Verses one through six. In these verses the Apostle Paul tells the Hebrews (and the church) to keep brotherly love in play at all times. He tells us in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 that no matter how many good things we do, if we do not have love (“charity”) for our brethren all of our religiosity will be for naught. The brotherly love God demands is expressed in what we say and do that our brethren hear and see. We are indeed our brother’s keeper in the sense that they see and hear what we do and say and assume that our words and actions are of the Lord. We must show our love for those who watch and listen to us by making sure that our words and actions are according to God’s Word.

We are to be careful in our dealings with strangers. We could be entertaining an angel God is using to see how we treat those we do not know. This does not mean that we deal with strangers without carefulness. We in the ministry are warned to “lay hands quickly on no man.” We must allow God to lead us when ministering to others. Not all strangers are God’s angels; not all can be trusted. This is why we must have a close relationship with the Lord Who will guide us in our dealings with those we do not know, as well as those we know. All that glitters is not gold.

We are to pray for and visit those who are being persecuted for Christ’s sake as we ourselves are. Some true Christians are in prison for their stand for the Lord. Many others who believe themselves to be Christians are being persecuted and some even killed. In some areas of the world being known as a Christian carries an automatic death sentence. Christianity, next to Judaism, is the most hated religion on earth. A law was passed in the United Nations forbidding anyone from speaking against Islam. But there is no such law concerning Christianity or Judaism. Note that those “in the body” (of Christ–God’s church) WILL be persecuted for righteousness’ sake. The final line of verse 2 shows that being in the body equates to being persecuted. There are no exceptions. See Persecution.

The marriage bed, Paul commands, must be undefiled. God calls those who step outside that rule “whoremongers” and “adulterers” whom He will judge. This rule is probably the most often broken of all of God’s rules. A study showed that the typical male thinks of sex every five minutes. Women are becoming as sexually aggressive as men. With the global free-fall of morals, sex is first and foremost in the minds of most of the world’s people. One need only look at advertising to see the influence sex has on every fabric of life. Sex, it appears, IS the fabric of life for the majority of people.

We are commanded to be content with what we have, noting that God has promised to supply our needs: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” It seems that those who have not are intent on attaining that which they do not have while those who have are intent on accumulating more. God speaks of this sin in Isaiah 5:8 where He condemns those who accumulate houses and fields for the purpose of making money. Like those who make a show of praying and giving to the poor in public, they have their reward. Jesus told the rich man that ONE THING would keep him from inheriting eternal life–GREED.

We are told never to be afraid of those who hate us because of our relationship with God. Because God warns us about being hated we know that we will be hated if we stand for Him. Notice that He tells us not to fear what men WILL do to us. L.J.