The NXR Podcast - SUNDAY SERMON - Avoiding Strange Teachings

00:00:00.000 All right, listen, guys, I get it.

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00:00:41.780 continuing with our series of the book of hebrews today our text for today is hebrews chapter 13

00:00:47.780 verses 7 through 16 hebrews chapter 13 verses 7 through 16 after this text next week connor will

00:00:56.780 be preaching our text for us. Then after that, two weeks from today, we will have one final text

00:01:03.020 in Hebrews 13, which will complete the book for us. And we will move on to something else. For

00:01:08.520 those of you who have been in the church for over a year now, you know that we've been in the book

00:01:13.300 of Hebrews for over a year now. So it's been great, but I'm excited to move on to another book

00:01:18.360 of the Bible. Thus far, our repertoire as Covenant Bible Church has been Psalms and Hebrews. And

00:01:26.260 that's it so that's what we've covered and we didn't even cover all the Psalms if we did we'd

00:01:30.880 still be there so but Lord willing we will move to another book of the Bible I like you know Old

00:01:36.500 Testament New Testament Old Testament getting a little bit of both a steady diet and so very

00:01:40.740 likely we will be moving to an Old Testament book of the Bible because we've done the Psalms and

00:01:46.340 Hebrews now I'd like to move to a narrative text genre of scripture so instead of Proverbs or

00:01:52.960 ecclesiastes or even discourse between job and his lousy friends i was thinking uh more so a

00:02:00.420 narrative text like uh exodus or perhaps joshua exodus is great um it'd be i don't know maybe

00:02:08.380 strategic to preach through exodus because you've got the attention coming from jordan peterson

00:02:13.280 preaching through it as a non-christian so i could just one-up him every single week which

00:02:18.360 wouldn't be hard it's a low bar for you know to beat a non-christian at preaching the bible

00:02:23.260 But I think Joshua might be where we land.

00:02:27.460 Exodus is kind of wandering in the wilderness,

00:02:29.720 but Joshua is conquering the pagan's land.

00:02:33.040 I like that.

00:02:34.120 So anyways, I'd be praying that the Lord would give Connor and I wisdom

00:02:37.040 as we select another book of the Bible.

00:02:38.780 Very likely, we will probably pause for a couple weeks

00:02:42.300 in between the two series to preach.

00:02:44.940 I'd like maybe a couple times a year to preach

00:02:47.060 on the importance of church membership.

00:02:49.120 And then there's also a sermon that's been on my heart for a while

00:02:51.740 using, of course, a primary text of scripture, all expositional preaching, but a text that just

00:02:58.340 really focuses on how to preach the gospel to ourselves and others as fuel in our tanks or

00:03:06.280 wind in our sails for obedience in the third use of God's law as we seek for the law to be a lamp

00:03:12.100 unto our feet, a light unto our path, the gospel fueling us towards that endeavor. So all that

00:03:17.900 being said, we'll be in a new book of the Bible, hopefully within a month, give or take. That being

00:03:23.340 said, without further ado, let's go ahead and stand and showing reverence to God and how he's

00:03:28.180 chosen to reveal himself through his word. I'll read the text for us in its entirety. When I

00:03:32.780 finish reading the text, I'm going to say this is the word of the Lord, at which point I would

00:03:36.680 appreciate very much if you would respond by saying thanks be to God. One final time, our text for

00:03:41.540 today is hebrews chapter 13 verses 7 through 16 the bible says this remember your leaders those

00:03:49.240 who spoke to you the word of god consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their

00:03:54.860 faith jesus christ is the same yesterday and today and forever do not be led away by diverse

00:04:03.300 and strange teachings for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace not by foods

00:04:10.160 which have not benefited those devoted to them we have an altar from which those who serve the tent

00:04:17.600 have no right to eat for the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy

00:04:23.160 places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp so jesus also suffered

00:04:31.360 outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood therefore let us go to him

00:04:38.320 outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured for here we have no lasting city but we seek the

00:04:46.840 city that is to come through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to

00:04:54.000 god that is the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name do not neglect to do good and to share

00:05:00.740 what you have for such sacrifices are pleasing to god this is the word of the lord

00:05:06.980 all right please be seated let's go ahead and dive right in i've taken our text and broken it up

00:05:12.680 this morning into two primary sections the first is verses 7 8 and 9 the second section will be

00:05:20.360 verses 10 through 14 verses 7 8 and 9 that's where we find the major predominant theme i believe of

00:05:29.540 those three verses which is that it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace it is good

00:05:36.640 for the heart to be strengthened by grace i don't know if there's anything that we can do about this

00:05:42.640 nathan but uh and maybe it's just me maybe from my physical position i'm hearing something you

00:05:47.760 guys aren't up there it goes but i was just hearing this not like a gregorian pagan chant i just

00:05:54.540 so i want to i want to be thoroughly protestant in my preaching um okay here we go so it is good

00:06:03.780 for the heart to be strengthened by grace focusing our attention now in verses 7 8 and 9 in your

00:06:09.140 notes i've written the following commentary hebrews chapter 13 verse 7 it says this remember

00:06:15.080 your leaders i want to draw your attention to that word the key word remember remember your

00:06:21.700 leaders and then also consider the outcome of their way of life the two words that i think

00:06:28.740 really stand out that give us an idea of of what's being conveyed in verse seven of our text

00:06:34.640 is a word remember and also the word outcome see the apostle is not merely urging his hearers to

00:06:42.460 observe and imitate the example of their current spiritual leaders i don't believe that that's the

00:06:49.060 predominant uh point that he's trying to convey in verse seven of our text i don't think he's saying

00:06:54.180 think about your pastor and observe his life his teaching and life life and doctrine and seek to

00:07:03.060 imitate that i don't think that that's what he's saying and that's not a crazy thing to say

00:07:07.060 pastors should be biblically qualified elders and if they are biblically qualified elders then they

00:07:12.440 should ordinarily be a good example for the rest of the congregation to seek to imitate so there's

00:07:18.720 nothing wrong with that but i don't believe that's predominantly primarily what's being expressed in

00:07:23.740 verse seven of our text it's not look to your leaders and imitate uh their their actions but

00:07:31.640 it's remember your leaders seeming to to give us this indication of past leaders remember your

00:07:40.700 leaders and imitate not just their current actions that they're still walking out that they're still

00:07:45.980 living out but the outcome of their manner of life meaning that the verdict is back in and i i said

00:07:53.460 this last week without even looking ahead and seeing you know verse seven of our text and so

00:07:57.980 i last week i i didn't i wasn't setting myself up as a prelude for today but in the providence of

00:08:03.420 god it works kind of nicely if you were with us last week i said that um it's really helpful

00:08:08.460 to give a lot of our attention to dead theologians uh dead guys you know there's a few benefits uh

00:08:17.140 one benefit is that dead guys won't go woke that's a nice benefit right they're not going

00:08:22.800 to disappoint you right if a guy's dead then the verdicts come back in um according to our verse

00:08:29.000 that word outcome consider the outcome of their way of life you're not just looking to their way

00:08:34.280 of life as they're presently living it out but you're actually able to look at the overall final

00:08:40.300 after the fact outcome you're able to say this is the way they lived their life has been fully

00:08:46.180 lived their life is complete and here are the results right the results have come back in we're

00:08:52.180 able to weigh the results of a life well lived. So the person can't disappoint you, but also you're

00:08:59.240 able to consider and weigh the whole life of an individual, not just a portion of his life. And

00:09:06.520 you're able to weigh not just the whole life of that individual pastor or theologian, but you're

00:09:11.120 also able to look at their life after the fact and say, here's the longstanding ramifications,

00:09:18.500 implications of a man who believed this who said this and who lived like this you're able to say

00:09:26.080 what what are the what's the 50 year fruit of so-and-so's ministry their life and doctrine

00:09:32.620 what's the in some cases 500 year fruit of so-and-so's life and doctrine and i believe

00:09:39.760 that that's at least i think the primary sense not that it's necessarily the exhaustive interpretation

00:09:46.780 but i think it's the primary interpretation of verse 7 of our text looking to past leaders not

00:09:52.780 just look to a leader but remember and not just look to their way of life as they're presently

00:09:57.860 living it out but consider the final outcome because the life is over and the verdict has

00:10:03.440 come back in so the apostle is not merely urging his hearers to observe and imitate imitate the

00:10:09.660 example of their current spiritual leaders but rather he is urging them to remember the way of

00:10:15.940 life of their past spiritual leaders as well as consider the outcome of their way of life in other

00:10:22.240 words the apostle is most likely referencing dead spiritual leaders from these hebrew christians

00:10:28.300 recent past i believe in their case within their living memory right predominantly at this point

00:10:35.480 still an oral tradition certainly uh they had certain records and scrolls they could have you

00:10:42.060 know the the apostle could be referencing um remember and consider the outcome of jeremiah's

00:10:47.620 life um and and isaiah's life um ezekiel and and you know he could have been looking to past

00:10:55.140 prophets where there were written records um but most likely he's saying remember that guy

00:11:01.700 uh who who you had a friendship with a guy from your own living memory who you personally knew

00:11:09.120 but he's dead now and very likely some of the individuals these leaders that the apostle is

00:11:16.580 insisting that they remember and seek to imitate not just their current actions but the overall

00:11:22.460 outcome of a life that's now finished it's very likely that the life that is completed aka their

00:11:29.500 death was probably a result of persecution i think at least in some part the apostle is saying

00:11:36.200 remember that guy whose life is over because he was faithful that he actually was persecuted unto

00:11:44.100 death for his faith in christ but what is the overall fruit what is the final outcome of this

00:11:52.640 individual who's no longer with you imitate that and i want to pause there for a moment because

00:11:59.640 it's easy to gloss over but but it's a really tall task that's being put before the hearers

00:12:07.280 in the very first verse of our text because essentially what the apostle is saying is

00:12:14.500 remember someone who died not just dying in faith but they died because of their faith

00:12:22.220 someone who is put to death because of their faith in jesus and now imitate that

00:12:28.740 the very you know i mean those dots are so close together if you can't connect those

00:12:35.140 you're you're in serious trouble right this is not a far-fetched you know this this isn't like

00:12:39.760 some kind of da vinci code you know tom hanks you know secret you know behind closed doors

00:12:45.260 putting it together this and that you know far-fetched outcomes and conclusions this is

00:12:49.280 real simple this guy died because of their faith in jesus and you should live the way they did

00:12:55.260 but wait a second the way that they lived resulted in the outcome was martyrdom the outcome was

00:13:04.920 persecution the outcome was death and you're saying imitate that

00:13:09.740 and i believe that the apostle's answer would be a rhetorical yes yes that's how we should

00:13:18.380 seek to live not hedging our bets ultimately the outcome is in the hand of the lord who is

00:13:23.880 sovereign over all things but we want to model faithfulness we're not opportunist brothers and

00:13:31.500 sisters yes we want to win yes there is a point too far that simply lends to just

00:13:40.260 naive foolish idealism and i see that sometimes in christians especially young male christians

00:13:50.420 overly idealistic well i'm not going to do that it's like are you trying to lose

00:13:57.560 right are you are you dispensational because it's just a self-fulfilled prophecy that every

00:14:04.680 single decision you've made in your life is ensuring that secularism conquers right so we

00:14:11.260 don't want to be foolish we don't want to be naive we don't want to be overly idealistic

00:14:16.160 and yet at the same time we also don't want to be there's two ditches here idealism and i think

00:14:24.220 being opportunist on the other hand we don't want to compromise we don't want to win by cheating

00:14:32.620 because winning by cheating isn't isn't winning in the long run the outcome considering verse

00:14:39.340 seven of our text the outcome of someone who temporarily wins but they win through compromise

00:14:45.320 through faithlessness to god's word it won't it won't be a long-standing win in fact it'll

00:14:51.780 ultimately give way to an even greater loss so we don't want to be compromising opportunists

00:14:58.740 but we also don't want to be 19 year old single young men who are patriarchal but have no wife

00:15:06.520 and children you know and and don't really haven't actually lived anything out you know they won't

00:15:13.380 go to a church unless they have every single one of these doctrines that this 19 year old single

00:15:19.500 man has never lived out in his life ever right that's that's ridiculous so don't be idealistic

00:15:25.320 and ideologue but don't be an opportunist follow the example remember leaders who were faithful

00:15:32.480 some of those they died in faith and some of them they died because of their faith but either way

00:15:39.500 regardless of the outcome whether it ended in persecution unto death or whether the lord and

00:15:45.080 his sovereignty chose to spare them faithfulness is what should be imitated remember your past

00:15:51.780 leaders remember their faithfulness and imitate that consider the outcome of their way of life

00:15:59.220 continuing therefore hebrews 13 verse 8 serves as a reminder so moving on now it goes on to say

00:16:08.920 jesus christ is the same yesterday today and forever see if jesus were only significant

00:16:15.700 for what he accomplished on the cross then all that would matter is the past work of the cross

00:16:21.600 remaining valid in the present and the future therefore i believe that what's what's being

00:16:28.120 communicated here is that hebrews 13 verse 8 so the very next verse jesus is the same yesterday

00:16:34.540 today and forever it's serving as a reminder that jesus did not only die for our sins but that he

00:16:40.600 was raised for our justification and he lives forevermore as a very present help in our time

00:16:46.900 of need christ purchased grace for us in the past and christ continually provides fresh grace for us

00:16:54.160 in the present the point is this without without the lens that we're using to view verse seven of

00:17:03.320 the text verse eight it would be true it would be doctrinally objectively definitively true but it

00:17:10.200 would seem out of place remember your leaders consider their outcome of life seek to imitate

00:17:16.260 that oh and by the way jesus christ is the same yesterday today and forever it's okay he is the

00:17:21.780 same yesterday today and forever but why are you saying it here it seems as though it's just it's

00:17:27.600 a true statement but it seems as though it's a random placement but it's not and i think the

00:17:33.700 reason why it's not random but it makes perfect sense in the mind of the apostle inspired by the

00:17:38.760 holy spirit of god to to follow up on the heels of verse seven remember your leaders and consider

00:17:45.940 their outcome of the way the way of their life seek to imitate that the reason why it makes sense

00:17:51.360 to immediately follow that by speaking to the immutability of christ that he was the same

00:17:56.700 yesterday, today, and forevermore is to say that the same faithfulness of Christ for your past

00:18:03.680 dead leaders will be faithful for you now. The same faithfulness of Christ for your past dead

00:18:10.980 leaders is present and abundant and available right now. Jesus is not only the one who has

00:18:19.580 purchased for us grace at the cross but jesus provides for us continually forevermore fresh

00:18:28.260 grace day by day his mercies are new every morning he provides for his people daily bread

00:18:35.780 jesus was with our forefathers he is with those was with those who came before us

00:18:45.840 some died in glory and some died in dishonor some were exiled some sawn in two i think all this is

00:18:56.520 again reminiscent of the previous chapters namely chapter 11 and 12 hebrews chapter 11 gives us the

00:19:05.120 hall of faith and talks about some who conquered but it talks about others who were sawn in two

00:19:11.040 who were drawn and quartered, who were thrown to lions.

00:19:14.880 But in all these cases, for those who were faithful,

00:19:18.220 they were only faithful because Christ was with them,

00:19:21.100 because Christ was sustaining them by His grace.

00:19:25.180 And the outcome of their life, whether it be martyrdom

00:19:27.860 or whether it be dying a peaceful death at the ripe old age of 85,

00:19:32.740 in either case, the ultimate fruit of a faithful life is glory.

00:19:38.460 It's victory.

00:19:39.500 it's good fruit it's fruit worth imitating now going on john gill who i've been using throughout

00:19:49.100 the entirety of this series through hebrews he begins to commentate on verse 9 of our text do

00:19:57.720 not be led away by diverse and strange teachings for it is good for the heart to be strengthened

00:20:03.260 by grace not by foods which have not benefited those devoted to them john gill and commentating

00:20:09.880 on those words he says this the word diverse here diverse and strange teaching speaking to

00:20:17.980 diverse the word diverse may denote the multitude of other doctrines referring either to the various

00:20:26.020 rites and ceremonies of the law within israel within judaism or to the traditions of the elders

00:20:34.660 or to the several doctrines of men whether jews or gentiles whereas the doctrine of christ and

00:20:43.180 his apostles is but one it is uniform and all of a piece one piece and strange doctrines because

00:20:53.580 he mentions here in verse nine of our text do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings so

00:21:00.940 john gill is bifurcating the two and saying diverse could just speak to the fact that there

00:21:05.540 are outside of the christian gospel so many doctrinal options but now he begins to speak

00:21:11.440 about that's the diverse teachings what about strange teachings or strange doctrines gill says

00:21:17.760 and strange doctrines may design such as were never taught by God nor are agreeable to Christ

00:21:26.040 not to be found in the word of God and which are new and unheard of by the apostles and churches

00:21:33.560 of Christ in a nutshell what what Gil is getting at and seeking to exegete verse 9 of our text is

00:21:40.740 this the apostle is saying do don't be led astray don't veer to the left don't veer to the right

00:21:47.120 there is one true doctrine of christ and there is continuity from the old testament all the way to

00:21:54.960 the new there is one gospel of god there is one law of god don't be distracted don't be

00:22:03.760 hindered encumbered by all these extracurricular activities there are diverse doctrines and i

00:22:12.200 think what what the apostle was likely getting at with diverse doctrines is saying within Judaism

00:22:18.600 there are all these different ceremonial rituals and rites and washings and purifications and

00:22:25.740 sacrifice within the old covenant namely within the category of the ceremonial law of God there

00:22:33.020 is a multitude of diverse doctrines but you have come to believe in Christ and that Christ is the

00:22:40.860 fulfillment of those ceremonial laws not that god was one way and now he's another no see verse

00:22:49.000 eight right before verse nine jesus is the same yesterday today and forever god did not change

00:22:55.100 but these things have been fulfilled so you don't need to go back to jerusalem you don't need to go

00:23:01.140 back to the temple you don't need to go back to the priestly animal sacrificial system in israel

00:23:07.540 you don't have to go back to all the different hand washings all the different purification

00:23:12.320 rights all the diverse i think that's what the word diverse is getting at in our text in verse

00:23:17.580 nine all the multitudes all the many doctrines of judaism but rather you can stick to the main

00:23:25.700 and the plain the doctrine that is uniform the doctrine that has continuity from the old covenant

00:23:31.840 to the new the doctrine of christ and him crucified that's i think what the apostle is alluding to

00:23:39.160 that's certainly what john gill thinks the apostle is alluding to in using that descriptive term

00:23:44.740 diverse don't be distracted or led astray by diverse teachings but then there's this word

00:23:51.600 strange and i think john gill again is right in concluding that the word strange teachings or

00:24:00.300 strange doctrines is not saying hey underneath the ceremonial law of the old covenant of israel

00:24:07.320 that the new covenant new testament christian is no longer bound by because christ has fulfilled

00:24:12.960 it not because god is mutable and changed his mind and these things were bad but now god improved

00:24:17.920 no no let it never be said but rather these things have been ultimately fulfilled in christ

00:24:23.680 you don't make sacrifices because christ is the once and for all sacrifice you don't do hand

00:24:28.880 washings and purification because Christ has purified us by his blood and washed us. We don't

00:24:34.860 have priests anymore because Christ is our forever high priest, not in the order of Aaron, but rather

00:24:40.780 the order of Melchizedek. He is a priest forever and he intercedes on our behalf. So we're not

00:24:45.520 doing these things, not because God decided, oh, that was a bad idea. I used to be kind of legalistic,

00:24:50.740 but now I've reformed. No, the God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New

00:24:55.680 testament god did not change but these things types and shadows have been perfectly fulfilled

00:25:00.960 in christ and they've been fulfilled in a sufficient manner we don't make sacrifices

00:25:07.000 not because sacrifices were a bad idea we don't make sacrifices because jesus nailed that sacrifice

00:25:13.560 he nailed it he was nailed right that's a double meaning right there that sacrifice is done it's

00:25:21.120 done. It doesn't need to be redone. It's finished. He's purified us. It's done. He's washed us. It's

00:25:26.920 done. He's the forever high priest. We don't have to look for another high priest to fulfill

00:25:31.080 and replace that guy's position. It's done. All this is done. And so on the one hand,

00:25:35.940 don't be distracted by the diverse multitude of all these Jewish customs, rituals, and rites

00:25:42.900 underneath the old covenant that really were stipulated by God and really did have a purpose

00:25:48.980 and really were required by god for a time but don't be distracted or led astray by them any

00:25:55.420 longer because it's been fulfilled in christ and in the new covenant but also don't be led astray

00:26:01.940 by not just diverse doctrines things that god actually said under the old covenant that are

00:26:07.600 now fulfilled but by strange doctrines aka things god never said things god never said

00:26:15.080 and what does he use as his case study as his example it is good for the heart to be strengthened

00:26:22.860 by grace and not by foods which have not benefited those devoted to them again just like verse 8

00:26:31.980 jesus is the same yesterday today and forever it's not random this too is not random what we're

00:26:38.680 meant to assume as we seek to interpret the meaning of this text is that in their context

00:26:44.020 within judaism predominantly perhaps there were also some gentile pagan religions that had the

00:26:50.000 same principle or concept but likely within judaism the diverse doctrines the old covenant

00:26:56.120 ceremonial stipulations don't be distracted by those and certainly don't be distracted by the

00:27:01.920 strange doctrines that some of these current priests and religious rulers with esteem within

00:27:08.840 judaism are adding that god never said in the first place in other words what's probably was

00:27:15.420 going on in that context in israel at the time with these hebrew christians they would have been

00:27:20.960 subject to this is it certain rabbis certain priests certain scribes were insisting that by

00:27:29.480 eating certain meats sacrificed not to not the false gods but sacrificed in the temple

00:27:36.880 under judaism that if you ate this sacrifice it would it would give you this form of strength

00:27:45.120 it would if you ate that sacrifice that whole burnt offering that was sacrificed with this

00:27:50.580 ritual at this time by this priest if you ate the meat of that sacrifice it had these kinds of

00:27:56.240 properties benefits that would that would be a grace to you that would strengthen you uh that

00:28:04.160 that would produce for you some kind of advantage and i think what the apostle is getting at and

00:28:10.640 saying strange doctrines is saying that this not only is this something that god has fulfilled in

00:28:17.020 christ and therefore you don't need to be distracted by anymore this is something that

00:28:21.680 there was never even a thing god never even said that you're going to be strengthened by certain

00:28:27.000 foods and in a in a mystical way and in some kind of religious sentiment that there's certain

00:28:34.940 properties of this goat that was sacrificed on this day by this priest in this place that if i

00:28:40.260 eat you know this portion of the animal then then i'm going to have this benefit and this advantage

00:28:45.920 that's not a thing that was never a thing not only are there certain ceremonial rights and laws and

00:28:54.340 codes that you no longer need to adhere to because christ has finished this christ has fulfilled this

00:29:00.220 but these are things that were never ceremonial rites or codes these are things that god never

00:29:05.420 spoke that god never presented these are just the doctrines of men this is where certain religious

00:29:13.180 rulers have gone too far in terms of application well i think there's two predominant entities that

00:29:22.240 we could apply this principle to and that would be jews and roman catholics judaism still to this

00:29:29.220 day and roman catholics still to this day in regards to judaism today it's important that

00:29:37.780 we remember and i've said this before but but it bears repeating it's important that we remember

00:29:43.180 that that the problem with judaism today as we find it and i think that our text is saying you

00:29:49.260 are already starting to see the beginnings of this concept that i'm about to espouse but the

00:29:54.700 problem with it today is not that it's half of the christian religion there's a lot of evangelical

00:30:00.000 christians i think that operate underneath that presupposition and and we just haven't been

00:30:05.640 properly or thoroughly educated about judaism we just we just don't understand we think the

00:30:11.060 problem with judaism is it's the old testament minus the new right that it's half of the bible

00:30:15.660 or if we're, you know, saying, you know, literal counting, you know, word count, then it's, you

00:30:19.920 know, two thirds of the Bible, give or take. But the problem is it just doesn't include the New

00:30:24.520 Testament. And with that, you know, the biggest problem is it doesn't include Christ. They don't

00:30:29.700 see Christ as the Messiah, that they're still waiting for some other Messiah, that they think

00:30:34.440 Jesus wasn't it. And that's a big problem. Now, if that was the only problem with Judaism, it would

00:30:40.960 be a significant enough problem to send anyone who prescribes to judaism to hell so it's a big

00:30:48.340 that's that's enough of a problem any problem that's sufficient to get you to hell is a big

00:30:54.440 problem it's a sufficient problem but judaism is is far worse than that it's not just you know we

00:31:03.100 have the old and new testament as christians and jews have the old testament now the better way

00:31:09.600 to think of it is that we both have the old testament and then we each have two separate

00:31:15.540 completely contradicting lenses hermeneutical tools for interpreting that old testament so

00:31:24.160 the christian has the old testament and then we have the new testament we read the old in light

00:31:30.800 of the new one theologian once said that the old testament is like a richly furnished room

00:31:37.240 but it's dimly lit and only in the light of christ primarily as christ is in the old testament

00:31:45.700 but christ clearly espoused by the apostles in the new do we have the light then shed in this

00:31:53.260 old testament richly furnished room where we can actually appreciate what's there that i can

00:31:59.040 appreciate this beautiful room in the light of the new testament for the jew it's not just they

00:32:06.380 only have the old testament or missing the new they have the torah old testament and the talmud

00:32:12.080 the talmud is their hermeneutical tool for interpreting the teachings found in the torah

00:32:19.280 so just like we read the old testament in light of the new testament they read the teachings of

00:32:24.320 moses what's actually in the old testament that actually is the inspired breathed out word of god

00:32:29.600 they read that but in light of the talmud which is in light of certain interpretations and exegesis

00:32:37.140 and certain rituals and certain traditions by modern jewish rabbis since the writers of the

00:32:45.020 old testament who got it entirely wrong got it entirely wrong so it's not just hey it's incomplete

00:32:54.500 they have the truth but just incomplete truth no no we both share the truth of the old testament

00:33:01.200 and then theirs has been thoroughly perverted and twisted and dismantled and ours has been

00:33:10.120 fleshed out the truth that was always there about christ all the types all the shadows pointing

00:33:15.560 towards the messiah but now clearly revealed in the writing of the new testament by the apostles

00:33:22.280 commissioned by christ himself that's the difference and so what we see in judaism still

00:33:28.540 to this day is not just diverse teachings all the the requirements of the ceremonial laws

00:33:35.660 right that if you're on an elevator and it's the sabbath and you're in israel right that's it's

00:33:42.080 not going to work because it lights you push that button and it's going to light a small little

00:33:46.240 spark and that's lighting a fire and that's working on the sabbath right and so what happens

00:33:51.760 on the sabbath on saturday if you're in israel the elevators stop on every floor and it's

00:33:57.000 automatically programmed so that nobody has to break the sabbath by pushing that button right

00:34:01.660 so you've got the diverse teachings right and that's the same way for the record that the

00:34:06.400 pharisees and sadducees were starting to misinterpret the sabbath even at the time of

00:34:11.160 christ 2 000 years ago right that some of his disciples they were plucking heads of grain

00:34:15.980 as they were walking with jesus and eating the grain and the pharisees complain and say your

00:34:22.820 disciples are doing what is not lawful on the sabbath now do you know why that's not lawful

00:34:27.860 because i mean you could take something off of a plate and do the physical motion with your hand

00:34:31.900 of taking food and putting it in your mouth on the sabbath but the reason why plucking a head of

00:34:36.620 grain was not permitted on the sabbath is because that constituted harvesting you're harvesting did

00:34:42.860 you know that on the sabbath at the time of jesus they they had determined that you could pick up a

00:34:48.720 chair in your home and you could walk with it a certain distance right so the man who jesus healed

00:34:54.840 he says take up your mat and go home well he went too far right so that was breaking the sabbath he

00:34:59.060 was carrying his mat too far but you could on the sabbath according to the pharisees and scribes

00:35:03.260 and religious rulers you you could pick up a chair in your house and go a short distance and move it

00:35:07.840 but you couldn't drag the chair why could you not drag it that's literally less energy being

00:35:13.860 exerted so it actually would be less work seems counterintuitive but the reason why you couldn't

00:35:19.080 drag it is because if you dragged a chair on the ground with dirt floors it would pierce the

00:35:25.440 surface of the ground and that would be plowing right so you can't harvest and you can't plow

00:35:32.400 now jesus comes and says hey forget the sabbath no that's where the evangelicals are wrong

00:35:39.600 98 of them but no he doesn't say forget the sabbath he says i'm lord of the sabbath

00:35:46.560 i'm lord of the sabbath which means i get to decide how the sabbath works you don't tell me

00:35:53.060 how me and my disciples should observe the sabbath i'll tell you i'm the lord of the sabbath and the

00:35:58.800 sabbath he goes on to say man was not made for the sabbath but the sabbath was made for man

00:36:04.740 in other words jesus is saying it's not as though god created um the sabbath on the sixth day and

00:36:11.980 then man on the seventh and said i made this holy day on the sixth day and now i've got to create

00:36:17.400 image-bearing creatures because somebody's got to observe it i made this special day the day is what

00:36:21.980 really counts and now i need to make you know just little little peons to you know to pay credence

00:36:27.940 proper credence to my special day no no god created man on the sixth day and he created the

00:36:34.740 sabbath for man on the seventh the sabbath is not a day of rest because god was weary that's

00:36:43.260 blasphemy that's heresy he is the lord he does not grow weary nor does he grow tired god does not

00:36:52.800 rest on the seventh day and blessed to make it holy because he just worked so hard on the first

00:36:58.280 six days that he was out of breath that's not what takes place god rest as it were we should

00:37:05.920 understand that analogically but god rest as it were on the seventh day to set a pattern and an

00:37:13.380 example for his finite god who is infinite needs no rest but he sets an example for his finite

00:37:19.660 creatures so that we might imitate his example and find the rest that he doesn't need but we do

00:37:25.280 the sabbath is actually a gracious gift of god to man and jesus is reminding the religious rulers

00:37:33.020 of his day who already they weren't just they weren't just weighing the people down with diverse

00:37:38.460 doctrines meaning a bunch of doctrines but that actually were technically true within the ceremonial

00:37:44.220 law category of the old covenant no they were they were wearing people down with strange doctrines

00:37:50.960 aka certain interpretations of the ceremonial law that really did come from god but them twisting

00:37:57.500 it and tweaking it to where they could uphold it but everybody else couldn't jesus also says you

00:38:04.700 know you you put a heavy labor and heavy loads on people that weigh them down but you yourself

00:38:12.520 you're not even willing to lift these with with a finger or or you travel overseas and over country

00:38:19.300 to make one proselyte that's one convert to do the work of a of an evangelist within judaism

00:38:26.580 and when you do actually experience success in converting someone you make them twice the son

00:38:32.440 of hell that you are jesus also says to the pharisees and religious rulers of his day

00:38:37.420 He says, listen to what they teach, but do not do as they do.

00:38:45.240 What's the number one word?

00:38:47.320 Think about this for a moment.

00:38:48.620 And think of the theological implications.

00:38:51.920 What's the number one word used by Jesus to describe the religious rulers of his day?

00:38:58.760 Hypocrite.

00:39:00.420 Not, now this is where evangelicals will lose their mind, okay?

00:39:04.340 So just, trigger warning.

00:39:07.420 it's going to be hard for some of you the number one word that jesus uses to describe

00:39:13.800 the religious rulers of his day is not legalism he doesn't say you legalist you tell people that

00:39:23.280 obedience in in every realm of life is something that god requires jesus never contest that concept

00:39:33.100 he never says they're legalists that tell people they need to work hard to seek to be obedient

00:39:41.020 to god that's not jesus beef with the pharisees his beef is you hypocrites meaning what what what

00:39:49.780 is the logical conclusion what's the simple implication of that statement it means the

00:39:55.540 pharisees teaching sometimes it's strange and diverse sometimes it's off but a lot of times

00:40:01.980 it's right and the problem with the pharisees is not that they tell people that obedience matters

00:40:08.960 the problem with the pharisees is that they tell people obedience matters but personally they don't

00:40:14.640 do it they don't obey now think of the average evangelical today what what do they think when

00:40:21.840 they think who's the bad guy who's the bad guy well the bad guy is the pharisee and what well

00:40:27.840 that's true they were the bad guys but then the question is what what was the quintessential

00:40:32.900 characteristic and mark of a pharisee well ask the average evangelical and they'll say

00:40:37.860 well the mark of a pharisee is is that they um they cared about obedience

00:40:43.420 the mark of a pharisee is is that they said god had a law and that people should follow it

00:40:49.400 that's mean no no the mark of a pharisee is it about 90 percent of the time their teaching was

00:40:59.200 true the problem is that they were hypocrites and did not actually follow their own doctrine

00:41:05.480 i mean jesus even says when it comes to tithing think about this for a second

00:41:09.980 jesus says you have heard the pharisees they they tithe down to 10 of their dill and spice

00:41:18.500 right so that the pharisees and scribes they're taking their spices in their spice cabinet

00:41:24.620 they're taking cumin they're taking paprika and they're drawing out lines on the counter

00:41:31.300 and and measuring it with a ruler and cutting off 10 percent and bringing it to the synagogue

00:41:37.340 and and you expect jesus is going to say isn't that legalistic doesn't say that

00:41:43.240 he says but they've neglected the weightier matters of justice and mercy and then jesus

00:41:51.260 literally says you should do the former that thing isn't legalistic they're actually right

00:41:57.760 and you should do it too but don't be like the pharisees and do the other stuff also

00:42:03.660 so do this little thing jesus said this is a little thing and it doesn't matter

00:42:07.900 and god's law is really up for grabs and it's subjective and it's interpretation and

00:42:11.860 you know to each his own just follow jesus and whatever you think god might be leading you to do

00:42:17.240 you know and it's just live your truth man said jesus never that's not what he says he says this

00:42:25.020 seemingly little thing he doesn't condemn it he says you should do this little thing too

00:42:30.760 but don't you dare do a little thing at the expense of the big thing what's the other way

00:42:37.180 that jesus espouses this principle the pharisees what do they do they strain gnats right so it's

00:42:45.820 like they're drinking imagine this illustration jesus is i love the way that jesus speaks he's a

00:42:51.620 master of imagery and mockery jesus is wonderful at mocking people we need to but we need to make

00:42:57.420 mocking great again right we need to make a hat make mockery great again because people always

00:43:03.360 say you know be like jesus okay let's be like jesus let's imitate him in his love and let's

00:43:10.960 imitate him and his serrated edge let's imitate christ in every way and you know what you always

00:43:18.040 hear from people this will be the counter right so if you use a serrated edge if you use um if you

00:43:22.980 use sarcasm strong sharp language now you shouldn't use it all the time but if you're using sharp

00:43:29.860 language in in conducive environments at the proper time with the proper audience a lot of

00:43:37.460 times people say well that's mean that's not when some you're you know and they'll write you off

00:43:40.480 right and ad hominem attacks right they won't actually engage your argument but they'll just

00:43:44.600 dismiss you on the on the basis of character or whatever it may be you're not being gentle you're

00:43:49.120 not being kind you're not being this you're not being that and then you point out to them the

00:43:52.440 words of jesus and the example of jesus and and then you know they have to have a counter they

00:43:57.780 can't tell you like nobody can actually defend that jesus was nice that is a statement that is

00:44:03.100 indefensible from the scripture you can't look at a bible and say jesus was nice right so nobody

00:44:09.400 even tries that argument so you show them all the examples of jesus not being nice according to our

00:44:15.200 modern standards of niceness so then what what's the retort what's the counter the counter is going

00:44:19.840 to be yeah but that was jesus right that's the counter right they can't actually defend well

00:44:25.680 jesus was nice and you should be nice too so instead they would you know concede your point

00:44:30.840 yeah well jesus actually used some strong language from time to time but jesus is an exception

00:44:36.300 to which i would respond and say well jesus was also loving and loved his own unto death

00:44:43.460 that's jesus don't expect any sacrifice from me this is the son of god right you arrogant fool

00:44:51.860 you expect that i'm gonna love i it's it's actually i take offense sir it's actually

00:44:57.500 presumptuous and arrogant for you to even think it would be possible to even come close to

00:45:02.620 imitating christ in the category of love in fact i think he's quite offended if anyone even tries

00:45:09.180 so i'm actually out of respect for christ i'm going to do my best to be as least loving as

00:45:14.600 possible apply that rhetoric that argument right but that's what we do when it comes to christ in

00:45:21.500 his sarcasm we we apply that argumentation to christ when it comes to the category of his courage

00:45:30.400 when it comes to the category of christ being gentle and loving everybody needs to work harder

00:45:37.460 to be like christ but when it comes to christ rebuking liars and blasphemers and hypocrites

00:45:45.440 and enemies of the gospel well that that's just that's something that we don't touch

00:45:50.060 with a 40-foot pole okay now give me a biblical argument for that inconsistent application of

00:45:59.120 your hermeneutic you can't so then be quiet and keep your criticism to yourself and just admit

00:46:07.680 you're a hypocrite you you're not actually nice you're not actually loving you're a coward

00:46:14.300 niceness is your euphemism for your actual issue which is cowardice you're a coward

00:46:23.100 and that's most evangelicals all that being said going back to the straining a gnat

00:46:30.140 and swallowing the camel believe it or not i remember what i was saying straining a gnat

00:46:34.400 and swallowing a camel imagine that imagery i mean this is mockery this is mockery he's saying

00:46:41.540 the religious rulers of my day it's like it's like they've got a cup in their hands and and

00:46:47.060 they're sitting there with a net and and they're straining out gnats and but then sitting on top

00:46:52.780 of the cup is a camel and once they get out the gnats they go ahead and drink the camel

00:46:59.480 right what is he saying he's saying they're idiots

00:47:03.580 you're dumb you guys you ferris you're dumb and he's he's saying it now look jesus isn't

00:47:09.580 passive aggressive he's not effeminate that is a sin right there is a way of using sharp language

00:47:16.200 sinfully and and i would i would argue that you have to be careful with the language itself that's

00:47:22.180 the first thing that you look to when we're looking at a moral standard for using as doug

00:47:27.920 wilson would say trinitarian skylarking when we're looking at using utilizing the the rhetoric of

00:47:34.640 christ and some of the apostles i might add and some of the prophets like elijah right perhaps

00:47:41.080 your god is using the toilet right now you know uh maybe he'll be back in a little bit right though

00:47:46.080 that kind of that language is in the scripture but when we're looking to use that language and

00:47:50.640 to use it lawfully rightly morally one thing that we should ask is the language itself we need to

00:47:56.320 weigh that with a biblical worldview with a biblical standard but then the next thing is this

00:48:00.820 not just what is being said and not just how it's being said but this is one category that

00:48:07.680 christians often never even consider and it's who is it being said to who's it being said to

00:48:15.520 a lot of times people we just operate underneath this assumption that well you just you you can

00:48:24.220 never say that there's not one scenario that ever morally justifies the use of of this point made

00:48:32.440 in this way right so you're considering two out of three important categories what and how

00:48:39.520 what is being said how is it being said and i suggest brothers and sisters that there's a

00:48:46.280 an immensely significant third category which is what is being said how is it being said

00:48:54.140 but also who is it being said to notice jesus he never aims the crosshairs of his sarcasm

00:49:05.420 of his his mocking language at at an old widowed woman who's poor and starving

00:49:16.040 it's it's almost as i think that third category seems to be the most weighty category the who

00:49:25.120 who's the audience i think that's the weightiest category that you can measure it by just simply

00:49:31.680 looking at the life of jesus it seems as though the major category when whenever we see jesus

00:49:38.880 using a serrated edge a sharp tongue it is almost always boils down to not not even what he's saying

00:49:47.340 or how he's saying it but who he's saying it to if they're the leaders of the day oppressing the

00:49:54.400 people of god then jesus has no qualms about telling them that they're dumb one final thing

00:50:03.220 I like, Amy Craft used this analogy.

00:50:07.560 I thought it was great.

00:50:08.680 Her and my wife were talking,

00:50:10.320 we were all talking about kids.

00:50:13.260 And okay, but what about with our kids?

00:50:16.240 You know, because we have certain rules

00:50:17.480 or certain words that Olive and Ruth and Eleanor

00:50:20.360 are not allowed to say.

00:50:22.140 Oh, you looked up, huh?

00:50:23.900 Olive and Ruth and Eleanor

00:50:25.240 are not allowed to say certain words.

00:50:28.020 But I've noticed that at first,

00:50:30.700 if I wasn't careful,

00:50:31.980 i could implicitly just say you're not allowed to use this word because it's a bad word

00:50:36.060 the problem with that argument even as we're disciplining and training and teaching our

00:50:41.420 children is what do you what do you do when you tell your kid they can't use a word because it's

00:50:45.100 a bad word but then one day they read the bible and see jesus using it right so what we've done

00:50:52.760 instead is we've started saying there are certain words it's not a bad word but it's a sharp word

00:50:57.580 that words are like knives knives are not inherently immoral you're allowed to have

00:51:05.000 knives in your home but our three-year-old doesn't use a knife

00:51:09.160 right we're not saying knives are bad we're not banning knives

00:51:14.860 same with guns right we're not banning guns no we're saying oh no there's there's a place for

00:51:21.380 this it's sharp sure but sharp doesn't make it bad because sometimes you need something sharp

00:51:28.020 sometimes you need a knife sometimes you need a gun but that's kind of the fourth category is

00:51:35.080 what's being said how's it being said who's it being said to but then also who's saying it

00:51:41.120 so the audience that you're speaking to but also who are you and i would again suggest

00:51:48.740 um if if the who in regards to who's using the language who's saying the sharp words if the who

00:51:56.380 is a 14 year old teenager and the who they're saying it to is their mom and dad

00:52:03.460 it could literally be a quotation of the words of jesus and be sent you see so weighing these kinds

00:52:12.780 things matters so all that back to diverse and strange teachings diverse and strange teachings

00:52:19.560 the diverse teachings i think is primarily a reference this is verse 9 of our text hebrews

00:52:24.860 13 9 don't be led astray don't be distracted don't get off the rails with diverse and strange

00:52:30.180 teachings the diverse teachings i think predominantly what the apostle is getting at

00:52:34.240 john gill agreeing with this assessment me agreeing with his assessment the diverse

00:52:39.700 teachings are things that god actually said they're actually true but they've been fulfilled

00:52:44.100 they fall underneath the ceremonial law category for those who are under the new covenant and now

00:52:50.180 in the new testament post life death resurrection and ascension of christ these diverse teachings

00:52:57.660 they've been fulfilled they don't that's not where you give your attention that is now actually a

00:53:02.000 distraction that's the diverse side of it the strange side of it is among these diverse teachings

00:53:08.280 that actually were given by God

00:53:10.060 underneath the ceremonial code

00:53:11.940 to Old Testament Israel under the Old Covenant.

00:53:14.860 Among those, they've been tweaked and twisted

00:53:17.500 by religious rulers to say things that God,

00:53:21.040 not only that God is now fulfilled in Christ,

00:53:23.700 but things that God never even said in the first place.

00:53:27.400 That God never even said in the first place.

00:53:30.980 Like, don't drag your chair.

00:53:34.800 Right? Find the Bible verse.

00:53:36.120 where's the bible verse that says don't drag your chair three feet even in your living room

00:53:44.360 on the sabbath because that's plowing now see that's a strange teaching that's not just diverse

00:53:50.420 teachings meaning there were actually a lot of divinely given ceremonial codes under the old

00:53:57.480 covenant no but there were also strange teachings there was bad hypocritical exegesis and

00:54:05.140 interpretation and application of that ceremonial code by hypocritical religious rulers of the day

00:54:11.480 both should be avoided and in the strange teachings category the case study or example

00:54:18.220 for that principle here's a strange teaching it needs to be avoided don't be led astray

00:54:22.740 the example given is food now i don't think for the record i don't think that what the apostle

00:54:29.240 is saying is there's strange teachings going around that that if you eat vegetables it'll be

00:54:36.500 good for your digestion that's bogus it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace

00:54:44.460 i don't think that's what he's saying so i don't think he's knocking health which to be honest i

00:54:50.320 mean if i was just going to lean into my personal bias then i would love to use verse nine as an

00:54:55.840 example you know as a platform to you know to make fun of vegans and you know all those kinds

00:55:00.760 of things which i think that's a perfect example where that that that tone of christ mockery

00:55:05.720 vegans are a great who to fill in the you know kind of joking kind of not but all that being said

00:55:11.420 the point is i don't think what the apostles is getting at is that health isn't a thing in the

00:55:17.020 mind of god think of what the apostle paul says elsewhere he says that physical training is of

00:55:24.860 some value but spiritual training is of infinite value

00:55:30.680 have you ever heard the the expression moderation is for cowards

00:55:36.880 right that that's the tattoo that you get when you're 20

00:55:41.800 it's just it sounds great but it's it's it's wrong right that's foolish moderation is for

00:55:52.480 count? What? I mean, all it takes is just a little bit of thought, you know, and you're able to work

00:55:57.000 past that one. And what I mean is that sentiment is basically saying that in terms of prioritization

00:56:06.140 of our effort, our energy, our time, and our talents, that basically we should only do a few

00:56:12.240 things. And the few things that we determine are worth doing in life, we should do them all the way.

00:56:17.660 and then everything else we shouldn't do at all and that's not actually a biblical concept

00:56:25.460 the bible does not have that worldview the bible doesn't say there are things that are of infinite

00:56:32.100 value you should give yourself entirely to those things and anything that does not have spiritual

00:56:37.580 eternal infinite value has therefore no value at all and shouldn't be done at all that's not what

00:56:44.100 the bible teaches the bible says this body that one day is going to go six feet in the dirt

00:56:50.020 even though it's temporal it will be also resurrected that matters but even though it's

00:56:57.220 going to die it's going to decompose it's it's your temporary uh your your life here on earth

00:57:02.640 in this body in this age this gospel age is temporary and not only temporary but according

00:57:08.580 to multiple other verses in scripture uh it's it's it's just a vapor it's just a moment it's

00:57:15.080 just a breath it's like the dew of the grass it's not just there for a day and gone tomorrow

00:57:19.280 it's there in the morning and gone by lunch that's how temporary but then at the same time

00:57:26.460 the apostle paul says this thing that is so fleeting and so temporary is not of no value

00:57:35.300 it would be so tempting and therefore because it's so temporary it doesn't have any value at all

00:57:40.320 but that's actually not a christian teaching but but a heretical gnostic teaching that views the

00:57:46.720 physical body as though it's actually a prison that's entrapping the soul and that the soul is

00:57:52.900 pure and if it could only get out of this this this prison of the carnal evil physical body

00:57:59.660 that's not a christian worldview that is a pagan worldview that's a gnostic worldview

00:58:07.720 you know the bible actually says spiritual training is is of far more value than physical health

00:58:13.980 but spiritual training being of more value doesn't necessitate that we say physical training is of

00:58:21.120 no value we can we can attribute to physical training some value so the foods i don't think

00:58:30.500 that the proper interpretation even though i'm tempted to do it because just my personal

00:58:35.200 disposition i'm tempted to read verse 9 and say and see there it is you're wasting money on organic

00:58:42.600 food repent you crunchy members of my church that would be wrong all right that's that's not what

00:58:53.460 it's saying i don't think that the text is saying uh it is you know it is good for the heart to be

00:58:59.260 strengthened by grace and not by foods no i i think that the strange doctrine reading it in

00:59:05.820 context when we interpret the scripture we have to look at the context who's it being said to

00:59:10.640 what's going on at that time i think what was going on at that time is there were certain

00:59:14.580 religious rulers that were saying to think about this again he's writing to hebrew christians so

00:59:20.620 these are christians but of jewish descent who previously before converting and coming to christ

00:59:25.720 they were participating they were participating in an intimate degree in judaism in the temple

00:59:32.800 in the sacrifices in the ceremonial laws and rituals and all these things and now they they've

00:59:38.100 come out of that because they're trying to put their money where their mouth is, right? They're

00:59:42.120 trying to actually back up with their lives what they say they believe in their hearts. And what

00:59:47.120 they say they believe in their hearts is that Christ is the final sacrifice. Behold, the Lamb

00:59:52.060 of God who takes away the sins of the world. Okay, you're saying Christ, you're saying you believe in

00:59:56.820 the sufficiency of Christ and his sacrifice. Well, it's a bit hypocritical if you say Christ is the

01:00:02.300 sufficient sacrifice, but you still go and make sacrifices. So these Christians, they're trying

01:00:06.080 to put their money where their mouth is. They're trying to back up their faith with life, right?

01:00:10.460 Life and doctrine, guarding it closely. And so they are opting out. Some are probably being

01:00:15.080 persecuted and kicked out of the synagogue, most probably, but even those who aren't are voluntarily

01:00:20.900 opting out of Judaism and their status in the synagogue and their participation in what goes

01:00:27.000 on there, namely animal sacrificial rituals, this thing that's going on. And then they're saying,

01:00:34.200 i'm turning my back on that i'm gonna i'm not gonna hedge my bets i'm gonna put all my faith

01:00:38.740 in jesus i'm not gonna believe in jesus but then also put some faith in this other thing in case

01:00:43.520 jesus fails because that ultimately proves that i'm not really trusting in jesus if i'm really

01:00:48.540 gonna trust in jesus i'm gonna only trust in jesus and so there i'm only gonna trust in jesus i'm

01:00:54.120 letting go of the sacrifices now what are these jewish leaders gonna say oh well you know you

01:01:01.900 didn't know this teaching but but it's it's legit trust me i went to seminary but this teaching not

01:01:09.580 only do these sacrifices atone for sin and you're you're looking you're losing out on atonement

01:01:14.020 but these sacrifices actually have certain properties that when you eat after the sacrifice

01:01:20.320 has been performed if you eat of this meat sacrificed in the temple by this rabbi or this

01:01:25.500 priest from this animal at this time it actually has you know it gives you certain properties

01:01:32.120 certain graces certain advantages certain benefits right they're trying to manipulate the hebrew

01:01:38.140 christians to come back to jerusalem to come back to the priestly animal sacrificial system

01:01:44.900 to ultimately to renege on their faith in christ and the sufficiency of christ and so the apostle

01:01:51.940 rights to these jewish christians encouraging them saying no no no no you you want strength

01:01:58.200 you want to be strengthened i'll tell you what what where strength comes from it is good for

01:02:03.040 the heart to be strengthened by grace and there is only one source where grace can be found and you

01:02:12.080 have a monopoly don't forfeit it they're lying to you it's like an older an older sibling

01:02:21.000 who has like the lesser the clearly objective like obviously lesser toy and really wants their

01:02:29.840 younger siblings better toy but they know if they just take it that they're going to get in trouble

01:02:34.400 with mom and dad so they're trying to work a trade i i have this piece of paper and and it

01:02:42.420 is magical and amazing and has you know and and would you give me the remote control dinosaur for

01:02:48.400 this magical piece it's like jack and the beanstalk magic beans for a cow right and you're

01:02:55.260 just trying to rip someone off and it's not the greatest illustration because the beans turned

01:02:59.360 out to be magic but just for the sake of argument imagine that they were just beans

01:03:03.300 right well if you get five beans and they're just beans for a cow you got swindled

01:03:09.760 that's what the jewish leaders in the synagogue were trying to do

01:03:15.060 come back to this goat it's not just any goat i know i know we've been doing the goat thing

01:03:20.980 for you know about 1500 years and it starts to get old but hey we just you know there's a new

01:03:26.200 teaching a strange teaching if you eat the the the meat or or even the the hoof and and you and

01:03:34.160 you grind it up in a stew and you drink that then it's gonna have and the apostles no no no no

01:03:38.860 it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace and not by foods which have not benefited

01:03:47.200 those who devoted themselves to these guys are trying to work a trade you've got infinite value

01:03:55.880 you have the most precious commodity in the universe the grace of god salvation in christ

01:04:04.980 by grace alone through faith alone in christ alone don't trade it don't be like esau who

01:04:13.560 traded his birthright for food for a bowl of soup which the apostle says in hebrews just a chapter

01:04:24.060 earlier if you guys remember a few weeks back i think it's that same principle that same concept

01:04:29.760 now being further fleshed out and saying look there are diverse teachings that really came from

01:04:34.540 god and really were legitimate for a time but they were types and shadows pointing towards the

01:04:39.260 substance who is christ and he has now come cling to him and you'll also find from time to time

01:04:45.620 not just diverse teachings but some strange ones and that's just that's just the religious rulers

01:04:52.900 being jealous that's what that is don't fall for it don't make that trade you have grace it is good

01:05:01.720 for the heart to be strengthened by grace and not by foods that have not benefited those devoted

01:05:07.540 to them that's verses 7 8 9 gonna go real quick i have to through 10 11 12 13 and 14 and we'll

01:05:16.260 leave it there let me read it we have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right

01:05:21.520 to eat now i don't think this is speaking of a literal tent you guys i've already showed my hand

01:05:26.100 multiple times you guys know what i think i think probably 80 65 66 67 68 69 is the timing the dating

01:05:34.440 of this letter so i believe the temple not just the tent the tabernacle but the temple is still

01:05:39.520 in full effect it's still standing this is before 80 70 and the destruction of the temple in the

01:05:44.520 fall of jerusalem i think the reason why the apostle refers to it as the tent because he is

01:05:49.760 talking about the tabernacle in a sense but he's specifically referring to the temple because that's

01:05:55.140 what they have at this time the reason why he calls it a tent is because at the end of the day

01:05:59.160 now that christ has come that's what it is it is a tent despite all its riches all its glory all

01:06:06.900 its majesty all its beauty all its aesthetic superiority in every single way it amounts to

01:06:13.200 a tent in comparison to the temple being built with living stones now that christ has come and

01:06:20.660 so he says verse 10 we have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat

01:06:27.960 these priests trying to call you back to judaism for the bodies of those animals whose blood is

01:06:33.980 brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin they're burned outside the

01:06:40.500 camp so to jesus right all he's doing here with these verses 10 through 14 notice it's a very

01:06:46.840 simple pattern. It's just compare and contrast, compare and contrast. Here's Judaism. Here's the

01:06:53.000 tent, but we have an altar. Here's their animal sacrifices that are burned, right? They're

01:06:58.440 sacrificing the temple, but then taken out. Some of them can be eaten afterwards. Some of them were

01:07:03.200 whole burnt offerings that the sacrifice had to be made in the temple, but then you couldn't eat

01:07:08.220 of it. The rest of it, the carcass of the animal had to be fully consumed by fire and burnt,

01:07:12.940 but outside of the city so he's saying they have a tent we have an altar they burn animals outside

01:07:20.040 the city but we have christ who was suffered he suffered outside the gates therefore let us be

01:07:28.380 willing to follow in his example we have the better commodity we have the better treasure

01:07:35.780 we have the better source we have the better grace we have the only grace so who cares

01:07:43.900 where we live who cares where we partake of this grace this grace he himself was rejected

01:07:52.300 and sent outside the camp to be crucified so if we have to live outside the city of jerusalem

01:08:00.160 like christ in order to feast on him instead of temporal animal sacrifices that come out of some

01:08:08.900 tent we actually have a living temple built with living stones and it's outside of the city of

01:08:15.420 jerusalem outside of judaism if if we're banished but we get banished with christ better to be

01:08:22.480 banished with christ than to be in jerusalem without him that's the concept that's what's

01:08:29.020 being said. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his

01:08:36.320 own blood. Therefore, let us go to him. Let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he

01:08:44.480 endured. This is what's happening. The apostle is picking up on it under the inspiration of the

01:08:48.980 Holy Spirit. What's happening is this. In God's providence and sovereignty, he is kick-starting

01:08:54.820 the global spread of the gospel to every tribe tongue and language and he's doing so in one of

01:09:01.700 the chief methods that god has used at that time and for the last 2 000 years namely persecution

01:09:10.160 the most powerful motivating force of of just about every major evangelistic crusade across

01:09:22.620 the planet has been persecution the blood of the martyrs is the seedbed of the church the

01:09:30.120 persecution of christians is what caused them to move from jerusalem to antioch notice in the book

01:09:35.140 of acts by the time you get to the second half of the book first 14 15 chapters the central focus

01:09:41.360 is jerusalem the council of elders there being the apostles and peter peter's the main character in

01:09:48.440 the story and the main context is jerusalem second half of the book of acts who cares about jerusalem

01:09:54.560 it's anioh and it's paul all of a sudden it transfers that it's not just about staying in

01:10:02.900 this one little place and and performing sustaining your your holy huddle but it's no no no if christ

01:10:09.920 has really come what are the implications of that if christ really is the source of all grace

01:10:16.520 what are the implications of that one practical implication is that if christ is everything

01:10:22.480 then you don't have to be in a certain geographic location you don't have to you don't have to stay

01:10:28.640 here in jerusalem and endure this persecution they crucified him outside of the city so why

01:10:34.140 don't you go join him outside of the city and take christ with you go to christ he's he is the savior

01:10:40.740 who is rejected by men he came to his own but they received him not they crucified him in the

01:10:47.080 public square outside the city they cast him away they rejected him so take christ go to him outside

01:10:54.340 of the city and don't put up with this garbage any longer don't put up with it you don't have to

01:11:00.560 and one practical application that's the primary point of what's being said in the text right so

01:11:05.820 this is you know i'm stretching it in terms of application i'm not saying and this is what the

01:11:09.880 text is all about now what it's all about is what i just said but in terms of a practical application

01:11:14.540 for our day and our time i think of urban inner city ministry that was all the rage and still is

01:11:23.120 i don't know how but apparently still is for the last 30 years 40 years right it's like if you want

01:11:29.620 to be somebody if you want to be a serious christian you need to be a pastor and not just a

01:11:34.560 pastor you need to be a church planter and not just a church planter if you go plant a church

01:11:39.940 in a small town in texas or tennessee we're not going to say it verbatim but i mean you're kind

01:11:45.600 of disappointing god right you're going to go minister to those those primitive neanderthal

01:11:53.180 blue collar flyover country hillbilly christians no no no you want to you want to do something

01:11:59.980 that pleases the Lord,

01:12:01.500 go to Manhattan, right?

01:12:04.140 Go to Seattle.

01:12:06.840 And I personally think

01:12:09.300 that in the last 30 years

01:12:11.460 that an immense amount of discipleship

01:12:15.400 has happened in the ministry of Tim Keller.

01:12:21.480 The problem is I think

01:12:23.060 that the discipleship happened

01:12:24.520 the other way around.

01:12:26.180 I think that New York

01:12:27.640 has discipled Tim Keller

01:12:29.260 really well i don't think that tim keller has discipled new york

01:12:35.020 i think he lost and so i don't think that it's particularly advantageous for us to continue to

01:12:43.920 encourage young men who are called to marry to have children to honor their father and mother

01:12:51.620 in tangible ways provide for their wives so that predominantly they could be keepers at home

01:12:55.720 provide for their children seek to fill a quiver with children not hand them to caesar in the

01:13:01.440 public school system but to raise them up in the fear and ammunition of the lord the paideia of

01:13:06.680 the lord christian curriculum and seek to leave an inheritance not only to their children but

01:13:11.100 their children's children and then say and you should do that while being a church planter in

01:13:15.700 manhattan what no no no just just leave outside the gate outside the city no just leave you don't

01:13:28.540 have to go and plant in manhattan you don't have to go to seattle you don't have to be a church

01:13:32.400 planter or a missionary or a faithful christian in san francisco god may call some to stay in those

01:13:38.260 contexts but i believe currently this isn't for all times and all places but the sons of issachar

01:13:43.900 the skill that they had was they were able to know the times we as christians need to be able

01:13:49.420 to know the times not just ideologues that think that that well doesn't matter doesn't matter it's

01:13:56.740 always it we don't need to be ideologues ideologues but we also don't need to be opportunists so we

01:14:02.140 don't just stick our finger in the wind and see whatever the popular culture is saying at the time

01:14:06.340 and we just echo that we're not opportunists who are compromised but we're also not foolish

01:14:11.540 ideologues who are who are suicidal kamikaze kamikaze fighters yeah no no no we we want to

01:14:22.020 have not just a five-year plan but a 500-year plan we want to build to last if if you want to

01:14:27.680 be a farmer don't don't start a crop in the sahara desert move and say well but i just i just want to

01:14:37.100 be faithful and i just want to i want to i want to prove that i'm the best farmer whoever was

01:14:42.460 okay well you could do that by growing one potato in the sahara desert or you could be the best

01:14:48.560 farmer there ever was by growing the most potatoes that have ever been grown in idaho

01:14:51.760 why not opt for the latter but there are people in the sahara that need a potato

01:14:57.800 yeah you know what well you can ship them a million potatoes from idaho

01:15:01.740 instead of carving up and sharing one that you grew right there at ground zero we can't afford

01:15:10.180 to be ideologues and and suicidal we also cannot afford to be compromised opportunists who just go

01:15:17.540 where the wind blows but i believe in this current moment a very practical application of our text

01:15:23.560 the hebrew christians ultimately the big idea that i'm trying to get at with this text and i'll land

01:15:28.680 the plane here the big idea is this if christ is really enough then you don't need judaism

01:15:35.420 if christ is really enough and the temple that he's building is a living and spiritual temple

01:15:42.920 then you don't need this geographic place you don't need this temple of stone you don't need

01:15:49.900 this city that crucified him but you could actually follow him he was taken outside of

01:15:54.640 the city to be put to death and you can go and find them right out there and you as christians

01:16:00.180 you can seek to live quiet lives as the scripture says elsewhere to work with your hands you are

01:16:06.280 allowed to do that brothers and sisters and any high-minded sophisticated ivory tower seminary

01:16:13.480 professor professional pastor on the internet who tells you otherwise is lying you are not being

01:16:20.500 faithless or compromising or being displeasing to god by saying i want to raise children i want to

01:16:27.560 have grandchildren i want to own a couple acres of land and i'm going to do it not in manhattan

01:16:32.660 you're allowed to do that brother and sister you're allowed to do that and that doesn't mean

01:16:36.660 you quit it doesn't mean you surrendered it doesn't mean you lost it doesn't mean you send

01:16:40.680 i think it means you're wise and to do the alternative i think is foolish some can do it

01:16:49.680 if you're a millionaire okay maybe you can do it even then though i would make an argument

01:16:56.860 theologically and practically some can do it live in that bright blue liberal city and a blue state

01:17:04.500 some can do it even then you have to make a reasonable biblical argument that you should

01:17:11.060 do it what do your taxes go to is there a state tax all right let's let's read it do you see

01:17:18.680 planned parenthood popping out are you literally giving money to kill children okay let's just do

01:17:25.680 some math here can i live here can i live here those are questions that christians should ask

01:17:34.660 real questions and i understand that well well i'm gonna have to go to the the moon all right

01:17:41.900 well let's keep rooting for elon then you know like i i understand no matter where you live

01:17:45.740 you're going to have you're going to be you're going to be funding something that's vile but

01:17:51.300 not all evils are equal i don't like paying property taxes for schools that i'm not even

01:17:56.940 going to use especially schools in the austin area and surrounding that you walk in and it's like

01:18:04.520 it's just like you're swimming in a rainbow i i don't like that but there is a lesser and greater

01:18:11.760 of evils and the christian can't opt for supporting a public school that's progressive

01:18:17.460 and liberal versus supporting health care that that sucks babies out of their mothers with a

01:18:23.640 vacuum those are not equal there is a sliding scale and we have a choice where we're going to

01:18:31.880 raise our kids where we're going to start a business where we're going to pay our taxes

01:18:36.120 we have a choice what church we're going to be a part of we have a choice what land we're going

01:18:41.720 to buy and leave as an inheritance to our grandkids right now you have an opportunity to be thinking

01:18:48.200 about not the five-year plan but the 500-year plan where can i best set up my my great great great

01:18:55.280 grandchildren last thing i heard it said like this and i thought it was incredibly wise and beautiful

01:19:03.280 when it comes to our great grandchildren most of us not all of us but most of us will never even

01:19:08.580 meet them. And the only direct link that you have to your own flesh and blood descendants

01:19:16.460 that you're called to love, right? Love your neighbor. Okay. But start with your neighbors

01:19:20.700 at home. Start with your future neighbors of your great grandkids, the neighbors that you share

01:19:25.540 their own blood. Start there. How do I love the neighbor that I may never get to meet, but who is

01:19:31.140 a very close neighbor, my own kin? Well, the direct link that you have to your great grandkids

01:19:38.260 is your kids and grandkids right now as i'm raising my children it's a profound and weighty

01:19:46.120 thing to think about that the best way i'll ever love my grandchildren is that i get to shape their

01:19:52.400 parents i want my grandchildren to be raised by godly parents and i can love my grandchildren who

01:20:01.980 do not even exist currently and i can love them directly and acutely and profoundly by shaping

01:20:12.040 the people in their life namely their future parents who have more impact than anyone else

01:20:18.500 we can set up future generations we don't have to win in the next 15 minutes

01:20:25.440 the christian lives in light of eternity therefore we can afford to be patient

01:20:30.380 so it's okay to get out of the city gates it's okay to go and and put down roots somewhere where

01:20:39.360 there's actually fertile soil where you can stay a while it's okay to to have a tactical retreat

01:20:46.940 in order to secure the final victory and there's a fine line albeit but there is a line there is

01:20:55.320 a road a tightrope if you will between the ideologue who only loses and the opportunist

01:21:04.400 who wins but not really and is compromised we as christians should live right in between

01:21:13.040 we're not just ideologues who hold to the same applications of principles even when they fail

01:21:21.200 and fail and fail again but we're also not compromised opportunists who put our finger

01:21:26.860 in the wind and just follow the culture in order to get their praise we brothers and sisters are

01:21:33.020 christians it's good for the heart to be strengthened by grace so go find a place give your

01:21:40.940 life to it build and drink deeply of the grace of god there for you and your children and your

01:21:49.120 children's children to the glory of God. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Bless it

01:21:54.960 to your people. And we pray that you might be glorified with all that we say and do over the

01:22:00.200 course of our lives. We pray these things for Jesus' sake. Amen. Can I be frank with you for

01:22:05.960 just a second right here at the end? Look, some of you guys, you're financially supporting this

01:22:10.880 ministry. And from the bottom of my heart, I say, thank you. I cannot thank you enough. However,

01:22:17.640 some of you, you just, you can't afford it. In fact, some of you, you shouldn't afford it.

01:22:24.040 Let's be honest. I mean, we're living in Joe Biden's ridiculous economy. Our nation and our

01:22:30.820 totalitarian political elites lost their minds over the last three years due to COVID. We have

01:22:39.220 written checks that we simply cannot cash. It doesn't matter if people change the definition

01:22:45.100 of a recession. We are living in a recession right now regardless. Some of you are struggling

01:22:52.060 to afford a carton of eggs at the grocery store. You cannot support financially this ministry at

01:22:59.060 this time, nor should you, but you could still help us tremendously. I am asking you, please,

01:23:06.460 if you're willing to do so, take one minute of your time. Leave us a five-star review on your

01:23:12.700 favorite podcast platform, iTunes, Spotify, whatever that might be, this is the way the

01:23:18.800 system works. We want to be innocent as doves, but shrewd as vipers. We need to be strategic.

01:23:25.880 You leave us a five-star review, and our podcast shows up for more people. And the Word of God

01:23:31.920 and courageous theology applied in practical ways to every realm of life gets out there.

01:23:39.720 Help us get it out there. Thanks for tuning in.

01:23:42.700 You

The NXR Podcast - February 26, 2023

SUNDAY SERMON - Avoiding Strange Teachings

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