Exhortations To Love Hebrews 13:1-6
Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body. Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

Paul’s First Exhortations Are To Love

He talks about 5 kinds of love, love of God’s family, love for strangers, love for the  prisoner, love in marriage and love of God’s promises.

In verse 1 he says, Let brotherly love continue. This is of course the Greek word philedelphia, literally brotherly love. Of course, in this context he is speaking of love for the family of God, brothers and sisters in Christ and especially those of your church family. Love them as Christ loved them. He tells the Hebrews just keep on loving one another.

He then spreads this exhortation further by adding also love strangers in vs. 2
The word here that is translated entertain strangers is the word, philonexia. Literally loving strangers. Just as he used the word philedelphia, loving brothers and sister in their local church in vs. 1 here he uses philonexia, loving strangers.

By this he has two things in mind. Primarily he is talking about those who are traveling Christians. During a time when there were few inns it was vital that you take in those who were traveling. Especially was this true when the strangers were “missionaries” like Paul and Timothy.

But the idea here is more than just hospitality to Christians but also means showing love to those who are lost. These are strangers not only to us but also to the love of God and they need to see the love of God in Christians if they are ever going know it themselves.

Love For The Prisoner vs 3.

Hebrews 13:3 Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

They are to remember, to love, to have sympathy, compassion and above all empathy for those in the body of Christ who are were being jailed, persecuted and hunted by both the Jewish authorities and the pagan rulers of the cities and empire where they lived. Remember them as though you were bound right along side them.

Love For Your Spouse vs. 4. The next love Paul talks about is love in marriage in vs. 4 “Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled.”

The idea here is that marriage is to be held in honor by the Christians. The pagan societies of Paul’s day treated marriage in much the same way we do in our society today. Marriage had no honor; it had no value in their culture.
Wives were for having children and heirs but prostitution, perversion was accepted and even encouraged as a rite of passage for both young men and women. This is why Paul says marriage should be honored in all. He means in all things from the privacy of the bedroom to the openness of the marketplace. He makes his point clear to any who would dishonor their spouses and marriage, by warning “whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.”

His next exhortation about love deals with God’s promises. We are to trust in His providence. In vs. 5 “Let your conversation (your lifestyle) be without covetousness and be content with such things as ye have.” I originally thought this was a negative, a don’t love among all the positive exhortations to love, but upon considering it further I realized I was looking too low.
Literally, the Greek reads, “Let your manner of life be without love of money.” –RWP

Live free of the love for this world’s money, riches or wealth. “Be content with the things you have right now.” The things that God has and will continue to provide.

The reason they could and should be content was because God had made a promise.  Vs. 5 “For He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” God had provided himself and there could be no greater treasure. The exhortation was to love God and trust His promise. When they did this, then they could say as the Psalmist did in Psalms 56:11, “The Lord is my helper and I will fear not what man shall do unto me.”

It wasn’t an exhortation about not loving money, it was an exhortation about loving God and His word of promise.

Let Us Love

Love as God expects us to love, love the right things and love in the right way. Love your brother and sisters in Christ, especially in this local body. Love them because you are of the same blood, the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Love them because you will spend eternity with them in that perfect love of our heavenly Father. Love your brother and sisters who are missionaries, serving Him to the often bleeding edge of devotion. And yes love those who are lost and away from the family of God, because if you love them with the love of Christ, they too will become your brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Love those who are being persecuted for being a part of the family of God. We so easily forget them, so easily look past them because we are not in the cells, or concentration camps with them, but the persecution of God’s people has never been so rampant and so wide spread as it is in this day and age. We should remember them as though we were chained beside them.

Love your spouse and honor the institution of marriage that God established for that special love. Let me be blunt, there is no honor in two people living together before marriage, there is no honor in adultery or fornication and no honor means there is really no love, not as God intends love to be understood and not a love that will stand the test of time, crisis and sacrifice. A society which debases and destroys marriage is a society that has forgotten what love is and it is a society that will ultimately debase and destroy itself. No one in this sanctuary needs to be convinced of that reality of that statement in our nation today.

Finally, love the Lord for all He has promised. Don’t covet, don’t love the things of this world. You’ve already been given an eternal treasure that exceed all this world can ever give you. Be content in God’s promise, be content in His love.