Don’t Pretermit the Passionate Plea 

September 6, 2026

Don’t Pretermit the Passionate Plea

Hebrews 13:22-25 “And I appeal to you, brethren, bear with the word of exhortation,
for I have written to you in few words.

  Know that our brother Timothy has been set free, with whom I
shall see you if he comes shortly.

  Greet all those who rule over you, and all the saints.  Those from
Italy greet you.

Grace be with you all. Amen”.  (NKJV)

Have you ever given someone sound advice and they ignored it?  Or maybe it was given to you and you ignored it.  

There are “levels” to the type of advice we might give or receive.

Level 1

Not a huge deal if you ignore it.  The consequences aren’t that big of a deal.

Level 2

Maybe not the end of the world if you ignore these things.  But the consequences are definitely more severe.

Level 3

Consequences can be quite severe.

Each “level” has higher consequences when the advice is ignored.  

There’s a point where the advice actually becomes more of a warning.  Eventually, you get where you just want to shake the person and scream, “Please, listen to me!!  Do you not understand what’s at stake?!?!”

People don’t want the warning when it comes with a rebuke or correction.

Proverbs 29:1 “He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be
broken beyond healing”.  (ESV)

That’s a pretty intense warning.  And that’s how the writer of Hebrews is closing out his remarks.

“Everything I’ve just told you is of the utmost importance.  Don’t stiffen your neck.  Do not ignore what’s been said!” 

Vs. 22: “Bear with the word of exhortation”

“Bear with”

It doesn’t mean “politely listen to”.  Bear with me a moment…

In the Greek, it literally means “endure patiently” or “receive graciously”.

“Word of exhortation”

In the Greek, it literally means “an earnest appeal”.  Or “passionate plea”

Title Slide

Interestingly, the phrase “word of exhortation” is only used one other place in the Bible.  Acts Chapter 13.  

Acts 13:15-16 “And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of
the synagogue sent to them, saying, “Men and brethren, if you
have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.

Then Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of
Israel, and you who fear God, listen”.  (NKJV)

• Starting with the patriarchs and the Exodus, he summarized Israel’s history and explained how it all led to Jesus.  He basically preaches the gospel to them.  And ends his sermon with an “earnest appeal”.

Acts 13:38-41 “Brothers, listen!  We are here to proclaim that through this man
Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins.

  Everyone who believes in Him is made right in God’s sight –
something the Law of Moses could never do.

  Be careful!  Don’t let the prophet’s words apply to you.  For they said,

‘Look, you mockers, be amazed and die!  For I am doing something in your day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it’ . (NLT)

Paul’s warning comes from Habakkuk 1:5 where God says He is going to use the Babylonians to carry out His judgement against Jerusalem.  The “something you wouldn’t believe” is not something too good to be true.  It’s something so terrible you don’t want to believe it could be true.

In the same way, God will judge those who reject His offer of forgiveness through Jesus. 

It’s like Paul is trying to shake his audience by the shoulders, saying “Do not let this happen to you”! 

It’s the exact same thing the writer of Hebrews is trying to warn his audience about.  

We have to remember the reason the writer is writing Hebrews.

• First century Jews who were leaving Judaism to follow Christ (not like changing churches/denominations today)
• Probably written around 60-63 AD which means the priesthood and sacrificial systems were still in place
• They were leaving the burden of Jewish law and that system, but would have faced intense pressure from many of their friends, families and leaders to remain faithful to the Old Ways
• It would have been tempting to leave Christianity and return to Judaism
• The writer is imploring these Christians to remain dedicated to their faith in Jesus and giving them the same warning that Paul gave in the synagogue.  

You do not want to reject Jesus and then face the judgement of God.  Especially after you have already embraced Him as Messiah.

Hebrews 10:26-27 says there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins when we do that.  But only a certain fearful expectation of judgement.

Hebrews 10:30-31 “For we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay’, says
the Lord.  And again, ‘the Lord will judge His people’.

  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God”.  (NKJV) 

He gives them this stern warning because they were struggling.  In (2) main ways…

1.   They had become dull of hearing…

Hebrews 5:9-11 “And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal
salvation to all who obey Him,

called by God as High Priest ‘according to the order of
Melchizedek’

of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you
have become dull of hearing”.  (NKJV)

The word “become” here is important.  The audience wasn’t so new to the truth of Christ that they were having a hard time catching on.  It was that over time they became that way.  

“Dull of hearing” has nothing to do with the actual ability to hear or the mental capacity to understand.  It’s a problem with the heart.  It’s when the hearer has no desire to learn about and obey the things of God.

Jesus talks about this in Matthew 13:

Matthew 13:14-15 “And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says,
“Hearing you will hear and not understand, and seeing you will
see and not perceive;

For the hearts of this people have grown dull.  Their ears are hard
of hearing, and their eyes they have closed…”. (NKJV)

James 1:22 warns us that if we hear the Word and don’t respond, meaning our hearts become dull, then we deceive ourselves.

This Hebrew audience is starting to deceive themselves by not allowing their hearts to remain teachable and fully embracing the truth of Jesus.

It was important for the writer to show that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Law and Prophets.  That His priesthood was “in the order of Melchizedek”, meaning that it didn’t come from the tribe of Levi or the family of Aaron.  

That priesthood couldn’t achieve the perfection that God intended.  So, God had to create a new priesthood and then He set Jesus as High Priest forever, giving us confidence in a better hope than what the Law could provide.

It was vital that these early Christians understood this truth.  But until they were woken up from their apathy, they would never fully receive it.

2. They were not maturing in their faith…

Hebrews 5:12 “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need
someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of
God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food”.  (NKJV)

Again, these weren’t brand-new Christians.  They had been believers long enough that they should’ve moved past the strained peas stage and start chowing down on some steak.  But here they are; stuck in their infancy.

The “first principles” here are like learning the ABC’s or how to count.  Everything else develops out of these principles.  They are the building blocks of our faith.

They weren’t being told to become someone holding the title of “teacher”.  They were being told they should be able to teach anyone the principals of being a Christian.  

Teaching is the final stage of learning.  But they haven’t moved on.  They were still babies.

One of the most frustrating and discouraging things is to see someone who refuses to grow in their walk with the Lord.  Or even worse, to see them regress in it. 

The writer says, “you have come to need milk” and “you need someone to teach you again”.  This shows a regression.  They are wavering.  They are going backwards.

And again, he calls them out, and in Chapter 6, he gives them a stern warning.

Hebrews 6:7-8 “When the ground soaks up the falling rain and bears a good crop
for the farmer, it has God’s blessing.

  But if a field bears thorns and thistles, it is useless.  The farmer
will soon condemn that field and burn it”. (NLT) 

He makes it pretty clear.  You guys need to start maturing and produce some good fruit or else it won’t go well for you.

The majority of the book of Hebrews is filled with all kinds of warnings and statements meant to convict and correct their current mindset and spiritual condition. 

Topics Covered

• Warned against drifiting away
• Warned against unbelief
• Rebuked for spiritual immaturity
• Given a severe warning about apostasy
• Persuaded to persevere through suffering
• Called to endure discipline
• Urged to embrace practical holiness and obedience

Whether we want to admit it or not, we also need to be warned, rebuked, persuaded, called, urged, etc. when it comes to the things in that list.  Because we also become “dull of hearing” and stagnant in our faith.

We can’t cover everything, but there are two topics I want to challenge us with.  I think they encompass everything else.

Embrace Holiness

We (Christians) have such a diminished view of sin these days.  We make tolerance and excuses for things because we think it’s ok, regardless of what God has to say about it. 

We think we have some level of holiness because we go to church, or pray with our kids or pay our tithe. 

Those things don’t make you holy.  True holiness comes from having the same view of sin (any sin) that God does and striving to eliminate those things from our lives.

God sets the standard, we don’t.

Psalm 51:4 “Against You and You alone have I sinned, and done this evil in Your
sight”. (NKJV)

“In Your sight”.  Not in our sight.

Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death.  It doesn’t say “the wages of the really big sins are death – and everything else is fine.  So, go ahead and decide for yourself”.  

Instead of letting God set the standard, we start to decide what’s sin and what isn’t.  And when it comes to the things we think are ok, we dismiss them with a wave of the hand.  Brushing them off like it’s no big deal or won’t have any consequences.  

“Yeah, I have sin in my life.  But whatever!  It should be fine”.

“It should be fine”…not words you want to hear when it comes to dealing with something of great importance or consequence.

We can’t have an “it should be fine” mindset when it comes to sin in our lives.  There is too much at stake.  

To me, the scariest verse in the Bible is in Matthew.

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, shall enter the
Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in
heaven.

Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and
done many wonders in Your name?’

And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from  me,  you who practice lawlessness”. (NKJV)

How can there be anything more devastating than to think you are in right standing with the Lord, only to be rejected when you see Him face to face?

That’s the deception that James talks about.  Our hearts become dull towards sin, we stop responding to the Word and yet we think we’re still “cool with Christ”. 

Stop playing with sin.  Stop justifying.  Stop seeing how close to the flame you can get without getting burnt.

Don’t dabble with sin.  Embrace holiness.  View it the same way God does.

Don’t Go Back or Drift Away

One of the challenges facing these early Christians was the temptation to go back to what was comfortable and safe when the difficulty and persecution of following Jesus came.

They left the familiar AND faced persecution.  Without a solid foundation and commitment to Christ, they would never make it.

Maybe not full-blown rejection, but trying to mix aspects of Christianity with aspects of Judaism.  

We try to mix aspects of Christianity with aspects of the world.  But Jesus can’t be mixed with anything.  He stands alone.

We can’t be running back to the old and familiar when things get hard.  And they will get hard.

In John 16:33 assures us that in this world we will have “many trials and sorrows” (NLT)

Where are we going to turn when those times come?

• When we need comfort or healing
• When the pain gets to be too much
• When the failures of our past come back to whisper in our ears
• When the fear of what tomorrow holds keeps us up at night
• When the cost of following Christ becomes more than we think we can pay

We need to be planted firmly in the truth of who He is. 

The first step to staying committed to Christ is setting that resolve in your heart.  

Daniel 1:8 “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with
the portion of the king’s delicacies…”.  (NKJV)

Daniel didn’t make this resolve when he first sat at the king’s table.

We need to make that same commitment in our lives.  But we need to do it now.  We need to say no matter what, I’m committed to Christ and living my life for Him.  And we have to believe that He is enough.

There is no, “Jesus AND….”

That’s the beginning of the end.

You see it all the time with people who come out and deconstruct their faith. 

Because Jesus wasn’t enough.  Either because of societal pressures or personal struggles, they started mixing Jesus with something else.  They started looking elsewhere for answers.  And it led to them being double minded and unstable.

Jesus has to be enough.  And the only way to never drift is to be firmly anchored in Him.

Hebrews 6:19: “This hope [this confidant assurance] we have as an anchor of the
soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whatever
pressure bears upon it] – a safe and steadfast hope that enters
within the veil [of the heavenly temple, that most Holy Place in
which the very presence of God dwells]”.  (AMP)

Our hope in Christ will never slip, never break down, never fail – no matter what.  No other religion, person, system, coping mechanism, nothing – can make that claim.  

Decide now to stake your life in Christ and never look back.

You Can Do It – Because It’s Worth It

As I mentioned, Hebrews is a book full of warnings, rebukes, corrections.  It couldn’t have been an easy message for the early Christians to receive.

It’s not easy for us to hear either.  It’s not fun to get confronted with bold, hard truths about our sin.  The ugly parts of our hearts are exposed to the light, and it doesn’t feel good.

But what I love about Hebrews is that is also a book full of encouragement.

Hebrews 6:9 “Dear friends, even though we are talking this way, we really don’t
believe it applies to you.  We are confident that you are meant for
better things, things that come with salvation”.  (NLT) 

The author has warned and corrected and now says, “I think you’re going to make it”.

And that’s what good Biblical preaching should do.  It should confront.  It should correct.  And it should also encourage.

It should remind us that if we embrace the corrections and don’t become stiff-necked at the rebukes, then we’re doing alright.  That if we’re striving for the things of God, we are on the right path.  

We’re not going to get it right all the time, but we need to remember there’s a difference between falling down and falling away.

Proverbs 24:16 “The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again…(NLT)

Jesus understands our weakness.  He knows that we’re going to struggle and we’re going to fall.  We will fail.  But we need to fail forward.  We need to learn from our mistakes, get back up and keep moving on.  

Because Jesus still offers us mercy and grace even when we’ve missed the mark.

Hebrews 4:15-16 “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our
weakness, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without
sin.

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may
obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need”.  (NKJV)

2 Cor. 12:9 “And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength
is made perfect in weakness…'” (NKJV)

Our Christian walk is not about perfection.  It’s about a heart condition that clamors after the things of God and chooses Him over everything else.  And getting that right is a process.

Becoming more like Christ and being anchored in Him is something we must desire every day.  Because outside of Him, we have nothing.  We have no hope and no salvation. 

That’s the heart behind what the writer of Hebrews is getting at.  For the early Christians, Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of every promise in the Old Testament.  There is nothing more.  Everything they gave up for Him, was worth it!

And he ends with a passionate plea to graciously receive everything that’s been written.

And that’s my passionate plea for you today as well.  Pursue a life of holiness and cling to Jesus no matter what.

I think that’s some of the best advice you’ll ever receive.  Don’t ignore it.