Text: Hebrews 13:1-7<\/p>\n
Implied is that the Hebrew brethren did love their fellow Christians and the writer desires that it not become neglected (John 13:34; Romans 12:10; I Peter 1:22; I John 4:20-21). So many problems with the church would quickly disappear when love is practiced in truth.<\/p>\n
The word “hospitality” can translate the Greek word philoxenia<\/i>. It is a compound word of “love” (philo<\/i>) and “guest room or lodging” (xenia<\/i>). This word is used in Romans 12:13 and Hebrews 13:2 and refers to an enjoyment of having people stay with you. Hospitality is about sharing the things that I have with others — my home, my food, my time, etc. It is about getting to know people on a personal level. Putting someone up in a hotel and buying them breakfast has as little to do with hospitality as sending money to an orphan’s home has to do with visiting orphans (James 1:27).<\/p>\n
The command to entertain strangers is given support by noting that some in the past have entertained angels without being aware of who their guests were. For example, Abraham served a meal for angel (Genesis 18). Lot took two angels into his home (Genesis 19). It isn’t that everyone has entertained angels or that this is a common occurrence. The point is that no one ever knows when they might be entertaining an angel, so being hospitable should not be neglected.<\/p>\n
The writer is not talking about all prisoners or all ill-treated people. His focus is on fellow Christians \u201csince you yourselves also are in the body\u201d (Hebrews 11:36). Following Christ will at times lead to persecution (Matthew 5:10-12). There is a temptation to think that people who are suffering did something wrong and deserve the hardship. It is how Job\u2019s friends treated him. There is also the tendency to forget about those you don\u2019t see as often, but these are the very people who most need support from their fellow Christians (Matthew 25:36; Colossians 4:18; II Timothy 1:16-18).<\/p>\n
From the time that God created the world, His intention was that sex would be freely expressed within marriages between a husband and wife (I Corinthians 7:2-4). The word “bed” in Hebrews 13:4 is a translation of the Greek word koite<\/i>. It literally means “bed,” but it also refers to the actions that take place in bed — in other words, sexual intercourse. The English word “coitus,” the actual act of a man joining with a woman in sex, comes from this Greek word. Within marriage sexual intercourse is proper, but outside of marriage, it is a sin.<\/p>\n
The word “adultery” refers to sexual relations where one of the two involved is married but not to the current partner. The word “fornicators” is a broader word that includes any sexual activity outside the bond of marriage.<\/p>\n
Money becomes a distraction from living righteously. It is easy to place our confidence in wealth, but it is unreliable (Proverbs 23:4-5; 27:24; I Timothy 6:8-10).<\/p>\n
Our confidence is derived from being close to God. We must abide in God so that we may have confidence (I John 2:28-29) and God then helps us with our confidence. As David said, \u201cI have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken Or his descendants begging bread<\/i>\u201d (Psalms 37:25). Notice particularly that the confidence does not come from ourselves but from God. The writer quotes Joshua 1:5 and Psalms 118:6 to prove his points.<\/p>\nRemember Those Who Led and Taught You<\/h2>\n
(Hebrews 13:7)<\/h4>\n
The Greek word hegeomai<\/i> means to lead or guide. It is sometimes translated as \u201crule,\u201d but that has the wrong connotation in English. A rule of power is against what Christ taught (Luke 22:25-26). Just as a shepherd does not drive his flock but walks in front and the sheep willingly follow, so we follow those who lead us by considering the outcome of their conduct and imitating their faith. These are the people who taught us God\u2019s Word (I Thessalonians 5:12) and even after their death, we can follow the godly example they left for us.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrior Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLetter to the Hebrews\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNext Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Loving Others Text: Hebrews 13:1-7 Continue Loving Brethren (Hebrews 13:1) Implied is that the Hebrew brethren did love their fellow Christians and the writer desires that it not become neglected (John 13:34; Romans 12:10; I Peter 1:22; I John 4:20-21). So many problems with the church would quickly disappear when love is practiced in truth.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":671,"menu_order":15,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7140","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":26593,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/fundamentals-of-christianity\/the-family-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":7140,"position":0},"title":"The Family of God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Family of God Text: Ephesians 2:19-22 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Our relationship to other Christians \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Members of one family - Galatians 3:26-29; Romans 8:16-17; Luke 8:19-21 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Members of one body - I Corinthians 12:12-27 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A fellowship - Acts 2:42; I John 1:1-4 II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What we owe our brethren \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Treat as you want to\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8446,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/letter-to-the-hebrews\/loving-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":7140,"position":1},"title":"Loving God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 27, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Loving God Text: Hebrews 13:8-17 God doesn't change (Hebrews 13:8) We should preserve because Jesus isn't a moving target. He remains eternally the same. Thus, by applying eternity to Christ, the writer implies that Jesus is God (I Timothy 6:13-16). God promised to be always with us (Hebrews 13:5) -\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":677,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/letter-to-the-hebrews\/overview\/","url_meta":{"origin":7140,"position":2},"title":"Overview","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Overview Assignment Select ten recurring keywords or phrases from Hebrews. What are they? Pick a distinctive color for each keyword and as you read Hebrews for the third time, mark the keywords or phrases. Theme The author appears to have three major themes that are interwoven through the text: Christianity\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30586,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-corinthian-letters\/pauls-service-courageous-and-confident\/","url_meta":{"origin":7140,"position":3},"title":"Paul\u2019s Service: Courageous and Confident","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Paul's Service: Courageous and Confident Courage in Judgment\u00a0(II Corinthians 5:6-11) Because God guarantees eternal life through the Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14), Paul is able to approach life on this earth with confidence. The Greek word used here,\u00a0tharrheo, means to be of good cheer, to have good courage, to be full of\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40981,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/pauls-letter-to-the-romans\/service-to-brethren-devotion\/","url_meta":{"origin":7140,"position":4},"title":"Service to Brethren: Devotion","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Service to Brethren: Devotion Proper attitude\u00a0(Romans 12:3) Proving what the will of God is demonstrated in how we treat the people around us. It is a natural result of our service to God. \"If someone says, \"I love God,\" and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":671,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/letter-to-the-hebrews\/","url_meta":{"origin":7140,"position":5},"title":"Letter to the Hebrews","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Letter to the Hebrews by Jeffrey W. Hamilton December 2018 Background Overview A Better Leader Christ is Better than the Prophets\u00a0(Hebrews 1:1-3) Christ is Better than Angels Because of His Deity\u00a0(Hebrews 1:4-2:4) Christ is Better than Angels Because of His Humanity\u00a0(Hebrews 2:5-18) Christ is Better than Moses\u00a0(Hebrews 3:1-4:13) Christ is\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/8616389727_416725bd3d_o-205x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7140\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}