when he lost everything, what did he say? Well hey, naked came out of my mother's womb, naked shall I return, you know, the Lord hath given, Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord. He came into this world with nothing, he's going to leave with nothing, and you know what? Praise God. God's given to him, praise God. God's taken away from him, praise God. Being content, being thankful with what you have. And you know, let's face it, many times we're responsible for losing stuff anyways, right? We do dumb things and then it's gone, people waste stuff and whatever, so either way, be content. Now this doesn't mean you could never plan on purchasing something, right? Think, hey, it would be nice if I had a vehicle or another vehicle or something, there's some things that I can do with this, and you can plan and, you know, save up and try to purchase something without being covetous toward it. See, this has to do with your heart. You can plan to purchase something, but you know what? You better be content the entire time with what you have. And say, hey, if I never got that, I'm still cool, I'm still good. Praise God for what he's given me. Now I'm going to plan and try to save and see what I can do to purchase this thing or that thing or whatever, but you have to be able to have it in your heart where you're just like say, well, maybe it'll never happen. And I'm good with that. And I'm not just setting my eyes on the things of this world. You're living this world, you're going to try to get the tools and the things and whatever you need, and hey, if God blesses you with money, great, and if he doesn't, great. Yeah, if he doesn't, great. Because we're content. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And just as Philippians 4 says, you know, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Hebrews 13, 5, if you go back to Hebrews 13, let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have for he hath said, this is why we should be content, for he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Hey, if you have any other reason to be content, there's no greater reason than the fact that Christ said, hey, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. See, but I don't have the great house and I don't have the great car, but you have Christ! And he's never going to leave you! You could be in the gutter and he's not going to leave you or forsake you. Hey, praise God for that. Be content. That's good news. Don't have the wicked heart and wicked attitude that's never satisfied. So just like with the whoremongers and adulterers and this wicked and sinful generation is just completely accepted and tolerated, covetousness is promoted all over the place and we're heading into covetousness time of year. It's supposed to be a time of peace and great joy and good news and a savior was born and instead it's buy this and buy this and this and you need this and this and this and this and buy, buy, buy, buy, and put it on your credit card and who cares, just charge it all up now and you can pay it off later with usury added to that. Don't fall for it. Don't get stuck in covetousness. Verse 6 says, hey, I'm never going to leave thee or forsake thee so that we may boldly say the Lord is my helper and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. You're not covetous. You're not covetous. You're content. You know that God's never going to leave you or forsake you. You know what? That should give you boldness. Hey, God's with me. No matter what. Boldly say the Lord is my helper. God's with me to help me. God will see me through. Even if I'm abased, God's with me. This is what we see in the Apostle Paul. Hey, God's with me. Like he said in Philippians, I know how to be abased. I know how to abound. He's speaking in regards to like being in prison and asking churches to like, hey, can you help me out a little bit here? Because he had nothing. But he's saying, you know what? I'm good. Hey, you helped me out? Great. God bless you. Thank you. Right? I was in need and you helped me out. But, hey, if I got nothing, I could still deal with that. Why? Because God's with me. Because I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Because he's never going to leave me or forsake me. Lord's my helper and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. So you don't have to worry about what man's going to do to you. God said, you know, Christ isn't going to leave you. That's good news. Verse 7, remember them which have the rule over you. And we're kind of shifting gears again a little bit. Remember them which have the rule over you. What is this talking about, Pastor? Is this talking about kings? Is this talking about, you know, parents? Well, it says, who have spoken unto you the word of God whose faith follow considering the end of their conversation. Now, this thought of people who have the rule over you is actually brought up two other times in the same passage. So let's look at verse 17. We're going to look at verse 24 also in this passage. Verse 17 says, Obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves. For they watch for your souls as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you. And then again, there in verse number 24, it says, Salute all them that have the rule over you and all the saints they have bitterly salute you. So who is this talking about? Well, this is talking about the man of God that has the rule in the house of God. And how can I be so confident about that? Well, one, it's talking about, you know, those who have spoken unto you the word of God. Now, not everyone that speaks the word of God to you has the rule over you. I mean, that's pretty obvious, right? But there are people who speak the word of God that do have the rule over you. And it's talking about following their faith. So obviously, this person set up as an example to be someone that you could follow their faith. In verse 17, again, when it talks about obeying them and rule over you, it talks about people who watch for your souls. This is one of the jobs of a under shepherd, as of a bishop of a church, of a pastor, of a flock, is to watch for the souls of the people, to look for the wolves that might creep in and the false brethren and the people that are going to do damage to the flock. That is the job of the person in charge of a local congregation or body or church. For they watch for your souls as they that must give account. Give account to who? To God. Because it's part of the duties and responsibilities of a person that's put in that position. I answer to God for the well-being of this church. And would to God every pastor in the world can take that seriously and actually care enough about the flock to say, hey, I answer to God for this job. That means I have to live and walk by an example as a faithful example. I can't be getting into trouble and having all kinds of, you know, just wicked sins and everything else in my life. I gotta be a good example. I've gotta teach the whole counsel of God. I've gotta be mindful and prayerfully considering the people of our church to help them to grow, to be looking out for problem areas and lives so I can help not, you know, people avoid the snares and the pitfalls that exist in this world. Oh, you're just on a power trip, Pastor Birds. You just want everyone to just fall down on their face before you. No, I don't. Because the Bible says not to worship any man. But at the same time, it does say to obey them to have the rule over you and submit yourselves. Now, this doesn't mean submit yourselves in every area of your life to what the pastor says. Okay, I can't tell you like, well, you need to wear this tomorrow and eat that and, you know, like no. It's within the scope and the realm of authority that God has given. And again, this is a whole other sermon for another day to look at what the scripture says about the scope of what the church has and specifically an elder in the church would have type of authority. It's in the confines of the house of God. Okay, that's the authority. So, it's not telling you everything that you have to do outside of here. I'm gonna preach the word of God unto you and preach God's commandments unto you. You decide if you're gonna follow those. But within the house of God, I'm in charge here. I say the way things are gonna go. I say the way soul winning is gonna go. I say the way that the service is gonna go. I say what songs are acceptable. I say, you know, this is part of my realm of authority within this church. And I think everyone here is okay with that. Because you seem to like coming back. But you cannot deny that the Bible is teaching that there are people that have the rule over you, right? And these are the people who, hey, they're looking out for your souls. And I like this here in verse 17 too. It's teaching the mindset of saying, hey, look, first understand when I tell you to obey them, that rule over you and submit yourselves, here's why. Because they're actually looking out for you. Here's why. Because they care about you. They're looking for your souls as they must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief, right? So don't give the pastor a hard time. They're trying to help you out, okay? They're not trying to make your life more difficult. They're actually trying to help. So why don't you let them be able to do their job with joy and not be a grievous job going like, oh, man, I gotta, you know, if I gotta do this and then so and so is gonna say this and then I gotta, you know, like, don't be like that. It says for that is unprofitable for you. Right? Because you won't get as much benefit if those that have the rule over you don't really want to do their job because you're making it really difficult for them. Does that make sense? And, you know, this could be applied in so many other areas, I just I mean, think about it. When you have someone that really makes your job difficult and think about this as out in the world, at home, wherever, someone is just making your job really difficult, they'll probably wear you down to the point to where you'll just end up doing things to not really have to deal with that person very much anymore, right? I mean, it's just kind of a natural thing to do. Now, maybe you have someone working with you or working for you where you could actually help them, help them to improve, help them to do things better, but they're just always a problem for you. Well, you know what? They're not going to improve because they're just always worried about making things harder for you instead of being able to learn and grow and everything. Does that, I mean, it kind of makes sense. It's the same concept. So you can take this, you're like, well, I'm not the pastor of a church. Well, you know what? Apply this in your, it's the same type of concept to not be that guy. Don't be that jerk that just can't be in their place appropriately, okay? And what I mean by that is, you know, here it's talking about, hey, just submit yourself to this person. They've got a job to do. Make their job easier, right? We all work for people in one capacity or another. Yeah, I'm the pastor of this church. I work for Jesus Christ. I also work for another employer outside of here, and I also have other jobs at home. You know, I mean, we all have different things and different realms that we work in. If everyone can just help that person, especially those that are over the authority in them, make their job easier, then everyone gets along better. So let's keep going, Hebrews. Well, here, so I didn't even cover this passage. I was talking about those that have the rule over you. Well, in the conditions, the qualifications in 1 Timothy 3 for someone to be a bishop. You know, if a man desires the office of a bishop, he desires good work. Verse 4 says, one that ruleth well his own house. This is one of the qualifications for someone to even be considered or be ordained as a pastor of a church. They have to rule well their own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity. But then the next verse kind of explains this a little bit. Well, what does his family have to do with anything? Why does he have to have his children in subjection in his house? For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? And I love that usage of those words, ruling his own house, taking care of the church of God. When a man rules his house, it's not for some power trip of being in charge and ruling. It's because he's trying to take care of his house, right? I mean, isn't that why, like, when you have your children in subjection, it's a lot easier and better to actually take care of them when they respect you, when they listen to you. Then you can instruct them and guide your house the way that it needs to go when you're in charge and you're ruling your house well. It's for their benefit. It's for their care. I'm going to care for my house when I'm able to take charge and rule my house well. Well, a person needs to be able to do that within their own house because he also needs to be able to take care of the church. So he needs to rule the church well and be able to have people that are willing to listen and follow the lead and be all in unison together and be able to find all of their places as members within the body to make everything run smoothly. And the children within the family, they all need to find their places within the family to make the family run and the household run smoothly. Everyone's got different jobs to do. That's the way it is in my family. Brother Logan, same in your family. Everyone's got a different job to do. I mean, you have to, right? You've got a larger family. You have to have people doing different things. If you can't even do that on a small scale with a family, how are you going to do that on a big scale with a church? We've got a lot more things to do here. Anyhow, enough on that subject. Let's keep going here. Verse number eight. We've got a lot to get to. Verse number eight. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever. Where do I start? I mean, for real. Where do I start? Too many people have this attitude that think that God changes his mind, that God thinks different, and God was real mean in the Old Testament, and now he's different, and now he's all loving. Look, God is a loving God. Amen. In fact, more loving than most people even realize. God commendeth his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Immense love. God is love. But that wrath, that's not just Old Testament, my friend. Do we have to read the last verse of chapter 12 again? Where God is a computer consuming fire, right? That's New Testament. And guess what? Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh. Well, where did Jesus ever say anything about homosexuality? He's the Word made flesh. Who do you think it was that met with Abraham in Genesis chapter 18, by the way? You have a physical manifestation of someone that the Bible is recording as Abraham is speaking to the Lord and having a conversation with a human being that is the Lord. Well, I wonder who that could be. Who do we know as the Word made flesh? Jesus Christ. In Hebrews, we already went over Melchizedek without father, without mother, having neither beginning of days nor end of life. Look, Jesus Christ has had manifestations in the past on this earth. And you know what? He doesn't feel any different about what's right and what's wrong from the beginning of our time. Okay? Eternity past. Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever. You know what? Thank God for His faithfulness and that He doesn't change. I mean, the world changes enough, right? There's enough people are always changing their mind of what's right, what's wrong. I mean, even within one lifespan, even within one decade, even within a year I mean, these days, it's like everything is just getting crazier and crazier. You know, the social media police are saying oh, you can't say that and now the same thing is acceptable. And it's like, well, this is a lie. No, wait, that's the truth. You know, like, it's nuts. You get judged on saying this, but then you get judged for not saying that later. And it's like this crazy town. Why? Because they have no rock. Because they have no standard. Because they're not looking to the word of God for the truth. They're just making it up as they go and just whatever fits their wicked agenda. Jesus Christ doesn't change. Flip back, if you would, to Malachi chapter 3. The Bible doesn't change. God's Word doesn't change. What's right and wrong doesn't change. Malachi chapter 3 is the last book of the Old Testament right before the book of Matthew. Malachi chapter 3, verse number 1. We'll get this in context. The Bible says, Behold, I will send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in. Behold, he shall come, said the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appearth? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap. And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. And he shall purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old and as in former years. And I will come near to you to judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against false swearers and against those that oppress the hireling and his wages, the widow and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right. And fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts. So he's talking about coming in and making things right, and he's going to come in and change things, and he's saying, it's going to be pleasant like it was in the days of old. And then he lists all these different aspects of the law, saying, why? Well, because I'm going to be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers. Right? Just like we saw in Hebrews, hey, the whore-muggers and adulterers, God will judge. So he's bringing this up in Malachi because they seem to have forgotten this stuff. Because they've already gone by the wayside again. And he's bringing it up in Hebrews so we don't go by the wayside again, talking about the whore-muggers and adulterers and the sorcerers, which all of these things today are still just being promoted as if it's no big deal. And he's saying, you know what? I'm going to come near. I'm going to do judgment. I'm going to be a swift witness against the false swearers, against those that oppress the hireling and the wages, the widow, the fatherless, those that turn aside the stranger from his right and fear not me as the Lord of all, for I am the Lord, I change not. So I don't care what you find acceptable, but I don't change. These things were wicked back in the day, they're still wicked today, and they still will be wicked. Therefore, you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Let's go back to Hebrews 13, verse number 9, the Bible says this, Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines, for it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace, not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. And you don't have to turn, I'm going to read from Ephesians 4, I've gone to this probably plenty of times in recent history, but this lines up so perfectly with Ephesians chapter 4. Hebrews chapter 13, again three verses that talk about them to have the rule over you, it's talking about now not being carried about, and just keep those words in your mind, carried about with divers and strange doctrines. Hebrews 4 11, the Bible says, and he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers, sounds like people that might have the rule over you. For the perfecting of the saints, why? Because they watch for your souls. The perfecting of your saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, building you up, right? Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and look at this, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive. Same concept being brought forward here. God doesn't want us being carried about with these just various strange doctrines. Why? They were existing back then, they exist today, people come up with all kinds of weird things out of the Bible, they're teaching these things as doctrines or commandments of men, and he's saying, don't get caught up in this. And how are you going to help not get caught up in that? By coming to church and listening to the preaching out of the Bible by someone who's qualified to preach the Word of God, and is not a novice, and is not a beginner, and is able to help expound and teach and guide in things that are righteous and true. Does that mean he's always 100% right and perfect about everything? No, but that's not what the Bible's talking about here, someone being perfectly righteous in every aspect, but you know what? They ought to be able to do a pretty good job of keeping you away from the strange doctrines. All the more reason to be in church, by the way, this is why I bring up Ephesians 4 over and over and over again, the people who think, oh, I could have a relationship with God here in my living room. Yeah, you can. No one's saying you can't have a relationship with God in your living room. But what you're doing then is denying what the Bible's teaching here about God giving from teachers and pastors and apostles and prophets and look, for your good, for your benefit. So why don't you get your rear end in church and be obedient and submit yourself to those that have the rule over you. Verse number 10, Hebrews 13, 10, we have an altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. Now, still consistent with the overall theme of Hebrews chapter 13, there's a difference between the Old Testament covenant and the New Testament with the sacrifices and everything else that was made. And it's interesting because it says here, we, it's just saying we versus they. So there's the, you know, we, meaning the believers, we who are saved, we have an altar, but they, who's they? They have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. So he's talking about the tabernacle that's, that would be the old tabernacle, the people who are looking to that old covenant as being their means of salvation. The people who are looking to those physical sacrifices and they're looking to that, that altar and serving that tabernacle, he says, you know what? They have no right to eat of our, of our altar, of that which, which we have. Why? Because for the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin are burned without the camp. The blood of bulls and of goats are never able to save. We, we, you know, this was already gone over through the earlier chapters in Hebrews and he's just bringing it up one more time saying, look, they don't have right to partake because if you're, if you're just looking to the beast and you're just looking to the sacrifices thinking that that's going to cleanse you from sin, it won't. But just as those bodies of those beasts were burned without the camp and their blood is brought into the sanctuary, Jesus also represented, you know, they represented Jesus, wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. So just as they would bring the bodies of those beasts and burn them without the camp, just outside of the camp, right, to a place where they could be brought, Jesus was brought outside of Jerusalem. He was brought out to Calvary, right, to Golgotha, place of the skull, where he was crucified and nailed on the cross and he definitely suffered there. But you know what? This is also talking about the bodies of those beasts being burned without the camp. Well, Jesus Christ was burned as a burnt sacrifice when his soul descended into hell for those three days and three nights that he was dead before rising again from the dead. Verse 14, for we have no, for here, here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come. Again, a common theme within Hebrews 13, looking for that heavenly Jerusalem. Verse 15, by him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. I preached a sermon on this subject before, I don't remember how long ago it has been, but you keep your place here. We're going to look at the other place where this is mentioned. The sacrifice of praise is found twice in the Bible, once here in Hebrews 13 and once in Jeremiah chapter 33. So if you want to look at Jeremiah 33, it's, it's, I think it's cool the context in which it's referenced in Jeremiah 33 also matches up perfectly with Hebrews 13. But what is that? The sacrifice of praise to God. We don't offer sacrifices of animals to God anymore at all. If you were to do that, that would be blasphemous. It would, you know, that would be, God would not appreciate and would not accept some animal sacrifice if you wanted to give a sacrifice to God. But you know what God is looking for from you? The sacrifice of praise. Which, he says right here, that is the fruit of our lips. It comes out of your mouth giving thanks to his name. And it says, you know what it says, how often to do that? Continually. Boy, doesn't that also line up with being content with such things as you have? Because when you're offering up the sacrifice of praise unto the Lord and giving thanks unto God and giving thanks unto his name, how can you have a cup of just heart and attitude and be bitter against what you don't have? No, you're going to be thankful. When you are making it a point to give thanks to his name and giving that sacrifice of praise from your heart to your Lord and Savior. We ought to be doing this continually. You feel all spiritual and you want to give a gift to God to God? You want to make a sacrifice to God? How about you give the sacrifice of praise in your mouth continually to the Lord? That's pleasing to God. God likes that sacrifice. How about you go about your life, your day-to-day life, singing praises to his name? Sing them in your heart. Sing them with your lips. Sing it out loud. Why don't you say, oh, I don't even know these songs. You know what? You ought to have some of these hymns memorized. You ought to. Because then you can sing those praises to his name. Instead of thinking, look, I know the mindset because I had this 20-some years ago when I was younger before I was even saved. I never liked the singing part of church. Why do we have to sing these songs? Can you just say what you need to say and then we get out of here and whatever, right? Bad attitude. It is a bad attitude. Don't have that attitude, though. And look, even when I was getting right with God, it was just like, oh, I never really wanted to sing. I was always self-conscious and thinking, like, oh, I don't sing real good, so I'm just not really going to say anything or I'll move my lips and not, like, have actual, any utterance coming out from my mouth. But again, that's taken from the wrong mindset. Because I'm thinking about me. Oh, what is someone going to think about me? What is someone going to think about my voice? Oh, I don't sound that good. Hey, you're not singing for yourself. You're singing for God. You're offering up the sacrifice of your lips to give praise to your Lord and Savior. That is for you to God. Yeah, we collectively sing praises in church to try to make a joyful noise unto the Lord together collectively as a congregation, but, you know, you ought not to just be sitting there and not ever participating and singing and giving praise to God. What, are you too good to give that sacrifice of that praise to God? Is it all about you? And look, maybe you don't have the best voice. Maybe you don't carry a great tune. You don't have to belt out above everyone else. Okay? You don't. If you're worried about not being that great of a singer, I would say, one, try to work on it a little, right? I mean, you want to make the best sound that you can for the Lord as with everything that we do. You want to do your best, right? But, you know, let's face it, you may not ever really be that great at singing, okay? It may not happen, but it doesn't mean that you don't, you just don't sing then. God wants to hear your voice. Who is it that made the tongue? He had to tell Moses that. Moses, oh, I can't, you know, he's like, hey, I'm selecting you, Moses, to go in and talk unto Pharaoh and lead this people. Oh, but I can't speak. Who do you think made your tongue, Moses? Right? This is what God's telling him. Look, I did this. Okay? Who made your tongue? God wants the sacrifice of your praise. Jeremiah 33, verse 10, the Bible says, Thus saith the Lord, Again, there shall be heard in this place which ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast, the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for His mercy endureth forever, and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land as at the first said the Lord. So he's talking about, again, people that were, they were judged, that, you know, the naysayers are, oh, we're never gonna, there's never gonna be joy or there's never gonna be anything good, you know, and he's saying, no, it is gonna come, and he's gonna bring it, and he's gonna bring the voice of joy and gladness, and it talks about bringing the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. How about you bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord? We're not bringing a lamb, we're not bringing a goat, we're not bringing oxen or bullocks or sheep, you know, we're not bringing those sacrifices, but you can bring the sacrifice of praise. Sacrifice what you think people are gonna think about you so that you can praise God. How about that? Verse 16. Hebrews 13, 16. But to do good and to communicate, forget not. For with such sacrifices, God is well pleased. And as you read through Scripture, you know, God is not impressed with the huge sacrifice that people think God's gonna be impressed with, like, well, I'm gonna give this thing up or give that thing up in my life, right, that might feel like it's a big thing for you to give up. God's not asking for those sacrifices from you. The Bible says, you know, to obey is better than sacrifice. That's what was told to Saul when Saul thought it was like he's doing this great thing by forcing himself to offer up these sacrifices. He said, you know what, no, God just wants you to obey. And just like here, the Bible says, with such sacrifices, God is well pleased. What sacrifices? Doing good and not forgetting to communicate good things. Communicate good things, sing praises to God. Those are the sacrifices that God likes to see from you. He's not asking you to go and, you know, to sell everything and giving it to the poor or something as, like, you're a great lover. How about you just start with being obedient to God and, like, praising His name? That's gonna make God well pleased, you know? And I'm not saying not to give to the poor, but just kind of, like, He's not asking you just to do all this great stuff of, like, making these huge, monumental sacrifices. How about you just obey Him? Just do what's right. How about you praise His name? This is what God is, the Bible says here, we're looking at the Scripture, with such sacrifices, God is well pleased. I don't know about you, but I like the thought of God being well pleased with me. Well, how about we look to the Scripture on how that can happen? And you know what's great about that? It's actually pretty simple. It really is. It's not complicated. Do good and to communicate, forget not. To communicate. Do good. Communicate with the Lord. God likes that. Verse 17, we already went over this. Jump down to verse number 18. Pray for us. For we trust we have a good conscience in all things willing to live honestly. Now, this comes right after the obey them, they're the rule over you, and this is spoken by, you know, the human author of the book of Hebrews, which I think is more than just one person involved here. He says pray for us. You know, some people might think it's Timothy and Paul or whatever. That's fine, it's probably true, but you know, whatever. He's saying pray for us, for we trust we have a good conscience in all things, willing to live honestly. Pray for those that have the rule over you. Pray for your pastor. Pray for you know, the people who are teaching the word of God. Verse 19, but I beseech you the rather to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner. And again, you know, Paul, or the writer here I would say is asking for the prayer to be restored unto these people sooner. Why? Because prayer matters. Like when Peter was in prison, and the whole church got together and prayed, then he was released miraculously, I might add, because the church was praying for him. You know, when people pray, God does do things that He wasn't otherwise necessarily going to do. Verse 20, now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will. Working in you, that which is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever, Amen. And I beseech you brethren, suffer the word of exhortation, for I have written a letter unto you in few words. Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty, with whom, if he comes shortly, I will see you. Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all the saints. They of Italy salute you, grace be with you all, Amen. So we see here the closing that is, I think, similar to the writing of the Apostle Paul. I don't want to go into all the details on, you know, people kind of conjecture what they think, who's the author of this book. I've got my thoughts on it, but at the end of the day, I don't think it matters that much. God is the author of the book. Obviously, you know, we pay attention to these things. You could learn a little bit here and there from understanding who's writing, but at the end of the day, it's God. This is the word of God. And lots of great admonitions here in the book of Hebrews. Obviously there's a heart for the Hebrews to do right, to live righteously, but to understand the difference and understand who Jesus Christ is and the fulfillment and understanding what the New Testament is all about. Great book of the Bible. We're closing the book of Hebrews. So hopefully you learned something through this series, and anyone ever comes to you wanting to, you know, especially like dispensationalists, people trying to tell you about, you know, talk about the Old Testament specifically, anyone for that matter. The book of Hebrews is like the best resource for explaining the differences between Old and New Testament and how they fit together and why we do things different now than in the Old Testament, but not just forsaking everything of the Old Testament. It's just a few things that have changed. So let's borrow our eyes and have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you so much for these great words of wisdom. Lord, I pray that you would please help us to incorporate these truths into our life. I pray that you would please guide us and lead us and illuminate us with your knowledge, dear Lord, and with your wisdom, and help us to exalt the name of Christ in our lives, help us to offer that sacrifice of praise. I pray that you would please embolden us to be able to open up our mouths and to praise you because you are definitely worthy, and we love you, Lord, and we thank you for bringing this church together tonight. I pray for all those that aren't here with us, Lord, that you'd be with them and keep them, and Lord, just keep us all safe as we go our separate ways this evening. In Jesus Christ's blessed name we pray. Amen. Alright, we're going to sing one last song before we're dismissed for the evening. Would you please lead us? Thank you. Alright, for the final song we're singing a song under 130. 130, yesterday, stay forever. Let's sing now all four verses. 130. 130. 130. 130. 130. 130. 130. Amen. Amen.