Demonstrations of Christian Love - Part 1

Well if you would take your Bible turn to Hebrews chapter 13. I did say in our scripture reading we'll be in verses 1 to 6 but we will not cover all of those verses this morning. Now at the conclusion of the message I will ask you to turn to Galatians 6 verse 10. So we'll start off in Hebrews 13 then we'll turn to Galatians 16. Galatians 16. Now I want to start off the message with a question. What is the most important possession and pursuit in the Christian life? I'll ask the same question another way. What should be the Christians greatest pursuit and greatest possession in the life? Should that be a Christian spouse?

Should our greatest pursuit in possession be to establish a Christian home? Should the most important possession and pursuit be the possession of sound doctrine in theology? We're all about a healthy local church here. Should it be all about a healthy local church and living in the healthy local church? Some are a little more practical. They may say the greatest pursuit in possession in the Christian life should be focusing on our daily walk with God. Again, what is the most important possession and pursuit in the Christian life? What should be the Christians greatest pursuit and possession in the life?

Well the answer to that question is love. On one occasion one of the Pharisees, a teacher of the law, approached Jesus and asked him a question. He asked, saying, "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?" You see that in Matthew 22, 36. But there was a problem. This really was not a question. It was a trap. For centuries the Jewish religious leaders had been debating which commandment was the greatest in the law. By asking this question the Pharisee, along with the other religious leaders, were trying to draw Jesus into a trap. They were trying to get Jesus to contradict Scripture even maybe to blaspheme.

Humanly speaking, Jesus was in a jam. In Judaism of the day, the religious leaders had derived and documented some 613 commandments that came out of the law of God revealed in the Old Testament Scriptures. Now these were commandments on top of or besides all the commandments revealed in the Scripture. And scholars tell us they had divided them between what they called 248 positive laws and 365 negative laws. So I thought about it like this. They were kind of pessimistic. They had more negative than positive.

Well all those additional commands and laws on top of God's law now put the people and the religious leaders, really everyone, in an impossible situation. No person could keep all those laws. So to help things out, the religious leaders divided these laws into heavy laws which were the important ones and what they called light laws which were the less important laws. And they came up with a way of relating to those laws which said a good Jew could focus on the heavy laws but they could minimize or even forget about the light or unimportant laws.

But actually none of this really helped at all because Deuteronomy 27 26 says, "Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of his law by doing them." So Jesus was in a tight spot. He was in a jam. But he really wasn't. Being the word who became flesh, he knew their scheme. He knew how to trap them in their own trap because he knew the right answer. He said in Matthew 22 37 to 38, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." This is the Great and First Commandment. So back to our question. Jesus gives us the answer.

The greatest, most important possession and pursuit in the Christian life is love. Love for God. A love for God that encompasses all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind, all of our strength. But Jesus didn't stop there. He went on to say in verse 39, "And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself." And then he went on to blow their minds, the religious leaders. And he said, "On these two commandments depend all of the law of the prophets." That means that all of the law of God spring forth from these two commandments.

The greatest commandment and the second comprehend and comprise the very substance of all of the law of God. So back to our question. The greatest, most important possession and pursuit in the Christian life is a love for God that encompasses all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind, all of our strength. And on top of all of that, the second most important possession and pursuit in the Christian life is a love for our neighbors that is like the first.

Well, there are always some who are super spiritual around and in the life of the church and they'll say stuff like this, "Pastor Chris, I'm not into being really all that lovey-dovey like that." Some will say stuff like this, "My greatest possession and pursuit as a Christian is my family." Others will say things like this, "My greatest strength and my pursuit is of doctrine and theology." Some may say something like this, "My greatest pursuit is helping others. I'm more of a Christian philanthropist." Others may say, "I'm a minister of the gospel." So my greatest possession, my greatest pursuit is the church.

Now, I want to go back to the verses I read in the scripture reading, 1 Corinthians 13. Paul says, "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but I have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all that I have and I deliver up my body to be burned but I have not love, I gain nothing." Now, let me offer my translation of these verses. If my family is the best example of a Christian family in town, if I can teach doctrine and theology better than R.C.

Sproul, if I give away more money than Elon Musk has, if I serve faithfully in the life of the church for a lifetime but I have not love, I am nothing. I am nothing and I gain nothing and on top of all of that I actually do more harm than good. Remember what Jesus said? "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment and the second is like it.

You shall love your neighbor as yourself on these two commandments depend on all of the law and the prophets." You might say, "Pastor, what in the world does this have to do with Hebrews 13 1 to 6?" It has everything to do with Hebrews 13 1 to 6. Hebrews 13 1 to 6 has everything to do with the first and the second great commandments because verses 1 to 6 flow from the first and the second commandments. And I'm going to talk a little more about this next week, but let's get into our verses. Here in verses 1 to 6 the author gives six exhortations. We can say it like this. He gives six standards.

He gives six expectations for the Christian life and every one of these commands are to be followed. They are to be lived out in love. Actually we will see that it is impossible to live these standards out without love. So let's read our verses, not the Corinthians verses, but Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 13 verses 1 to 6 and then I will explain how we'll approach them this morning and next week. "Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers for thereby some of entertained angels unaware. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them and those who are mistreated since you also are in the body.

Let marriage be held in honor among all and let the marriage bed be undefiled for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. Keep your life free from the love of money and be content with all that you have for he has said I will never leave you nor forsake you so we can confidently say the Lord is my helper I will not fear what can man do to me." Now like I said before here we have six exhortations. We can call them standards for the Christian life and this is how we'll approach the message. First we'll see the call to love the brethren. Verse 1. Second the call to love strangers or hospitality. Verse 2.

That's what we'll cover this morning. Next week we'll pick up with third the call to love the suffering and the author specifically mentions prisoners. Verse 3. Fourth the call to love marriage in verse 5. Fifth the call to love sexual purity in verse 4. And sixth the call to love God's provision which is really a call to love God. Verses 5 to 6. So let's get started. Let's jump in. Number one I want us to see the call to love the brethren. That's right out of verse 1. It's obvious. The call to love the brethren.

Now all the translations we study say the same thing and I want us to get at what the author is saying here by looking at what who why and then coming back to what. What who why and then coming back to what. So first what this love is and who it is for. Now in the original this phrase brotherly love comes from the word Philadelphia which is a compound word in the original. The first is folio which means loving and the second is Adolphus which means brother. So this is loving the brother loving the brother and this Adolphus means coming from the same womb. Simply this is loving the brother or one of the same womb.

But the author is not referring to a sibling one born of the same earthly mother. He is referring to one born of the same God. So the author is speaking of a love between brothers and sisters in God in Christ. He is referring to love between Christians. That is why I focus on the word brethren because this speaks of brothers and sisters. John Calvin said we can only be Christians if we are brethren if we are brethren. So the author was calling them to the standard of Christian love. He was calling them to love fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and we see this all throughout the New Testament.

We see this in Romans 12 verse 10 which says love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor and we see this also in 1st Thessalonians 4 9, 1st Peter 2 22, 1st Peter 3 8, and 2nd Peter 1 7. But 2nd why? Why? Or we can turn it around and say the purpose. Is it so that we can just get along in the church? Is it so that we don't fight and divide and split the church? Anyone ever seen a split? Is it so that we can have peaceful business meetings? Some of you here have post-traumatic stress from church business meetings. But why this brotherly love? Why? What's the purpose?

In the Scriptures we can see that this brotherly love between born-again Christians now is for two primary purposes. This reveals who we are as individual believers. This reveals the believers actual character. John helps us here in 1st John 3 14. John says we know that we have passed out of death unto life because we love the brothers. We love the brothers and he goes on to say whoever does not love abides in death. In other words whoever does not love is lost. John is saying that a miraculous thing takes place when one is born-again. A love for fellow born-again Christians comes to be in the heart and in the life.

He even says that this is a part of our assurance of salvation. William McDonald says here and I'm quoting, "A person who does not love a true child of God may profess to be a Christian but the Scriptures say he abides in death. He always was dead spiritually and that is what he still is." So this love for fellow born-again brothers and sisters is one mark of the Christian. This is who they are. This is our identity. This is our character, really our being. And this reveals who we are as a church. This is one of the character traits of the church collective church. Jesus tells us this in John 13, 34 to 35.

He says to his disciples, "Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another." Verse 35, "By this all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another." Jesus is saying that the true characteristic of a true follower of his is that they love one another. Anyone can claim to be a Christ follower, anyone can claim to be a Christian, but his true followers love one another and that is how the world will know that they are Christ followers. That is how the world will know if we are Christ followers.

John MacArthur says here and I'm quoting, "In effect, God has given the world a right to evaluate us." That's good. God has given the world a right to evaluate us on the basis of our love for each other. So collectively as a church, this is who we are. This is our identity and our character and this is how the lost know if we truly belong to Jesus. So the purpose of this love. Love for the brethren, our brothers and sisters in Christ is our character, our identity, who we are. This is who we are, this is what we do, and this love is proof to the world that we really are a Christian. And then third, what? What?

I want to show us what this looks like. Now notice verse 1. It's real simple, it's real short. Look at what it says. The author says, "Begin to have this brotherly love." Is that what he says? He says, "Create this brotherly love among you." No, that's not what he says. He says, "Continue in brotherly love." Continue in brotherly love. The Amplified says, "Let love for your fellow believers continue." In this word, "continue" in the original, it means to remain, it means to abide. So the author was saying, "Remain in." Abide in. Continue in a love for one another as fellow born again believers.

And thinking back to this original congregation, that means that this love for one another was in them and among them. Let that sink in. For this original congregation, that means this love for one another was in them, it was among them. They did not have to manufacture it. It was there. And this comes about by and through the new birth. This comes about because they were born of God. God's love have been deposited in them. Romans 5.5 says, "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who's been given to us." The Amplified uses the word abundantly.

This means that when we are born again, God's love has been deposited abundantly into our hearts through the implantation of the Holy Spirit of God. And this is God's love for us and our love for God. Therefore, as a result, we love one another. We love our brothers and sisters in Christ. And we do that because God is love and He loved us, so we naturally, spiritually, organically love each other. So in verse 1, we have the call to remain in and continue in this love for one another, for the brethren. We are all different, but we have all come out of the same womb.

We have been born of the Holy Spirit of God, and because God's love has been abundantly deposited into our hearts, we love the brethren. You may not realize it, but there are only two kinds of people here. Immediately, you're probably thinking of lost and saved. That's true, but I'm kind of aiming at something else. There are only two kinds of people here, those who are on the inside of this love and those who are on the outside of this love. If someone is not truly a born-again Christian, they are not inside this love for the brethren.

Now, they may be able to enjoy it and reap some benefits from it, yes, but born-again people are inside this love. It's deposited in them, it flows out of them, and they are recipients of this love. But at this point, Grace Life, I want to give you a challenge as your pastor. Recognize this love within our fellowship. Look around, see it, recognize it. Look around at the love that we see within our fellowship. Appreciate it. Take note of it. Appreciate it. But then somehow, some way, with God's help, harness it and share it. Somehow, with God's help, ask God to enable you to spread it. Oh, and church, guard it.

Guard it because it is a precious, precious commodity. Guard it with your life, and when it is violated by one that you love, cause that hurt to work in you, to love the brethren all the more. This September is my 15th anniversary of being your pastor. I could sit down with you and tell you of many things that have happened that have hurt me. It's part of the job. It's part of being a pastor. It comes with the territory. But one of the deepest hurts, one of the hardest hurts, and one of the hurts in injuries that you never get over is when brothers and sisters in the life of the church violate that brotherly love. They ignore it.

They injure it. They walk away from it with no explanation. There is a wound. I have loved them. I have trusted them. I have entrusted myself to them. I have loved them. They have loved me, and they violate that. They break that. That wound never goes away. Recognize this love. Appreciate this love. Treasure this love in your heart. Share it. Spread it. Guard it. And look, when it is violated, when you are hurt, and when you see that, let that cause you to run to this love for the brethren to guard it and treasure it. Next, number two, I want us to see the call to love the stranger. Verse two, the call to love the stranger.

Now to understand what the author is saying here, we have to understand what this meant for them and their day. And we will talk about this second part of the verse. I mean, think about it. What does it mean to entertain angels? That stirs some curiosity. But to get at what the author is saying, I want to look at what and who, what and who. I will start off with what we have here in the language, and then we will look at the who, who this refers to. But first, this word hospitality. This word hospitality. In the original language, this word translated hospitality simply means love of strangers. That sounds odd, I know, but I'll explain it.

Just like with brotherly love in verse one, this word in the original love for strangers, it's a compound word. In the original, this is phileo, which means love, and zena, which means hospitality. But this word zena in the original is related to the word that they had for stranger. So this is why it is translated love for the stranger in our English translations. This is hospitality demonstrated towards the stranger. The King James says entertain strangers, and that's accurate. But then second, these strangers. We have to see who these strangers are. Was this the hitchhiker on highway 51 going outside of Jerusalem?

Was this the homeless person sitting outside of the Home Depot in Jerusalem? You know, Jerusalem was a big city, so they must have had a Bucky's. So was this the family on vacation that was broken down in the parking lot at Bucky's? As soon as I said Bucky's, a lot of things went through your mind. Some of you started thinking about that food. Some of you had a panic because the last time you went in there it was crowded. To understand who this stranger is, we have to understand what it was to them. And any scholar you read will tell you basically the same thing.

In their day, this hospitality or entertaining the stranger was a very important part of the ministry of their church, and it was directed by two types of people, and it was deeply embedded in their culture as well. First of all, this related to persecuted believers. Most of these Christians in churches experience persecution. We're learning that in our study of Acts on Wednesday nights. Sometimes they experienced horrible great persecution, and because of persecution, many believers were driven from their homes and driven from their cities. So they ended up miles away from home in strange towns and cities with no family and no support.

And it is safe to say that these were Christian refugees. Also, there were these traveling teachers and ministers who traveled between churches for ministry purposes. Some were true teachers and some were false. And we see this in the book of 2nd and 3rd John, and we see it in other places in the Scripture. In 3rd John chapter 1, a believer named Gaius was commended for demonstrated hospitality towards true traveling ministers of the Word. And he was a great encouragement to the believers and especially to those strangers who came into the church to minister, but there's more.

Scholars in history tell us that these refugee believers and these traveling ministers would have struggled to find somewhere to stay. Inns, or what we would see as hotels, were notorious in their day. They were notoriously expensive and unsafe. And besides that, most of these refugee believers and traveling ministers were poor. So if there was a safe inn or a hotel, most of them just didn't have the money to pay for it. So notice how their context helps us see who these strangers were and what this hospitality and entertaining strangers look like. If these refugee believers were to be safe, Christians had to put them up into their homes.

Christians had to feed them and had to care for them. If these traveling ministers were to be able to minister to them and in their churches, believers had to house them, feed them, care for them. So notice what we have here. The author called this congregation not to neglect showing hospitality to strangers. He called them to love these brethren and to show them all the hospitality that they needed. Listen to the Amplified. It really captures the meaning well.

It says, "Do not neglect to extend hospitality to strangers, especially among the family of believers, being friendly, cordial, and gracious, sharing the comforts of your home and doing your part generously." Now right here I want to show you what this looks like in our day. Obviously our culture is much, much different. So this is fleshed out and applied a little different for us. I'll explain a little. When I traveled to Grace Life Church in Pryor, Oklahoma this last February to preach and to minister in their missions conference, I stayed in Pastor Derek's home. Derek and Stacey extended great, great Christian hospitality to me.

And I'll tell you, they treated me like a king. They fed me well. Brother Derek and I drank a lot of coffee together. We talked of scripture and doctrine. We talked about church. We talked about church needs. We encouraged one another. We prayed for one another. Oh, when we talked about some important things like deer hunting and tractors and lawnmowers and making knives and all those good manly things. And oh, Ms. Stacey, she treated me like a king. She always made sure I had plenty of food on my plate. Always made sure I had another cup of coffee. As a matter of fact, when I got home, I think my pants had gotten smaller.

Another example, during the true church conference at Grace Life Church of the Shoals every February, all those missionaries from all over the world, all those pastors and their wives and children from all over the world in the United States, they descend on Grace Life Church of the Shoals and they stay in the homes of church members. I think every year for years, Mike Kline-Sasser and his wife Rita from Wisconsin, they stay with Brother Steve and his wife, Ms. Allison. Steve Misios from Austria, he comes every year sometimes with his wife, sometimes with Marcus. He stays in the same home every year. Now what am I trying to show you?

Those families and those church members love entertaining, feeding, housing, and taking care of those missionaries, those pastors, and those families. I was sitting at the table with one of the missionaries and his wife. I won't call his name, but he described several years of ministry in lean years, difficult years in church work, in church life, and also lean years financially. She said when she got to that home who housed them, when she walked into the bedroom, there were boxes of clothes for her children, there were boxes of clothes for her husband, and the lady of the house said, "Come go with me.

We're going shopping." She took her on a shopping spree. She just cried tears, tears, and she pointed at the clothes her husband had on, and they weren't cheap-faded glory from Walmart either. When we have ministers come and visit us, I'll always extend an invitation for their wives to come, and I'm gonna tell you every pastor who's come, every wife who's come, we have loved on them, we have poured out the blessings upon them, we put them in a hotel room, we feed them well, we have them at our homes, but I want to ask you a question. Why do we put them in a hotel? Why don't we put them in a home?

You know that would save the church a little bit of money. You see church, when a man has the task of preaching God's Word from a Sunday to a Wednesday, that's a hard job. He needs privacy, he needs comfort to be able to study and pray, he needs privacy to get up early, to stay up late, to be comfortable, you know. Anytime we get alone, we put on our homeless clothes. Some of you will get that when you get home, but look, any time a man of God comes, we pay them well, we provide for them well, and you know every time they bring their wife, their wives always end up hanging out with the other wives.

That's called hospitality, but let's get back to the verse. Third, notice their neglect or the possibility that they could be neglectful. The author says to this congregation, "Do not neglect." See that in the text? "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers." And this word neglect is simple, it means to forget. It means to neglect or forget something that one knows. And notice what the author did not say.

He did not say, "Keep on being hospitable." He didn't say, "You're really good at being hospitable." He says, "Do not neglect to do so." So this tells us that these believers could have been neglectful, they could have forgotten or neglected their Christian duty here and a duty that they knew. Now back to how this applies to us. We really do not have Christian refugees needing our hospitality. We really don't have that. It's cultural. Other people in the world do. We do not need to house, feed, and care for traveling ministers.

I will fill you in on the details when I can, but I look to have one of our anchored in truth pastors come in the spring for another spring revival and renewal week together. And I'll tell you when he comes he'll bring his wife and we'll take care of them, but we don't have to house them. Oh, we'll have them in our home. But there are believers in church members in this room. They are strangers to us and we need to see our calling and our responsibility to show hospitality to these brothers and sisters. Oh, I need to say that again. There are believers and church members in this room. They will be in small groups with you tonight.

They are strangers to us and we need to see our calling and our responsibility to show hospitality to these brothers and sisters. Now some of you may say, "Pastor, that's one of the qualifications for being an elder." So that's for you and that's for the elders. Yes, you're right. First Timothy 3.5 and Titus 1.8 says that the elder, the pastor, they are to be hospitable. We are to be hospitable and we are to demonstrate hospitality. But this calling and standard is for you, all of the church, besides what we see here in verse 2 of Hebrews 13, other verses tell us that all of the church are responsible here.

Romans 13.12 says, "Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality." And 1 Peter 4.9 says, "We are all to do this without grumbling." Grace Life, look around the room. Look around when we dismiss. Stand off to the side and look around when we dismiss. I call you to identify two kinds of people in the life of our church. First, members of Grace Life and then second, visitors. And make a list of those you really do not know well. Maybe you don't know them at all and I call you to open up your home and your life to them. Have them in your home for supper. Have them in your home for a cookout. Have the children as well.

Maybe meet them for lunch. Maybe meet them for coffee. Invite them to be a part of your life, not just one time, but make it a regular part of your life. We do. We always have. Jared can tell you when I was youth minister years ago we always had our home open to teenagers. Many of you have been in our home and my wife and I have a list of some of you who have not. And I tell you when you come into our home we can take all of the junk, all of the clutter. We can move it from one room to the next and make the house presentable and have you come right into our home.

And look, every time you come into our home, every time we share a meal, every time we talk about life, look our fellowship with you. Your fellowship with your pastor and his wife grows deeper. And look, our brotherly love gets deeper and wider, deeper and wider. I grew to love one of the families that's here this morning a little more the last time they were in our home. I'm not gonna call their name. We had a family over and we ate, fellowshiped, talked about spiritual things in life and we got a call from Maggie that she had had an accident on this side of Jackson.

So we had to just drop everything and hit the road and head up the interstate. Well we left the family there and just said look y'all you know lock up when you leave. We left. When we came back they cleaned the whole kitchen up, washed the dishes and everything. I just thought I love them even more. You know what that is? Love for the brethren. Now me and I want to tell a story here and this will shame us. It should. There are some ladies in this room. I was almost tempted to call their name. John called the name of Gaius but I won't do that. There are some ladies in this room. They're always working to get ladies over for coffee.

They're always working for play dates. They're always on the lookout for a visiting lady and your spiritual gift is glue because as soon as somebody comes around you, you stick to them. That's loving the brethren. And look the love that you have for one another just grows deeper and wider, deeper and wider, deeper and wider. But before I move on we have to ask what the second part of verse two means. I mean we've got to get to that. Honestly I could spend a lot of time but I'll summarize it. Simply this speaks to the fact that we may never know the great impact and the long-lasting results of showing hospitality to brothers and sisters.

Those in our church and those God would bring our way. We just never know how God can use demonstrating Christian hospitality towards one another. Abraham, he's listed in the verse, he made a great effort to help three men that passed by. He did not hesitate. He did not wait to be asked. He did not look for a sign from God. He saw an opportunity to demonstrate hospitality and he jumped on it. At that time he had no idea he was entertaining angels and the third was the Lord Jesus himself. So the simple point with using Abraham as an example is this.

He had no idea the great impact and the long-lasting results of showing hospitality like he did. And the same goes for us. I don't know if we will entertain angels. That's God's business. I thought about it. I've entertained a few devils. But that's God's business. But I do know that opening up our lives not just one time but as a lifestyle. I know that cultivating a life and lifestyle of opening up our lives and opening up our homes and showing hospitality to the brothers and sisters, even those who may be strangers, I know that the impact and the good that that does for Christ and for others and the church is immeasurable.

The love and the brotherhood and the bond that grows is immeasurable and the more we do it the broader it gets the deeper it gets. The fellowship and the discipleship and even helping with everyday life. And look I thought about the fact that there are two kind of people here, the rich and the poor. I'm not talking about money. Some of you are rich because you're good at loving the brethren, showing hospitality to the brethren, entertaining the brethren. You are rich because of it. And as I have been preaching you have been counting your nickels and dimes of how rich you are in this. But some of you are poor. You're poor and you're suffering.

You're not who you could be because you're not engaged in hospitality. So this call not to neglect to show hospitality, this call not to forget to be hospitable are some of you neglectful? Are some of you neglectful? Are some of you forgetful? You used to be but somehow some way you have allowed yourselves to forget the call to be hospitable. Now before I move into the conclusion of the message I want us all to turn to that verse. That verse. Galatians chapter 6 verse 10. I don't say that verse like that because it's negative. This is positive. Galatians 6 verse 10. I want you to put your eyes on your copy. I'm gonna read the amplified.

Just follow along with me. Galatians 6, 10. This is one you need to go meditate on as well. So then while we as individual believers have the opportunity let us do good to all people not only being helpful but also doing that which promotes their spiritual well-being and especially especially be a blessing to those of the household of faith born again believers. Now out of this verse I will give a lesson and a standard that will help us immensely. This will help some of you from allowing yourself to get way out of balance and this will keep some of you from getting off into a pit of guilt. And this is a two-sided lesson. The lesson.

Yes we love the lost. Yes we love lost people in the world. Yes we love neighbors, co-workers, friends, even our earthly family that are lost. But our brothers and sisters in Christ, our church, that's our first priority. We love our brothers and sisters in Christ first above the world out there. Isn't that what the verse is? The other side of the lesson. Yes we show hospitality to the lost. Yes we show Christian hospitality to the lost. Lost neighbors, lost co-workers, friends, even our lost earthly family. But our brothers and sisters in Christ they are our first priority.

We demonstrate hospitality, Christian hospitality to our brothers and sisters in Christ first. Now I want to conclude quickly by reminding us of the context in the background of these verses. I always say it, context is king now. This will help. From chapters 1 to 11 the author gave this congregation the deep doctrine and theology of Christ, the mediator of the New Covenant. He was calling them to see the supremacy of Christ. Then starting in chapter 12 and going through the end of the book, the author gave them the practical.

He was calling them to live out all of the doctrine and theology he had taught them and he was showing them what that looked like. With those Old Testament saints of God from chapter 11 as their motivation, these believers were to run their race of faith well even through trials, even through persecution, even under the discipline of the Lord. And they were to live all of this out while understanding that they were citizens of the heavenly Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem. Then he transitioned to explaining how they were to live in their local congregation, in their local personal lives.

He gave them six exhortations, six standards, six commands and these are all about demonstrations of love. That's the thought of the message. Verses 1 to 6 are all about demonstrations of love. We've covered two, we got four more to go. So let's pray.