A Few Things for Christians to Remember
Hebrews 13:7-14
December 16, 2001

It is so easy for us to read the Scripture without thought of the immediate situation at hand. We can plunge into a passage, and certainly profit from it, yet leave without really understanding the heart of it. The most quoted verse of Hebrews (13:8) is a clear example. While it does speak of the unchanging nature of Christ, it is not just to give us another doctrine to ponder. It does so in the context of believers remembering those who have endured before them, seeing the way Christ sustained them-and therefore will sustain the believer in the present difficulty.

That brings me to our text. What was the ancient writer attempting to do? Quite simply, he is helping the struggling believers to apply the truths he has set before them to the practice of endurance-perseverance in the Christian life. He offers them helpful tools to craft their lives in faithfulness, skillful weapons to wield in the battle of spiritual conflict, and unfailing resources to keep them spiritually fit. These same tools, weapons, and resources belong to us who would live as Christians until Christ comes. We must not allow our minds to coast or our disciplines to falter. Remembrance and practice will keep us steadfast as Christians. Without complicating the Christian life, our writer helps us to see a few things to remember and apply to daily Christian living. What are these things? How do they function?

I. Keep constant remembrances vv. 7-8


Memories are a wonderful thing-when they work! Granted, there are some issues of life that we do not want to remember, yet the kind of remembrances spoken of in our text point to memories that God gives to steel us against the most difficult odds. The Scripture often calls upon us to "remember," to call to attention once again the things we have learned. Paul told the Philippians, "The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you" (4:9). It was an exhortation to remember and put into practice the things God had entrusted to them. In a similar way, we are here exhorted to "remember."

1. Remember mentors in the faith


After speaking so much throughout the epistle on the sufficiency of Christ, it almost appears strange that the writer now exhorts these believers to remember their spiritual mentors. Yet he is sensitive to the fact that all of us need examples and mentors to follow. That is why we find him going to great lengths in chapter 11 to give us one example after another of those who practiced an enduring faith. Each person mentioned becomes a potential mentor for our Christian lives. "Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you." The command calls for constant remembrance, not simply a one-time "memorial service" in our minds. Remember those who paved the way for you to hear the gospel, who laid the groundwork for your spiritual lives, who exhausted themselves in giving you the word of God-remember! Most scholars believe that the writer refers to those who have already passed through this life into the presence of Christ. Their lives stand as living memorials to stir the mind and charge the spirit with fresh fire for living as Christians. They had spoken the word of God to them, so they likely were those who had served as elders, pastors, and teachers for the suffering flock somewhere along the journey. Now they were to remember them.


There have been many people along the way who have mentored me in the Christian life. One very special person was Marshall Crawley, a man who came into my life-along with his wife Nancy, when I was a young teenager. Marshall was called to serve as music and youth minister at First Baptist Church of Russellville, Alabama-my home church. Believe me, he was not called into a passionate, fervent congregation or pulpit. The church was cold. Virtually all of the youth were unregenerate. The Word was not proclaimed, except in occasional "revival services." We did not know the gospel of Christ. It was into this kind of setting that Marshall came with a great burden for the salvation of the youth under his charge. I heard the gospel under his teaching, and I saw the gospel at work in his life. Through his ministry and influence I came to faith in Jesus Christ. And I kept watching his life and listening to his message. Though he stayed only a short time in our church, he kept in touch with many of us who had come to know Christ through is ministry. I can still see the radiance of Christ in his face and hear the warmth in his voice.


Nancy was diagnosed with brain cancer, yet both of them continued to radiate the joy of Christ. After her death, Marshall continued pastoring in Florida with a fruitful ministry. I had the delight of preaching in his church and seeing the hand of God at work there. Not long afterwards, Marshall called to tell me that he had terminal cancer. His joy was undiminished, and his sights were set on the glories that Christ had won for him at the cross. I was in a hotel on Rio Bay in Brazil, rooming with Kevin Millard, when I got the call that Marshall had passed from this life into eternity. I stood on the balcony, gazing into a star-filled sky, and I remembered the end result of his walk, and was encouraged to press on. Many times I have remembered Marshall and Nancy Crawley, and their faithfulness to Christ, and I've been encouraged to endure. Remember the mentors in your Christian faith.

2. Imitate enduring faith


The remembrances of mentors are never to simply put us into a nostalgic mood! Instead, the remembrance should have a sharp focus, "considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith." The word, "considering," suggests contemplation, a scanning of the details along the way of someone's life. "Result of their conduct," literally refers to the stretching out of one's manner of living, or as some translate, "the end of their life." The obvious implication is that he speaks of those who have finished the course and are now in heaven. They did not just talk about faith in Christ, but lived it up to the very end. So the exhortation is to scan the whole path of those spiritual mentors until they drew their last breath, and passed into the presence of Christ. How did they live? How did they endure difficulties? How did they face persecution? How did they handle the strain of temptation? How did they keep on course in spite of their own weaknesses? Look at the end result of their way of life in Christ. That is the implication. The present tense verbs, "remember...considering...imitate," tell us that we are involved in a process to find strength for living like a Christian throughout life. Scan the halls of the past to find strength for the present.


"Imitate their faith," he commands. We get our English word mimic from the Greek term used. Find a standard and become a copy of that standard of the practice of faith-he tells us. Hebrews 11 has plenty of examples to mentor us in the faith. Church history adds hundreds more. That is why I believe that next to reading the Scripture, I have found Christian biographies and history most helpful in my Christian walk. I have lived with Luther and Tyndale and Edwards and Carey and Whitefield and Spurgeon. I have looked at their faith. Yes, all of them had flaws-just like us. But they all had great faith in Christ that carried them through battles within and without, storms of persecution, untold dangers, challenges related to proclaiming the gospel, swirling controversy, and great misunderstanding. Who of the past has come along your mental side as a friend? We surely are not to worship such men and women of the past as is often done in the Catholic tradition. But we are to learn from them, find examples of putting our faith into practice, and courage to persevere. And by the way, this is not a suggestion, but "remember" and "imitate" are in the imperative moods-they are commands! If you are not finding some mentors from the past to help you flesh out the Christian life, then you are failing to wield a handy weapon for living the Christian life.

3. Trust the immutable Christ


Now we see the most quoted verse of this epistle: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever," or literally, "Jesus Christ yesterday and today-the same, and forever." The same Christ who enabled, sustained, and strengthened our mentors from the past ("yesterday") is the same Christ who will do the same for us "today and forever." While we have a wonderful Christological affirmation of the immutability or unchanging nature of Christ in this verse, it is important for us to understand that it is to be applied practically to help Christians press on with confidence in Christ! These brethren from the past have given us great examples, but only because of what Christ had done in their lives. They trusted in the sufficiency of Christ "yesterday," we must trust him "today." The dovetailing of verses 7-8 demonstrate that our faith is never in our mentors but in the unchanging Jesus Christ who sustained them through every trial, and gave them as flesh and blood examples of Christian living.


Do you ever imagine what life was like for William Tyndale who lived in hiding for 13 years while translating the Scripture into the English language? Henry VIII tried to find him; the emissaries of the pope tried to find him. All the while, in cloak and dagger fashion, Tyndale translated and wrote sermons, and occasionally popped up from hiding to preach, only to retreat again into secrecy before being betrayed and put to death at Vilvorde Castle. What sustained William Tyndale? He could not come and go as he pleased, he had to limit his friendships and social engagements, and it was impractical for him to have a wife and family. Yet the Bibles we hold in our hands owe their accuracy to Tyndale's labors in secret. The immutable Christ sustained him.


Or maybe you have flown in your mind with Jim Elliott and Nate Saint, as they passed over the forbidden jungles of Ecuador in search of the Auca Indians. Your heart has raced with theirs as they passed along the tree line to see a couple of naked Aucas looking into their eyes. They land the plane, and attempt broken conversation with their curious onlookers. They bring them gifts and the Aucas return gifts to them. Long before, Jim Elliott had labored in the Scriptures and wrestled with his own passions, until the motto of this young man was anchored, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Now with his four companions, they land the plane on "Palm Beach," set up camp, and await a gospel invasion of the Aucas. But it did not happen-not yet at least. The primitive Aucas invaded them, putting all five to death, and yet, through this opening a door that no man can close opened for the gospel to capture the Aucas' hearts.


Who sustained Tyndale and Elliott and Saint? "Jesus Christ" who "is the same yesterday and today and forever." You need not fear that Christ is less than adequate now, that somehow he displayed great might in the past and will in the future, but today he has stepped away from his eternal throne and work as our mediator. Do not be afraid to imitate the faith of mentors from the past, for the Lord who worked in their lives faithfully works "today and forever."


Are you despondent as a Christian? Then scan the lives of those who remained faithful. Remember them and be encouraged. Imitate their faith. Trust in the same faithfulness of Christ that the mentors of the past did. He carried them through, and will do the same for you. Despair no longer!

II. Develop strong hearts vv. 9-14


The Christian life demands that we give attention to the "inner life," "the heart." Our writer tells us, "For it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace." The heart is an encompassing term for our inner life, the hidden man, and the inward affections. So when he speaks of the "heart," the writer refers to developing one's inner life-the spiritual life. He gives us practical tools for doing so.

1. Resist false teaching
The first command seems obvious but is one of those things that can slip into a believer's life if he does not use caution: "Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings." "Carried away" or carried along or lead away, pictures someone drifting down a river, perhaps without realizing it, and heading for danger. It seems that the danger confronting these believers consisted of being sustained on false teaching. They were satisfying themselves by believing and living in teachings that were not true. "Varied and strange teachings," refer to those things that are foreign to the sound interpretations of God's Word. They are diverse, coming with all manner of appeal, but foreign to biblical truth. The present passive verb suggests that the danger was very real, perhaps some had already imbibed of false teaching as has been apparent by the instruction throughout the epistle. So he commands them to resist the false teaching that was leading them down river to danger.


Here is the great danger for our own day. Multitudes of professing believers are sustaining themselves on "varied and strange teachings." How do we recognize these types of teachings? I think this is where the Epistle to the Hebrews is of great help. The message that he labors to deliver is the centrality and sufficiency of Jesus Christ in his person and work. He is sufficient for salvation and sanctification. The apex of the epistle is the exhortation to fix our eyes upon Jesus, who is the author and perfecter of our faith (12:1-2). It is not a mystical look at Christ that is called for, but firmly gazing upon him as he has been revealed throughout this epistle as Prophet, Priest, and King. The first century audience were in danger of being "carried away" by returning to a dependence upon ceremonies and rituals, trusting in the Mosaic law and one's performance rather than the merits of our all-sufficient Mediator, and thinking that what Christ has done is not enough to satisfy one's relationship to God.


Whatever is offered as a substitute for or necessary addition to the sufficiency of Jesus Christ, mark it down, those are "varied and strange teachings." J. C. Ryle warned a century ago, "If he [the devil] cannot destroy the medicine of the Gospel, he strives to adulterate and corrupt it" [Warnings to the Churches, 72]. So whether it is a blatant substitute to the gospel of Christ or a subtle addition to the gospel's sufficiency, we are warned, do not be carried away to the precipice of danger.

2. Refresh yourself at Christ's altar


The positive side of this command is found in the believer constantly being refreshed in Christ. This is how we can assure that we do not fall prey to "varied and strange teachings." He exhorts, "For it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited. We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat." It is important to understand where he is coming from in this statement. Remember that our writer has been laboring to demonstrate the superiority of Jesus Christ as our Mediator over against the entire Levitical priesthood, and the superiority of the offering of Christ in his death over against the entire sacrificial system. While the Jews were able to eat some of the sacrifices they offered, those offered for atonement were carried outside the holy confines of the camp and burned with fire. However, some thought that they gained merit by eating of the various sacrifices and offerings that were part of the rituals of worship. Food satisfies the body but not the heart. The heart must be strengthened by grace rather than by food. Eating sacrifices cannot develop the affections of the heart.


So what were these believers to do to strengthen themselves? "For it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace?" This is our first clue, "strengthened by grace." Grace always implies the work of God on our behalf; it is God showing us favor. So when he speaks of grace he is not referring to something material, as in food offered as a sacrifice. He refers to something spiritual, the favorable working of God through Christ toward unworthy sinners. Verse 10 explains what he means, "We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat." What is the altar in question? It is not the brazen altar in the tabernacle or an altar set up in another sacred place. The altar refers to the cross, particularly, to Jesus Christ and the sufficiency of his work on the cross. Those who cling to the Mosaic system may be eating at that altar, but by their refusal to turn from vain sacrifices to the all-sufficient sacrifice of Christ, they have no right to partake of Christ. So how is the heart strengthened by grace? By eating and drinking of Jesus Christ in the sufficiency of his work as our mediator before God: go back to the cross of Christ, look to Christ, see his death on your behalf, see him as the author and perfecter of your faith, see that he has offered one sacrifice for all time to satisfy God's demands of justice. He is counseling us to live daily in light of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is our altar! That is where we will find ourselves refreshed and strengthened in our spiritual affections! Jesus declared, "My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him" (John 6:55-56). Some quit following Christ after hearing this statement but to those who have been satisfied on Jesus Christ, we understand what he means. He does not refer to some type of mystical partaking of the actual body and blood of Christ, but by faith finding our deepest satisfaction and source of all life in Jesus Christ and his merits. Has your heart been strengthened by grace lately?

3. Boldly identify with Christ


One other issue is raised concerning the development of strong hearts, and that is our bold identification with Christ. This is where the first century brethren were struggling. They were at a point of being afraid to bear the reproach of Christ outside the camp of Judaism, because they knew that it would mean oppression and persecution. But our ancient pastor counsels them that it is time to be bold. The heart is not strengthened by temerity and passivity. You are not strengthened in heart by osmosis while you do nothing. So our writer gives the example of how the sacrificial animals whose blood was offered on the altar, were burned outside the holy confines of the camp or gates of Jerusalem: "For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp." So too was Christ Jesus, the perfect sacrifice for sin: "Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the camp." And now the conclusion is drawn, and exhortation given: "So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach." In other words, they were not going to find Jesus within the comfortable system of ancient Judaism. He was "outside the camp." They must refuse a retreat to Judaism but instead go boldly to Christ, bearing the reproach or insults that might befall them for the sake of the gospel. And why must they hesitate? Is it for earthly fame, glory, or possessions? "For here we do not have a lasting city," which is the same argument he has already established (12:22-29), "but we are seeking the city which is to come."


How boldly do we identify with Jesus Christ in our own day? Do people at your job or school know you as a passionate Christian? Do they see that you are not ashamed of Christ or his gospel? Are you willing to face the insults and reproach for the sake of Christ, knowing that you are anticipating "the city which is to come"? Your heart will be strengthened as you join Christ outside the comfortable walls of ceremonies and show, to stand with a crucified and risen Savior.

Conclusion


How do we maintain steadfastness as Christians? Let's begin by keeping constant remembrances of those who have mentored us in the faith, learning to imitate their faith in Christ, and trusting in the immutable Christ. Let's develop strong hearts by resisting the waves of false teaching that seeks to provide substitutes for the sufficiency of Christ. Instead, refresh yourselves at the altar of the crucified and risen Lord, boldly identifying with Him. 


God grant that we might be consistent as Christians.

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