Hebrews Episode 20

welcome to the podcast everyone. This is brother Jason and you are listening to the apostolic Bible study time podcast. If you'd like to reach us for any reason, our email is apostolic Bible study time@gmail.com. That's apostolic Bible study time@gmail.com, for updates on the podcast and what's going on our Facebook pages facebook.com forward slash apostolic Bible study time. That is facebook.com forward slash apostolic Bible study time, we've been in the book of Hebrews and we are getting close to the end, we're in the 12th chapter, we left off with the 14th verse last time, where the writer says, Follow peace with all men. So just goes along with what Jesus said over a Matthew, the fifth chapter, the ninth verse, bless it are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Now, when we think about the peacemakers, we think of Gandhi. And we think of all these ones that have stood up at different times, Martin Luther King, Jr, and all these, all these different people that we have in history. But you know, there's peacemakers in the church too. It's not always physical violence that leads to not being a peacemaker. I'm trying to think of the best way to word this. But we all know, one of the things that is very hurtful in the Christian church is those that would go around and spread rumors about one another, and those that just seem to be addicted to some sort of drama here or there. And it seems like there are people in the church as well as out in the world that just are not happy, unless they are stirring up some kind of trouble. It's almost like they have an addiction to drama, but they go about and they spread lies. And you know, sometimes it's not lies. But most of the time, even when it's not a lie, it's none of their business. They're just going about, kind of like many times we have prayer request, it's all pray for so and so you wouldn't believe what they did this time. We'll know that's not a prayer request that is spreading gossip. Now with the peacemaker of the Lord, it would stop right then and there. If people understood how God viewed these people, over in the book of Proverbs, the sixth chapter, and I do not have this scripture printed out. So I'm sorry if it's not an exact quote. But the six things the Lord hate of yay, seven are an abomination to Him. And you get down toward the bottom of the list. And it's he that so with discord among brethren, God's not happy with those that go about, and they spread rumors about one another, there's an illustration that you see where they have the matches lined up. And then toward the end, they have a match that's further away from the rest of them. And how you have that heat in the heat just causes match after match after match to ignite. But that one that's not in the middle of it doesn't catch fire, because it's not close to the rest of the matches. That's the same way when we come together if you refuse to hear gossip, if you refuse to spread gossip, it stops with you. We need to be a culdesac we need to there's no roads for your gossip to leave. When it comes to me It stops with me. Because most of the time the gossip is spread by those that we know are liars. So he says to follow peace with all men, we need to not be engaged in this. And I believe when it comes to Judgment Day, when people are standing before the throne of God, I believe you're going to find out that there have been more people spiritually murdered, spiritually killed through those that are bearing false witness than there ever were people killed by knives and machine guns or bow and arrow or what have you. I believe more people have been sent to hell with the mouth of someone that just couldn't keep it shut. I hope you understand the point that I'm making here, but that's why we need to strive to be peacemakers and we need to strive to not spread gossip to not allow it to be part of us.

But now this violence that we're talking about, when Paul is laying out the qualifications for a bishop in the book of Titus, we're going to pick up in the first chapter in the fifth verse. For this cause left ID and Crete, that thou should have set in order the things that are wanting in ordained elders in every city, as I have appointed the, if any, be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly, for a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God. Not self willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy luchar, but a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just wholly temperate, holding fast the faithful word, as he has been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the game Sayers. When people look at us, they are supposed to be looking at a representation of Jesus Christ. And people say, Well, I'm not Jesus, I'm not perfect, and neither are you. Okay, that's true. I'm not perfect. But Paul says over in the book of Philippians, That we press toward the mark, will, if you are trying to press toward the mark, you are going to fashion yourself more and more after the appearance of Jesus, when they look at your characteristics, your characteristic should be the same as Christ. That's the reason why the Apostle Paul told the Corinthians to examine yourselves and see whether you be in the faith or not, don't you know that the Holy Ghost Jesus Christ dwells in you? Must you be reprobate, we have to be the example. And we have to fashion ourselves and mold ourselves according to the dictates of the Word of God. And many times, that means keeping your mouth shut, when it shouldn't be open. On down, he says, and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. So follow peace with all men and a holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Now, I am just going to go with the assumption here because this is the apostolic Bible study time podcast, that most of you listening are probably holiness, people. This is being recorded right now in a Holiness Church. I am a holiness pastor, when you see me at Walmart, I've got long sleeves on, I do not preach that a man has to wear long sleeves to be saved, no more than I preach that a woman should be wearing a dress to be saved. But when you see my wife, she is wearing that which pertains to a woman she is wearing the dress, when you see me at this door, I have long sleeves on that His Holiness and our ideas are supposed to be holiness. So I believe most of you are probably apostolic, that are listening to this right now, and you are probably holiness. But I believe there is a wrong idea about what holiness really is. See, we hold standards that are oftentimes our opinion more than something that is standing on the Word of God. Now, can I say that a woman should not wear that which pertains to a man? Well, yes, absolutely. Because the Bible does say that. I'm not wearing pink petal pushers. You know what I mean? But this idea of a holiness begins, not on the outside with what you are wearing. We look at the Muslim women and the burqa that they wear and and then the beekeeper suit that some of the more strict faiths in the Muslim faith, that they were that the beekeeper suit where you can't even see their eyeballs. But if it was going to be holiness, if it was going to be totally covered up, I'll tell you what they would take on the prize. But that is not what is being talked about in the Word of God as holiness. Holiness should be your attitude. Let's go back to Titus.

Let's pick up in the second verse. Now this is what the Apostle Paul was telling Titus to preach. He says, but speak now chapter two verse one, but speak now the things which become sound doctrine, and yes, holiness and sound doctrine go hand in hand that the age men be sober, brave, temperate, sound in faith in charity and patience, the aged women likewise that they be in behavior as becometh. Oh, witness. Let's read that again. The aged women likewise that they be in behave your as becometh holiness. Let's chew on that for a minute. Let's just think about that. Now. He didn't say that the aged women be careful to not wear a bikini walking down Main Street. He didn't say for the that the age women were in tight branches walking down the main street or were in tight branches and going to Walley world. That that is not what the Apostle Paul says that the aged women likewise that they be in behavior as becometh holiness. Now, let's think about this. So we are going to read the rest of this, let's think about this. If you are in behavior as become holiness, you are not going to wear a bikini walking down Main Street. Why? Because you know what that's going to do to other people and you feel your own nakedness upon you will, you're not going to put on something really tight and go walk around and let everybody see every ounce of your shape and everything because you would feel your own nakedness. And you would feel within yourself that that is wrong. I heard a testimony. I can't remember who it was. It was while they were preaching, talking about this young woman came to church and she actually prayed through with the Holy Ghost but she was wearing a miniskirt. And as soon as she got the Holy Ghost, she got up she ran out. And they just really I mean couldn't understand what was wrong with her what why she had taken off like that. But the young woman had gone in the bathroom and started tearing at the him to get every bit of length she could get to cover herself up. Because when she had the spirit on the outside, that is holy, she realized that the outside was not holy. When she got it on the inside, it had to show itself on the outside. That's the reason why it used to be popular years ago, you might see a woman wearing a very long skirt, but then she'd have a slit just almost showing her Underoos coming up her side. That's not holy, I'm glad you have a dress on lady. I mean, that's fine. But that's not holy. If you're showing everybody your leg and your underwear, you are inciting lust, or the case of most of us the way we like to eat, you might be inciting disgust. But either way, you're supposed to keep yourself covered up, you're you're not, but that is what's supposed to be on the inside of you. I believe if we could focus more on getting people filled with the Holy Ghost, and getting people filled with good sound doctrine, you wouldn't have to preach about the clothesline so much. Okay, Titus, two and four. And I'm not just randomly throwing insults out there. It's just different things that you see over the years and different things manifest themselves on the outside of people. And you look and you realize there's just something not quite right with somebody that supposed to have the Holy Ghost if they still wander around, run around naked like the world. That's not the way it's supposed to be. Okay, Titus, two and four, we're still talking about the aged women here, that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be

discreet, chest, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. And thinking about that and our current state of society that those words right there would be blasphemy to a lot of people. But that's the reason why the children go to school and pulled guns and shoot one another. And that's the reason why our world is in the shape that it is in now is people stopped having the wife stay at home to take care of the children we find in Proverbs, a scripture that says a child left to itself bring us a mother to shame. And that is truly what happens. But we're not going to go there right now. And I'm sure in your own mind you can be coming up with examples in of your own self right now things that you've seen, but Titus two and six now. Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded, in all things, showing myself a pattern of good works in doctoring. showing on corruptness gravity, sincerity, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say, Have you exhort servants to be obedient under their own masters, and to please them well, in all things not answering again, let's put this over in our modern terms. Most of us aren't slaves. But there are those of us that tend to be wage slaves. We go and we work for another man, and we have our paycheck and everything. But there are people out there that are supposed to be godly people that are supposed to be walking for God and they have no problem telling their boss off, they have no problem telling the company off, they have no problem, telling them where to get off the bus, so to speak, that is not supposed to be what is in your heart. I understand that invasion. Believe me, I understand that temptation. But you are supposed to be the example of Jesus Christ to these people that will never crack a Bible. The Holy Ghost within you is supposed to manifest itself to these people. Am I saying there's never a good reason to speak out? No, if somebody is going to get hurt, because of the stupidity in the company, obviously, it's time to say something. But there are people out there that just believe they have to speak their opinion on everything, and it makes you look very ungodly. exhort servants by Titus two and nine, to be obedient under their own masters, and to please them well, in all things not answering again, not poor loaning, but not, but showing all good fidelity that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things, you will never be dressed unholy, if you are adorning, the doctrine of God, our Savior, For the grace of God, that bringeth salvation and appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. So I want to go back and I want to touch this point, one more time, when we were talking about the clothes, the clothesline, religion, Matthew five and 27, Jesus says, Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time that thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Now, if that woman is supposed to be a child of God, and she is purposely dressing in a provocative manner, to draw the attention of men to herself, then she in this spiritual aspect is just as guilty of fornication, as the man would be that is lusting after her in his art. Now, I

believe what Jesus is speaking about here is the man has already performed the act in his mind. And that's what Jesus is saying, this, this action, this lust after, and suddenly she She's burning in his mind, she's burning in his heart. And if the individual had the opportunity, they would commit the act, I believe that's not what Jesus is. Jesus isn't saying that you cannot look at somebody acknowledge the fact that they look nice, and then turn your head away and go back about your own business. If we were not attracted to the opposite sex, then obviously, none of us would be here, that the human race would cease to exist if we weren't attracted one to another. But there is a lot that rises up in people's hearts. But if, and it goes further than just women, that's something I tried to get across to the young man here. If you're walking around in a tight t shirt, so an author's chest muscles, and then big arms and everything, trying to incite lust, once again, with the opposite sex or as perverted as this world is with the same sex sometimes. But if you were doing that you're just as guilty as the woman walking around showing what she has to the world. We have to take these things into consideration. And that's the reason why we still are safe with a traditional holiness standard. We're not inciting one another to lust. We're not trying to be provocative. We keep ourselves covered. We keep ourselves respectful, and we keep ourselves respectful to one another spouses and we're not trying to catch the eye of somebody who we have no business catching the eye of I hope I've been his plane as I can be there. But that's the reason back in Hebrews again in the Fourth Chapter in the 12th verse, he says, For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow now catches last part, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. God knows what's in your heart. God knows why you do what you do. God understands what when you're trying to look away that you shouldn't be looking. Now it's not up to me to look and say, maybe you didn't realize what it looked like when you put it on. But God knows why. God understands what is in your heart. So follow peace with all men, and this is all connected, and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Let's go to verse 15. Here, looking diligently lest any man fail or the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you thereby many be defiled. I believe over the years, the Lord has given me the perfect illustration. I can think of no, no illustration greater than this route. What he's talking about here, he didn't say tree, he didn't say Bush, he didn't say leaves. He said route. And there is a reason why I've made mentioned before that I am originally from West Virginia and the house I grew up in as a child, I was the third generation to live in that house. Well, back in the 50s, my grandfather had owned most of the property that was around the house that I grew up in. Well, back in the 50s, way before my time, there was a tree that set off not quite in the corner of the property, but it was away from the house. And something rare, but it does happen, a tornado came through. And that tornado ripped that tree up and threw it down and they had to cut it up and get it out of the way and everything well, the years progressed and the next thing you know, there's a sugar maple tree that had sprung out of the root over in the the yard of the house. I don't know maybe 75 feet or so from the house. And trying to remember here that there was two more that sprung up from the roots over toward our what was later on our our neighbor's house when they had moved in there. My grandfather had sold the property but more trees were springing up over there also, well, time progress on me. I'm growing up the tree is just absolutely huge. It was great for a kid,

somebody had brought me an old barge rope and they tied it to a branch real high on the tree. And we had all the neighborhood kids coming over and they grab a hold nade swing on that barge rope and we just had a good old time as kids. But then I grew up and I left home and my mother had the tree cut down. Well, time progresses and either the trees gone and they did what they could with the stump and everything. And a couple years ago, my mother had passed away and the old house is going now it has been for a few years. But I just went up there to kind of reminisce when I going home for my mother's funeral. And I pulled in to that driveway and all over the yard from where that old sugar maple tree had been knocked down 70 years before all over that yard was little sugar maple stick it up everywhere. Because the property it's not abandoned. My brother owns it now but there were sugar maple tree sticking up everywhere. Now why did I tell you that long story? If we don't watch out if we don't look diligently, I was looking at the definition of diligently. We always think we know what words mean sometimes you just want to make sure but it's marked by persevering and painstaking effort. That means staying on top of it. If we don't stay on top of it. If somebody causes offense to you and you don't let it go. Then what happens is that bitterness is going to appear everywhere in your life. It is going to cause problems and between you and your spouse. It is going to cause problems in between You and your church family is going to cause problems and between you and your pastor, it is going to cause problems between you and God. Because if you don't painstakingly make sure that that root of bitterness is rooted out and taken care of, then it's going to spring up in every aspect of your life, looking diligently lest any man fail with the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled. So Jesus says over in the book of Mark in the 11th chapter in the 25th, verse, And when ye stand praying, forgive, if he have odd against any, that your father also which is in heaven, may forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive needle, neither were your Father, which is in heaven forgive you your trespasses, we have to learn to forgive one another. We're all human. And you know what, I have had people do stuff to me that never came to me and asked for forgiveness. But I had to forgive them anyway. Because it's stuff that would destroy me. So we have to learn to let things go. We have to learn to not Jesus sinner, I'm sorry. Well, yeah, Jesus is God and him dwell at the fullness of the Godhead bodily. But over in the book of Romans, in the 12th, chapter, Paul is quoting God, he says, Vengeance is Mine, saith the Lord, I will repay. When somebody comes against you and does things and doesn't repent of it, you forget them, and you let God take care of the action that was committed, whether it be by another saint of God, or whether it be by somebody out in the world. Paul was speaking, I believe, is the sixth chapter of First Corinthians. He says, Why don't you just suffer the Rome, sometimes we get upset about stupid stuff, and they don't even know they did anything wrong. Forgive one another, forgive one another. Make sure God knows you forgive them, and you work at forgiving them, and God will forgive you. And you can go on about your life and not have to deal with that root.

Get it dug up, get it taken care of get it out of your heart. And you know what, if it's something that you are tripping over, take it to God and tell God about it. You know, God knows already. He knows what you are struggling with. And there are times he just wants to hear the words come out of your mouth. He wants to know that you know what you are struggling with? He is faithful to us. David says that he remembers our frame that we are just dust. He knows what you struggle with. You are not hiding it from him, I promise you, you are not hiding it from him. But if we take these things to God, He will help us get them out of our hearts. Let's go on here in verse 16. Lest there be any fornicator or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of me, sold his birthright. Genesis, the 25th chapter, we're going to pick up here in the 21st verse In Isaac and treated the Lord for his wife because she was buried and the Lord was in treated of him. And Rebecca, his wife conceived, and the children struggled together within her and she said, If it be so why am I thoughts, and she went to inquire the Lord. And the Lord said, under her two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels, and the one people shall be stronger than the other people and the elders shall serve the younger. And when her days to be delivered, were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. And the first came out, read all over like an Harry garment, and they called his name Esau. And after that came his brother out and his hand took hold on, he saw his heel, and his name was called Jacob. And Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them, and the boys grew, and he saw was a cunning hunter, a man of the field, and Jacob was a plain man dwelling intense, and Isaac gloved he saw because he did eat of His venison, but Rebecca love Jacob. And Jacob Saad pottage, and Esau came from the field. We're in the 25th Chapter of James So now the 30th Verse, And I'm sorry 29th Verse And Jacob Saad pottage, and Esau came from the field, and he was faint. And Esau said to Jacob, feed me, I pray thee with that same red pottage, for I am fate, therefore was his name called Edom. And Jacob said, Sell me this day by birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die. What prophet shall this birthright do to me? And Jacob said, swear to me this day, and he swear unto him, and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils, and he did eat and drink and rose up and when his way, thus Esau despised his birth, right? I think of Esau and Jacob. And honestly, I mentioned this before, in the last episode, when I see he saw, I can't help but to imagine that he saw was a redneck. It says he was a cunning Hunter, but he came in from the field, and he hadn't taken anything. And he was really hungry. And he was trying to deal with this. And he sees his brother there. And he desires to have some of the pottage that he saw, I'm sorry, Jacob is cooking there. And he comes up and Jacob being the supplanted that it is, he says, Okay, you're that hungry, you're dying, sell me your birthright.