 reading together, here in chapter 13 at verse 18, read to verse 25, we'll get into our study, Hebrews 13 beginning at verse 18. The writer writes, pray for us, for we are confident that we have a good conscience in all things desiring to live honorably. But I especially urge you to do this, that I may be restored to you sooner. Now, may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever, amen. And I appeal to you, brethren, bear with the word of exhortation, for I have written to you in few words. Know that our brother Timothy has been set free with whom I shall see you if he comes shortly. Read all those who rule over you and all the saints, those from Italy greet you, grace be with you all, amen. And so as the writer now closes the book of Hebrews, he ends by requesting prayer and notice with me he gives blessings. So we'll look at that together. First we're gonna see how he requests prayer. There's some things here that I find interesting. Notice in verse 18, how he writes, pray for us, for we are confident that we have a good conscience. Now it's interesting how he begins to close because he says pray for us, for we are confident we have a good conscience. Some might consider that to be a bit arrogant for him to say we have a good conscience and all of that. How could he write such a thing? It almost sounds as if he's saying, we are so good we deserve your prayers. Now obviously that's not exactly what he's saying. First we need to remember that just a moment before he had been writing concerning church leaders. And so he basically is simply asking for prayer for himself as a leader in the body of Christ in order for him to remain faithful and to serve the Lord in the way that God would have him to do. In order that he might be fruitful in his service to the Lord, he needs prayer. So that's the first thing we see. But secondly, it's interesting how he is saying this because he is actually saying pray for us because we have earned your prayers. We've lived in such a way that we are in a position that you ought to pray for us. I see this as a humble confidence. I've discharged my duties properly before the Lord. And as such, I can ask you to pray for me. And with confidence I can say to you, he would be writing, I have been living in such a way before the Lord that you can be confident to pray for me. It reminds me of something that we read in the Psalms in Psalm seven, verse eight, where it says, the Lord shall judge the peoples, judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to my integrity within me. He's saying, Lord, I've done my best to be faithful to you and I pursued you with an honest and undivided heart. And I'm asking that you take that into consideration. So it's not that the writer of Hebrews imagines that he's been faithful to the Lord. He has a good conscience about it, which actually prompts him to request their prayers for him. He has a good conscience. And that good conscience is the result of being saved. If you take notes, remember Hebrews chapter nine, verse 14, because that scripture tells us that the blood of Christ cleanses our consciences. A clean conscience is absolutely necessary when it comes to requesting prayer. That's why Paul would say in Acts 24, 16, I myself always strive to have a good conscience without offense toward God and men. A conscience is kind of like a barometer. It isn't something that can actually save you. A conscience is something that just lets you know that you have violated certain standards. So it's not that your conscience in and of itself is going to be capable of being a judge that is without partiality, because you can actually have a clean conscience and still be in sin. I've talked to people before who are involved in sin. The scripture makes it very clear what they're doing is wrong, but they have a clean conscience about it. I've had people approach me saying, can you pray for me that I might receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit? And I say, that's a great thing to pray for. Let's pray that you might, but share a little bit with me about yourself. And what is it that you want from the Lord? And why is it that you want this? And I can still remember one conversation in particular where the woman was sharing with me how that she was living with her boyfriend and needed power and this and that. And I said, you know, the first thing we really need to do is kind of deal with your living situation and then we can move on into the other things you're requesting of God. She had absolutely no conscience that she was doing wrong. Not a bit, not any whatsoever. And so she would have told me, well, I have a clean conscience. So you need to be aware of the fact that your conscience can accuse you and it can excuse you, but it's not the ultimate judge. The ultimate judge isn't your conscience, but it is necessary to have a clean one if you're gonna be used by the Lord. And the way that you get a clean conscience is by having it washed by the blood of Jesus Christ. And that's why Paul would say in Acts 24, 16, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men. In second Corinthians chapter one, verse 12, Paul said, our boasting is this, the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God and more abundantly toward you. So being saved and pursuing the Lord makes it possible for you to have a clean conscience. And so you can trust in him. That's why Paul in 1 Corinthians four, verse four says, my conscience is clear, but that doesn't make me innocent. It's the Lord who judges me. And so this is how he is. He's living with a clean conscience. He's confident that he can ask for their prayer because he's pursuing the Lord with all of his heart. Notice how he says in verse 18, in all things, desiring to live honorably. In all things, desiring to live honorably. The word honorably means excellently. It speaks of beautifully or properly. I want my life, he's saying, to be a testimony of God's grace. And if it's going to be, I need your prayer. If I'm gonna live a life that is honorable before the Lord, I need your prayer. And I really believe that asking for prayer is wise if you want to live a life that glorifies the Lord. There have been times when I as a pastor of this fellowship have stood up and I've said, you know, would you please keep me in prayer? And somebody will be wondering, is he in sin? Why is he asking for prayer? And the answer is yes, I'm in sin. I'm in sin every day, okay? I mean, just like you, you're worse than me. No, I'm just kidding. I'm sure you're not. But, well, of course, you know, yet every day you go through life and you sin in thought word indeed. Of course, I need your prayer. But I also want to have a heart like this. I want to be confident. I want to have a good conscience. And I want to live honorably. And I'm sure that so you do too. That we might live honorably or rightly before the Lord. And so obviously we ask for a prayer. In Ephesians chapter six, verses 19 and 20, Paul said, pray for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I'm an ambassador in chains, that in it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. So pray for me, that utterance will be given to me. Or second Thessalonians three, verse one, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified just as it is with you. So pray for me. I desire, he says, to be used by God. I want to live an honorable life before God. And so in order for that to be made possible, I need you to keep me in prayer. And so one, I want to live honorably, but two, notice verse 19, but I especially urge you to do this, that I may be restored to you sooner. So he's telling them, I really do need your prayer because I want to be with you as soon as possible. That's something we see Paul pray in Romans chapter 15 in verses 30 through 32, when he said, I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the spirit, that you strive together with me and prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe. And that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, that I may come to you with joy by the will of God and may be refreshed together with you. So I want to be with you so that I might be able to minister alongside of you. I want to be with you so that I as a leader in the church may be able to minister to you. And so keep me in prayer so that one, I who have a good conscience may live honorably before God and two, that I may have opportunity to come and to see you and minister to you and alongside of you because I miss you. So as a leader in the church, I want to be with you that I might bless your life. And if I'm able to be with you, then I can personally minister to you. Again, in Philippians chapter one, verses 25 and 26, Paul said, being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for our progress and joy of faith that you're rejoicing for me may be abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again. So I want to be with you that I might minister to you. Apparently there's been some time of separation between the writer of Hebrews and those whom he loves. And he's simply saying, listen, pray for me that I might be able to come and see you. Now to me, that's a great relationship between a minister and a group of people who love him. And that's what you have here. You have somebody here who loves and is confident towards these people that they love him. And as a result of that, he says, keep me in prayer. I want to be honorable before the Lord. My conscience is clean. I want to continue to have a clean conscience. And I want to come and minister to you and I want to have fellowship with you. So pray that I may be restored to you sooner. And now it goes into his benediction or his blessing. May the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you what is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. He has a final blessing. The final blessing has been called, it's called a benediction. And what his prayer is here is that God will empower them and complete the work that he has begun in them. See, one of the things as a minister that I have great joy in and take great comfort in is that it's God who began the work in me and it's God who continues it and completes it. And it's God who began the work in you, the body of Christ. And so I don't have to meddle in your lives. I don't have to be calling you up and saying, have you been good today? Because the Holy Spirit does that, doesn't he? He calls you quite frequently, doesn't he? And he says, how are you doing? What's the condition of your soul? How are things going with you? And he does it in a variety of ways, but the Holy Spirit has a way of taking care of his own. And so as he's praying here, he's saying, it's the God of peace who brought up the Lord Jesus from the dead is gonna do this work in you. And I'm praying that God will empower you to complete the work that he has begun. In Philippians in chapter one, verse six, Paul said that he was confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. And the great thing about all of this is that the Lord has a way of continuing the work and he does it over a lifetime. I know that as a father, I have my children and all who are really not babies anymore, but it doesn't mean that I as a father don't care about them. And it doesn't mean that I as a father don't want to see them do well in the Lord. But over the years, the years of their life, I've been able to see that the Lord has put together their life kind of like a book with various chapters. And as I've watched their life unfold before me over the years of their lives, each chapter has a conclusion, but it always leads to a second one. And so Marie and I have been very confident to know that sometimes when they're going through tough times that that's not the final chapter of their life, that that's just one of the chapters in their life. And sometimes we want it to be a short chapter. We don't want it to be one of those long chapters that goes on for years. Sometimes we'd like that chapter to end quickly. But the chapters inevitably do come to an end. And then you see a new chapter being written by the Holy Spirit in their life. And you begin to see the work of grace in them. And for me, that's been a real blessing. I've seen the Lord do that in my own life as he began and he continues and ultimately will finish that work. And so he has a work that he begins. There's a work that he continues and there's a work that he completes. And so ultimately what we do is we trust the Lord to begin, continue and complete the work that he started. And that's what he's talking about here. And that's why he's giving them a blessing. Now notice what he says in verse 20. He begins, may the God of peace. And so first he's defining for them or reminding them that it's God who is the God of peace. Now, we know that God gives to us peace in a variety of ways. One, we know that we receive peace with him when we get saved. Because the Bible makes it very clear that before I was saved, before humanity is saved, we are in constant hostile opposition to God. We're at war with him. There's a war that's taking place between man and God. And God has given to us provisions. What God has done is he has given to us terms of peace. God has already conquered the Bible teaches. And what he does is he declares to us that we must unconditionally surrender to him. And the terms of peace that he gives to us is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the gospel he declares to us that we are sinners but that he has sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for us. That Jesus has paid the price and that if we will receive Christ as our Lord and our Savior, we can actually cease having hostility towards him and can now have peace with him. And so when Paul was writing to the Romans in chapter five verse one, he said, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And so that war is over. When I gave my heart to Christ, the war ended and I am now reconciled to God. And so there's no war going on between us anymore because that war has been settled because I'm justified by faith. But secondly, I have peace with God but now I also have the peace of God because prior to having a relationship with him, I had no peace. But now that I have a relationship with him, I can receive peace from him. And according to Philippians chapter four, verse seven, he says, the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. So one, I am no longer in hostile opposition to God. So two, the result is that I have peace within me because I have peace with him. And then thirdly, I can have peace with other people. I can have a relationship with people of peace. It's something that I have to strive to have though. It's something that I have to make an effort for. But I can have peace with God. I can be at peace within myself and I can be at peace with other people. In Ephesians chapter four, verse three, Paul says we are to endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. And so one, God is the God of peace. God gives to us the gospel, the terms of surrender. We unconditionally yield to him no longer are hostile. A peace now enters into our life that passes all understanding and begins to work itself out towards other people. And that's how it works. And so he is the God of peace. Two, he says who brought up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. And so the God of peace brought up Jesus from the dead speaking of the resurrection. The center of the Christian faith is the resurrection of Jesus Christ because it's the resurrection of Jesus Christ that demonstrates to us that Jesus tells us the truth. When you study the gospels and you see Jesus Christ making these incredible claims concerning his lordship, everything is resting on one central thing, his resurrection. Everything from his conception to his death, everything from that point to the end revolves around one central thing. Jesus Christ, if he was not resurrected, is a liar. If he's a liar, then I shouldn't pursue him as my Lord. And C.S. Lewis once said, either he is Lord, he's a lunatic or he's a liar. Those are your three options. Either he lied or he said I'm returning, he said I'm gonna be raised from the dead, he's a lunatic. But if he was raised from the dead, he's not a liar, he's not a lunatic. And so ultimately what he is, is he's my Lord. And everything centers on that. When you read the book of Acts and you begin to look at the messages that were given by the apostles from the day of Pentecost through the book, you're gonna see that every one of those messages revolves around one central thing, that's the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the resurrection is something that the pagans couldn't get behind. It was something that they had great difficulty with. The apostle Paul is recorded in Acts chapter 17, is in the great pagan city of Athens. And as he's there, he's looking around and the Bible says that his heart is totally grieved because the whole city was given completely over to idolatry. And so Paul is looking at this magnificent city, but it's a city that's totally lost. He's waiting for some of his traveling companions to come, but he is so moved by their lost condition that he ultimately begins to preach. And as he begins to preach the message, people who are their Epicurean and Stoic philosophers who are there only to argue, they're there just to learn some new thing and all. These Epicurean and Stoic philosophers hear him speaking and they speak amongst themselves and they say, what is that babbler speaking about? What's he talking about? When they called him a babbler, the word babbler speaks of a person who goes into the gutter and picks up trash. And they considered his ideas to be low. They were not developed. They were not insightful, like some of their own philosophers, at least in their own consideration, but they would hear him speak and they said, well, what's he talking about? So they take him to speak and he speaks there in a place called Mars Hills. And as Paul is there standing on Mars Hills and has a opportunity to speak to these philosophers and they're all learned individuals listening to him, he begins to speak and begins to share with them some of the things of Jesus Christ. Now, you see, they said he's bringing us new gods because Paul had spoken concerning Jesus and the resurrection. The word resurrection in Greek is anastasis. And when they heard him speak of Jesus and anastasis, they thought anastasis was a new goddess of some sort. And so they wanted to hear this goddess resurrection. Who is she? They didn't know that he was speaking concerning Jesus Christ being raised from the dead. And so when they hear him speak and they hear him say that God has raised him from the dead, immediately they're stumbled by that. And they say, this is really basically something we don't really need to hear. And they begin to dissipate. And those who are at one time interested in hearing what he had to say, the moment he began to speak about resurrection, they walked away. But it's the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ that is the center of our faith. And Paul discovered some things. And I want you to see this with me. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 3, rather. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. I want to show you something here because Paul, I think, gives us some insight. Because after leaving Athens, he went and ministered to the Corinthians. And in 1 Corinthians, chapter 3, beginning at verse 1, he gives us some insight. I'm sorry, chapter 2, beginning at verse 1. 1 Corinthians 2, beginning at verse 1. He says, I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. I came and I spoke to you, and I shared with you concerning Jesus Christ dying on the cross. When Jesus is spoken of as dying on the cross, you never take from him the resurrection also because it wasn't simply the dying on the cross, it's the resurrection that we look to, you see. And so what Paul was saying is at one time I went to Athens, I preached the message, I came to you directly afterwards, and I wanted to highlight to you the most important thing. And I didn't wanna come to you with the wisdom of men's words. I wanted to come to you with the fear of God in my heart and a knowledge that it's God and his power that enables me to proclaim to you a message that will save you. So everything that we have is Christians and never let this slip past you guys. Never let it slip past you. Everything that you believe depends on one central event and that's the resurrection of Jesus Christ, everything. If Jesus Christ died and remained in the grave, then Paul said we of all men are most miserable and we have been found by men to be liars because we say that God raised him from the dead. So for us, Easter is a celebration of the reality of our faith. It isn't simply centered on Good Friday, but Easter is centered on the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the one who ever lives to make intercession for us. And so back in Hebrews chapter 13, that's what he's closing with in his benediction. May the God of peace who brought up the Lord Jesus from the dead. And so remember the center of Christian faith is a resurrection which causes us to trust God. You see, there was a little girl, probably about 14 years old. And she got pregnant and she told her fiance that she got pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Her name was Mary and her fiance Joseph, being a righteous man, was greatly disturbed and had options. You see, as a righteous man, he could have demanded her death because according to Jewish law, a young woman who was engaged to be married, who turns up pregnant, is guilty of committing a sexual sin that is punishable by death. Joseph had the option, if he wanted to exercise it, of having Mary executed for that sin. And so he thought about those things. And as he was thinking about those things, he was told not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife because she was carrying the child that God had miraculously conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit within her. But how does a young girl tell her friends, Joseph and I didn't have intimacy and it may be true that I was gone for a while visiting my cousin, Elizabeth, and I came back pregnant but I didn't have a relationship with anybody. Well, how does that really fly then or now? And so all of her life, from the point that she conceived for 33 years, people who knew her would know her as Mary, the woman who became pregnant before she married. That's how she was looked at. That's how Mary was considered by the people that knew her well. She's the one who became pregnant. And so what can she do to defend herself? There's no way that she can. You know, God made me pregnant. Sure he did. And if that's what you want to say, but everybody at that time would have shunned her. She came from a very small village. And so that was a shame that she lived with for 33 years. But you know what? At the resurrection, when Jesus was raised from the dead, then her story was validated. And that's what the Lord does. The Lord validates our stories. And we say, we believe in God because we know that God who brings us peace is also the God who raised Jesus from the dead and has given to us life through him. In Romans chapter 8 verse 11, the Bible says, if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you. God raised Jesus from the dead. Now notice verse 20. Jesus is referred to as that great shepherd of the sheep. Jesus is our good shepherd. In John chapter 10 verse 11, that's what he calls himself. He says, I'm the good shepherd. And the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. In John 10 verse 14, he said, I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and am known by my own. He's the one who knows you by name. I've shared this with you before. But as a kid growing up, everybody would know my friends, but they never knew my name. And I got used to being called, hey, you, or what's your name for the longest time. And it was really a blessing when I came to realize that the most important person in the universe knows who I am. And as long as he knows who I am, that's all that really matters. And he is our good shepherd and calls his sheep by name. Now notice in verse 20 continuing, he says, through the blood of the everlasting covenant. And this is the way that God brought peace to man through the cross. And this made an eternal covenant with us. In Colossians 1.20 it says, by Jesus, he reconciled all things to himself by him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of his cross. And then he goes on to say, make you complete in every good work to do his will. God not only has works for us to do, but he also supplies the ability to do them. Keep that in mind, because he never calls you to do something that he won't empower you to do. God calls you to do something, but he also empowers you. And sometimes throughout your life, he may call you to do something that is for you physically impossible to do. He may call you to do something that is beyond your abilities. But if God guides you, God also provides for you. Keep that in mind. Keep in mind the fact that if God calls you to do something, he gives you the strength to perform it. He will empower you with the Holy Spirit. And when it is accomplished, all glory goes to him. There may be a time when the Lord says, I want you to open your mouth and share. And you may be saying, there's just no way I can do that. You know, I'm shy. I'm not very good with words. I'm just not a person who can do that. But the Lord keeps on just pressing it on your heart. And ultimately, it gets to the point where you say, I've got to say something or I'm gonna die. And so, you just are quiet for a moment there. And then the opportunity is given to you. And you open your mouth and the Lord fills it wonderfully and graciously. And you say a few things and then you stop speaking at the right moment. And then later on you say to yourself, that was the Lord. I should have recorded that and put it on K wave. That was a good thing. That was so good. You know, there was a time when I was a young person just learning how the Lord works in my own life. And my mom can tell you this. My mom saw this more than once. If we went somewhere together and somebody began to say something that was not biblically correct, this is the truth. I would actually begin to physically shake. My body would begin to vibrate. It still does sometimes. When I'm hearing somebody say something and I would close my mouth and I would bite my tongue and I would say, just keep your mouth shut. Don't say anything. Somebody else will say something. Why do you have to be the person to open your mouth? Just be quiet. Let somebody else talk. And I would sit there and I would start to just shake. And my mom has seen this many times and she can tell you this. She's seen it many times. She's seen me go to the door and answer the door and then see my body just start shaking as I'm looking at this person. She knows, oh, he's gonna go off. And then I would, and I'd have to, I would have to say, listen, this is what the word of God says. And to me, that was how God began to initially work in my life. And I discovered that he doesn't want me to quench the spirit. He doesn't want you to close him off from working in your life. And there are times when you may give to you an opportunity and you sense it and you say, but Lord, who am I to speak? I'm just a youth. But the Lord can say to you, who made your mouth? I can give you words and I can give you wisdom that none of your enemies will gain, say, nor resist. You need to just trust me, open your mouth and I will fill it because out of the abundance of your heart, your mouth will speak. And it's not you who speak, but it's the spirit of my father who is in you. So just allow me to work through you. You'll be amazed at what God will do if you just open your heart and allow him to do the work. And God is the one who equips us. He's the one who makes us complete. He not only works in us, but he also supplies the ability to perform those things he calls us to do. In Ephesians chapter two, verses eight through 10, Paul said, by grace you've been saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Philippians two, 12 and 13, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you to will and to do according to his good purpose. God works in your will and God gives you the ability to perform that which he has triggered your will to desire. And the result is to be well pleasing in his sight. And then he goes on in verse 22. I appeal to you, brethren, bear with the word of exhortation, for I have written to you in few words. Know that our brother Timothy has been set free with whom I shall see you if he comes shortly. Greet all those who rule over you and all the saints, those in Italy, say, shall. No, greet you. Grace be with you all, amen. Now here's something for you and we'll close with this. Actually, we're really not closing with this, but it's one of the things we'll close with. I want you to see verse 22. I appeal to you, brethren, bear with the word of exhortation. The word bearer put up with. Put up with the word of exhortation. Not everybody puts up with exhortation. Not everybody wants to be exhorted. Not everybody can receive an exhortation. I can speak that from personal level and I can speak that from a ministry perspective. Not everybody bears with exhortation and I have discovered, first and foremost with me but with others, that one of the hardest things to see is my own sin. It's one of the things I'm blind to. I don't see it clearly. I can see sin in somebody else, but man is it difficult when it's pointed out in me. My wife just did it yesterday. Just did it yesterday. Boy, was she wrong, but she did it yesterday. And my wife has one of those beautiful, gentle, graceful ways of putting me in my place. I have to be honest with you and I thank God for her. I love her so much for it, though it's not good when she's saying it. I don't like it, but the bottom line is she's right. And if I'm gonna become a good husband and I'm gonna be the kind of man that God wants me to be for her, I have to bear with exhortation. I have to, I have to listen to it. I have to determine to do what God is saying through her. And like any other husband, I have the ability to argue. I have the ability to say, you don't understand all the circumstances. And by the way, for 34 years, I've been standing up in front of people talking, so I have a vocabulary and have an ability to argue my point fairly well. And so that is really a disadvantage because I can find ways to get around whatever it is she's pointing out. But the beautiful thing about the Holy Spirit is he doesn't let you do that. He doesn't let you do that. It's kind of like God's mighty thumb is on top of you and holding you down and you can spin in circles all you want, but you're not going anywhere. You're not moving. And the Lord has a way of grabbing your attention and he does it through gentleness. And here he's saying, listen, I want you to bear with a word of exhortation. I want you to hear this. Put up with the things that you're hearing because if you're going to be used by the Lord, you need to have a ready willingness and a yielded heart. And it's a sign of wisdom when you take that exhortation to your heart. It's a sign of wisdom when you hear what God is saying and you say, Lord, you're speaking to me. Now what do you want me to do? Sometimes people will listen to a message and they'll say, man, I wish so-and-so was here because they really need to hear this message. When in reality, the Lord's saying, you know what? It's you who needs to hear the message. It's not your wife or your mom or your dad. It's you who needs to hear this message. It's always wise to listen for yourself. And when he's speaking here, he says, you need to put up with this. You need to bear with this. You need to endure this because it's going to increase your walk with God. In Proverbs chapter nine, verses eight and nine, the writer said, do not correct a scoffer lest he hate you. Rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man. He will be still wiser. Teach a just man. He will increase in learning. Proverbs 13, verse one, a wise son heeds his father's instruction. A scoffer does not listen to Rebuke. Proverbs 15, verse five, a fool despises his father's instruction. He who receives correction is prudent. Be teachable is the point he's making. I was watching the news and I mentioned this recently. Sugar Ray Leonard was being interviewed and giving his opinion about a few things and all, and some of you probably all of you know who Sugar Ray Leonard is, one of the finest boxers that we've ever seen in at least my lifetime, a great fighter, and very, very skilled and a wonderful champion. And he was asked a question. He said, they said champ, if you had an option, if you had a man who had natural skills and abilities, or you had a choice between him and a man who was not as skilled but was willing to be taught, has potential but not equal to the other man, but he's willing to be taught, which one would you prefer to train? Who would you wanna work with? And without a moment's hesitation, Sugar Ray said the one who can be taught. He said the individual who can't be taught, who is a good boxer already, is very difficult to work with because he thinks he's already got the tools. He thinks he's already arrived. He said, so to try and teach somebody who has that mindset, he says I won't be successful because you can't teach him anything. He said, but if you give me somebody who has desire and discipline, somebody who's willing to learn, who can be corrected, he said I want that man because I can work with him and I can help his skills to become something that is marketable and possibly championship grade. But somebody who cannot be taught is somebody I don't wanna work with. I was listening to a football coach and he was speaking concerning an athlete that he had recruited for his team. And he said the thing that makes this young man exceptional is he's already a great man, a good ball player, but he's coachable. He says I can tell him where he made his mistake and he will learn from that and he can improve. And I can tell you as a minister, I can tell you as a father, I can tell you as an older man now that the most difficult men that I've ever worked with are the ones that you can't teach anything to. They already have their opinions, they already know what they're gonna do, they already think they're better than you, you just give them an opportunity. And those people don't, they don't achieve anything because they can't be taught. If they're gonna be something, if you're gonna grow, you have to be willing to bear with exhortation. You have to be willing. You have to realize that you haven't arrived. And that's what he's saying here. He's saying you will be wise if you're willing to learn. Now in verse 23 continuing, he says know that our brother Timothy has been set free with whom I shall see you if he comes shortly. Obviously Timothy has been away. It seems that he's been imprisoned, but there's nothing that we know in scripture concerning that. So this is an interesting scripture. It's the only place that we hear about him being set free. So I can't give you any comment on that other than the fact that the writer of Hebrews hopes to accompany Timothy to see them. And then finally verse 24 and 25, he closes, greet all those who rule over you and all the saints, those from Italy greet you, grace be with you all, amen. One last thought, and I want you to see this. He just gives a general closing, greet those who rule over you and all the saints. You can see that and you can just say, well, the letter's over, but let me give you one last thought. To greet people requires that you get to know people. And the only way that you can get to know people is to get involved with people. Churches like ours can be filled with strangers. When our church first began 26 years ago, we would sit in a front room at the home of David and Connie Sines. The church actually began as a Bible study in May and ultimately became a church meeting on Sundays in July. And so as we would gather in their front room for Bible studies, we had a very small group of people. I could tell you stories about that, but suffice it to say we had a very small group of people. We had 10, 12 people. It began with a small group of people and all, and we got to know each other very well. We still do know each other very well. David and Connie Sines have been in our church from the day it began basically, and we still see them and they're very dear to us as our friends. We love them very much. We have fellowship with them, and they're very, very dear to us and their families, very dear to us. And we used to meet in their house, and as we would meet in their house, it was a real basic thing. I would come in and I'd bring my Bible and they had a little easy chair that I would sit in and I'd just kind of sit there quietly and at seven o'clock the Bible study would begin and all I'd do is open the Bible. I didn't have music ministers. We didn't have worship. I would just open the Bible and the people who were visiting at that time, the small group of people would see me open the Bible. And when I opened the Bible, that was their sign that it's time to be quiet because we're gonna get into the word. It's very similar to what we do now because if you've been around for a while, when I walk out, you know I'm gonna pray, we're gonna get into the word. Well, that's what we did. We've been doing that ever since this church began. I'd give the Bible study. And after the Bible study, Connie would go into the kitchen and she'd come walking out within two minutes after I'd said, let's close with prayer. And she'd come walking up with a cup of coffee for me and some cookies. She always did that. And I would sit there and I'd eat a couple of cookies and I'd drink some coffee and I would visit with the people, very small group of people. And from that very small group of people, we developed relationships. And I got to know them fairly well because they were there because they would take the time and I would take the time just to visit. And they would approach me and we would sit together and visit and that's how this church began. I've always had the vision to have that kind of thing. The church has grown obviously. And as the church has grown, it's really impossible for me to be able to do that with everybody now. It just, it can't happen. It's physically impossible for that. But that doesn't mean that we can't have friends in the fellowship. That doesn't mean that members of this fellowship can't have relationship because we do everything we can as a church to give you opportunity and excuse to have fellowship. That's why we have evening studies. That's why we have men's studies, women's studies, couple studies. That's why we have young adult studies. That's why we do the things that we do. Conferences and retreats and brunches and breakfasts and do you name it? That's why we do that. It's so that you will have an opportunity to make friends so that you can actually take what he's saying and do it. Because when he says in verse 24, greet all those who rule over you and all the saints. Well, quite obviously the only way that I can greet these people is if I'm involved in their life. One of the things that I wanna encourage you to, exhort even this congregation to, is to avoid the trap of simply being an individual who comes and leaves. Try and find opportunities to get to know people. Develop relationships, develop friendships. It's a very important thing for you to have that. Because God has not created us to live in a vacuum. The first thing that he ever stated in scripture that is not good is that a man should be alone. God created us to have fellowship with him and one another. And that's what the body of Christ is all about. So be careful that you don't fall into the trap of just coming to a study and when I start to pray slamming your Bible, waiting for a second, then bolting out the door, try and find some people to be friends with. People who will get to know you. People you can pray for and have relationship with. That way you'll be healthy and that way you're gonna be able to actually greet those who are amongst you. You're gonna know people in the body of Christ. You'll have relationships and you'll walk in the grace of God and that's what a church is. It's not just a group of people gathering together in an auditorium facing one direction. Well, someone speaks to them. It's a family. It's a body. It's made up of friends who have been bought by the blood of Jesus Christ and work out their salvation together. Please keep that in mind so that your lives might be blessed and that you might live a life that honors God.