Don’t Forget Your Schooling: Our Personal Obligations (Heb

Don’t Forget Your Schooling: Our Personal Obligations
(Heb 13:15-19)
I. Christians are to Sacrifice (v. 15-16)
A. Christians have two obligations to God. One is vertical the other is horizontal:
a. Offer Sacrifice of Praise (v.15)
b. Offer Service to People (v.16)
1. This would include Christians and non-Christians (James 2:14-17, 1:27)
II. Christians are to Submit (v.17)
A. Christians are to submit to God’s delegated authority in the church. (v.17)
a. Pastors are not to lord their positions over the church (2 Cor 2:14-16, 3:5-6; 1 Pet 5:1-4]
III. Christians are to Supplicate (v. 18-19)
A. Christians should pray for their spiritual leaders and those in authority over them. (v.18)
B. The writer is convinced that prayer works. (v.19)
a. Why prayer works:
1. Prayer gets us focused on God. [Ps 91:14-15, Ps 145:18; Phil 4:6-7; 1 Jn 5:14]
2. Prayer is the means of God’s meeting our needs. [Lk 11:9-10; James 5:13-18]
3. Prayer gets us in tune with God’s “big picture.” [Mt 6:9-13]
Points to Ponder:
1. God is worthy of our praise and adoration. Take time this week to offer Him praise to thank Him for what He is doing in your life and how He blesses you each day.
2. Remember to pray for our pastors and teachers. Please pray for me each week that God would give me a pure heart and a clear conscience and that His Word would be effective in reaching the lost and growing the saints. When Spurgeon was asked by a minister the secret of his great success he remarked, “There is no secret. My people always pray for me.”
Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, The Messianic Jewish Epistles: Hebrews, James, First Peter, Second Peter, Jude, 1st ed. (Tustin, CA: Ariel Ministries, 2005), 194.
John Piper, “The Sacrifice of Praise,” Online. Accessed 04/23/24. www.desiringgod.org/messages/....
Charles Spurgeon, “Hebrews 13:15-16,” Online. Accessed 04/23/24 www.preceptaustin.org/hebrews...
John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006), Heb 13:16.