We're going to be looking at verses 20 through 25. Probably one of the most quotable politicians of all time is Winston Churchill. And Winston Churchill is kind of like a, you know, like a, like a, like a, like a, like a, like a, like a, like a, like a, like a, like a, like a, like a, like a, like a, like a, like a, like a, Yogi Berra in terms of the one-liners and the statements that he has and the quick comebacks, but at least Winston Churchill got things right accurately. Yogi Berra always got things confused. But Winston Churchill had some very interesting things that he would say. One time he received from George Bernard Shaw had an opening play and he and George Bernard Shaw did not get along very well. They disliked each other greatly. And he received two tickets in the mail from Shaw, and it said, my new play will be opening on such and such a night, and I've sent two complimentary tickets for you so you can be there on opening night. One ticket is for you, and the other one is for a friend, dot, dot, dot, if you can find one. Winston Churchill wrote him back and said, thank you very much for the tickets. I'm sorry, but my schedule does not permit me to be there on opening night, but I would be glad to attend the second night if there is one. So, I mean, he always had this wit about him so that he could always get a comeback. One time a lady came to him and said, Mr. Churchill, if you were my husband, I'd poison your tea. And Churchill said, lady, if you were my wife, I'd drink it. He was just full of these kinds of things that were hilarious. But he's probably most known for the fact that his radio speeches during the Second World War rallied the people of England in their darkest hour, in the times when they were discouraged and there were times when they felt like throwing up their hands and giving up like most of Europe had done under the onslaught of Hitler. And even though the bombings were continual and life could not be normal in England and especially in London, when Churchill came on the radio and began his historic broadcast, people's spirits were lifted and they were encouraged by the things that he said. And one of the speeches he gave, first he gave it in a boys club, and then later he gave versions of it at different times. And one of the things he said that really struck a chord with the people of England was this, simply this. During the dark times, he said this. And people have quoted this many times. He said, never give up. Never, never, never give up. And that phrase became a rallying cry around which many of the people of England would stand together and they would say, no matter what happens, we aren't going to give up in this fight against Hitler. The writer of Hebrews, if you could summarize the book of Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews has been saying to these Hebrew Christians who are facing struggles and difficulties and intense persecutions, and they know that even greater persecutions are coming their way, the writer of Hebrews would be saying to them throughout this book, never give up. Never, never, never give up. And he says, don't give up, because you need to recognize what you have in your hands is far greater than anything that you have ever had before. And many of these Jewish Christians were tempted to give up on Christianity, and they were tempted to give up on following Christ with all of their hearts, because the more they followed Christ, the more their property was being confiscated, the more they were being ridiculed by their friends and family, the more they were being kicked out of their own homes. And yet, the writer of Hebrews kept saying, don't give up. Keep on going. Don't stop following Christ. Don't draw back. Because if you do, you will lose a great reward. The writer of Hebrews would be saying to them that there are three reasons why you don't give up. And it's not in the notes here, but three reasons why you don't give up. It's first of all because we've got a great Savior. And in chapter one, that's how he opens the book of Hebrews. And throughout Hebrews, that's what he's telling us, that Jesus is superior to the angels. He's superior to Joshua. He's superior to Moses. He's superior to every sacrifice that has ever been offered. And you have a great Savior and you need to keep on because you've got a great Savior. Not only do you have a great Savior, but you've got a great salvation. In comparison to the salvation that they looked for in the Old Testament, they had the blood of animals and bulls and goats that could never ever wash away sins. Remember how many times the writer of Hebrews has reminded them of that? But in Jesus Christ, the blood of Jesus Christ completely cleanses you of sin, so that what Jesus Christ did on the cross pays for sins once for all time. It doesn't have to be repeated, because what Jesus did is enough to pay for those sins forever and ever and ever. And he's saying to these people, don't give up. You've got a great Savior, but you've got a great salvation also. Not only a great Savior and a great salvation, but a great reward. And he tells them over and over again as you go through the book of Hebrews, you need to keep on, be diligent, don't be sluggish, but keep on imitating those who inherit the promises. And then in chapter 10, when he's speaking most directly about the persecution they're experiencing, he says, don't cast away your confidence, which has a great reward. In other words, you not only have a great Savior and a great salvation, but if you'll keep following Christ with all your heart, you have a great reward promised to you. You might lose everything in this life. They might confiscate your property. They might throw you into prison. But you know what? They can't take away what you have in Christ Jesus. Never give up. Never, never, never give up. And that's what the writer of Hebrews is echoing all the way throughout here. And that's what we need to recognize, too, that no matter how hard it gets, you need to keep on going for Christ. Don't give up. There's a great reward that's awaiting you. And one of the things he reminds him here as he comes to chapter 13 is simply this, that the goal of the Christian life is to please God. That's why you were saved, so that you might live a life that's pleasing to God, and in the process, you're going to honor Him and glorify Him, and other people are going to be attracted to Him. The goal of the Christian life is pleasing God. The goal of the Christian life is not our own happiness. In fact, it's sad, but in the 20th century, Christianity and evangelism in particular has turned more toward the idea of being a Christian is so that everything will be fine and dandy in your life. If you'll follow Christ, you'll never have any more problems, you'll never have any more troubles. If you follow Christ, you'll have all the money that you need and everything will be taken care of. That's what you hear most of today about Christianity. But that's not biblical Christianity. Biblical Christianity is if you follow Christ, it's going to be hard. It's going to be difficult. You're going to suffer for your faith. People are going to ridicule you. People are going to put you down. It's not going to be easy. Never in the New Testament are we told it will be easy to follow Christ. In fact, we're told the exact opposite. But modern Christianity turns that around and says, if you'll just follow Christ, everything will be fine in your life. The scripture never says that. Everything will be fine between you and God, yes. Your sins will be paid for. Your sins will be washed away completely. You'll have eternal life that can never be taken away from you. But it doesn't mean everything will be fine in your life. In fact, coming to Christ may create more conflicts. It did for these Hebrew Christians. They were growing up as Jews. They were in family relationships. They got together weekly on the evening of the Sabbath, and they would celebrate the Sabbath together as a family. And then once somebody became a believer in Christ and a follower of Christ, you know what happens? They're kicked out of the family, and they're no longer a part of the family. And you see, the cost of following Christ was very serious in the early New Testament, in the early church. And that's what these Hebrew Christians were experiencing. And you see, the goal of the Christian life is not your own happiness. The goal of the Christian life is that God might be pleased. He might be honored and he might be glorified. And you see, that might not mean your own happiness. It might mean you have to struggle. It might mean you go through persecutions and difficulties so that God is glorified in your life as you please him in responding rightly to those difficulties. That's what the writer of Hebrews was trying to tell these Christians. Keep on going. Don't give up. It's not going to be easy. It might get worse. But the question is, are you pleasing God? And that's what we've been looking at here in chapter 13. All through chapter 13, the writer of Hebrews is coming down to the conclusion and he's saying, listen, the one goal, the one desire, the one passion of your heart ought to be that you would be found pleasing in His sight. Pleasing in all kinds of areas. But you might be pleasing God would be the goal of the Christian life. Look at verses 20-25 as we finish this letter. And listen to what he says about pleasing God. Verse 20. Now may the God of peace, who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you what is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. And I appeal to you, brethren, bear with this word of encouragement or exhortation, for I have written to you in a few words. Know that our brother Timothy has been set free, with whom I shall also see you if he comes shortly. Greet all those who rule over you and the saints. Those from Italy greet you. Grace be to you all. Amen. I want you to see three things that we'll find in this passage about how is it that we're going to live a life that really pleases God in every single thing that we do. Three things. First of all, we please God by trusting His work in us, by trusting what He has done in us. We'll see that in verse 20. And secondly, we please God by doing His will. And we'll see that in verse 21. And then we see that we can please God by glorifying His name in every single thing we do. We'll see that in the remaining verses of this chapter. Let's take a look, first of all, at verse 20 again. We please God whenever we are trusting His work in our lives. Listen to verse 20. Now, may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant. Nothing pleases God more than when you trust Him. Absolutely nothing pleases God more than when you trust Him. You can go out and do the best good deed possible, but if you're not trusting God to do that deed, God's not pleased. You see, remember we sang, without faith, it is impossible to please God. In Hebrews 11, verse 6, it says, without faith, it is impossible to please God. Is God pleased by our good deeds if they're not done out of faith? You see, without faith, it is impossible to please God. Why is that? Because God's pleased when we trust the work that He's doing instead of rolling up our sleeves and just saying, OK, God, I can handle this one on my own. God is pleased most of all when we trust Him and when we trust His work. Now, there are a couple of things that we see in this passage I want you to see. First of all, look at the way the writer of Hebrews describes God. It says, now may the God of peace. God's described here as the God of peace. And that term, the phrase, the God of peace, is used five times in the New Testament and never appears in the Old Testament. In fact, the emphasis of the New Testament is that we now have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ has done. In the Old Testament, the emphasis is not on God as the God of peace, but rather the Old Testament speaks very frequently about the wrath of God, and it speaks about the wrath of God abiding upon sinners. But in Romans, chapter 5, verse 1, the Apostle Paul tells us, Now therefore, having been justified by faith in Jesus Christ, we have peace with God. You see, the way that we have the God of peace in our lives is by being justified by faith through Jesus Christ. You see, what Jesus has done for us puts us at peace with God. In the Old Testament, we could be described as enemies of God. But in the New Testament, we're described as children of God. And we now have peace with God, no longer at strife with God. So we begin the Christian life by trusting the work that he has done in Jesus Christ. We begin the Christian life by saying, Lord, you're the one who can only provide peace for my life. The only way to be at peace with you is through Jesus Christ. And so the Christian life begins by trusting a work that he did, not by trusting a work that you'll do, not by saying, well, if I do enough good deeds, maybe then God will accept me as one of his children. But you see, being a Christian is a matter of trusting His work, not trusting your works. In fact, oftentimes when we're sharing the gospel, one of the most important things to say to a person is simply this, you know, God is not going to receive you on the basis of the work that you do, but He will receive you on the basis of the work that Jesus has already done. You see, Jesus has paid it all. And being a Christian is a matter of trusting God's work. It's not a matter of doing anything, is it? It's not a matter of cleaning up your act. It's not a matter of doing anything in particular, except one thing, and that is trusting the work of God that He's done through Jesus Christ. Some of you are here this morning, you may not be believers in Christ. What is it that you must do to have eternal life? Only one thing. Trust the work that Jesus Christ did. When He died on the cross, He paid everything and He covered your sins. And you see, what becoming a Christian is, is a matter of saying, OK, That'll be enough. I'll trust what God has done through Jesus Christ. And that's why the writer of Hebrews says, now may the God of peace who brought the Lord Jesus Christ up from the dead. He's talking to us about, we need to remember that we're approaching God as the one of peace now. Second thing that we need to do is see that not only is he our peace, but he's also our shepherd. This puts the focus more on God the Son rather than on God the Father. But notice what he says, who brought our Lord Jesus Christ up from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep. In other words, Jesus is described as the shepherd, the one who takes care of the flock that God has purchased when He sent His Son. You see, Jesus comes not only to pay for our sins, but He also comes as the one to shepherd us as His flock. I want you to notice that He's not just an ordinary shepherd. If you notice in verse 20, it says, God who brought our Lord Jesus up from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep. The main thing about Jesus Christ, not simply that He died on the cross, but that He rose from the dead. Without the resurrection, there is no eternal life. If Jesus dies on the cross, and then goes to the grave and stays there, then there is no eternal life. Our sins are not paid for. But you see, what God did, God not only sent His Son, but He raised Jesus up from the dead, so that we might have eternal life. And the resurrection is the central doctrine of Christianity. Because apart from the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we're still in our sins. But because Jesus has risen from the dead, we have eternal life and we know it because it's been proved by the resurrection from the dead. But the emphasis that the writer has here is probably not on the salvation that we've been talking about here, but he's talking here to believers who are going through a struggle and he's saying to them, look, you can trust your souls to the care of the shepherd of the sheep. He's a great shepherd and you can trust him. Put your finger in Hebrews 13 and turn back to the Gospel of John, the 10th chapter. This is exactly how Jesus describes himself to his disciples. When Jesus is describing himself, he's not just any ordinary shepherd, but he's the good shepherd. He's a shepherd that cares for his sheep in a way that other shepherds do not care for the sheep. And in John the 10th chapter, look at what he says in verses 11 through 15. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. But a hireling who is not the shepherd, the one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and flees, leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and he does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and I am known by my own. As the Father knows me, even so, I know the Father, and lay down my life for the sheep." Now, I want you to see what Jesus is saying here. The hireling knows those sheep, but he doesn't really care for them, because they don't belong to him. But Jesus is a totally different kind of shepherd. He's a great shepherd, a good shepherd, who cares for the sheep, and He watches out for them. We can see that He watches out for them a little bit farther down in chapter 10, if you take a look at verse 27. There He says, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me, and I give to them eternal life, and they will never perish, neither will anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and the Father are one. What is Jesus trying to tell His disciples about Himself as the Great Shepherd or the Good Shepherd? He's simply saying this, listen guys, you're going to go through difficulties. That's what the upper room discourse was about. Frequently in the Upper Room Discourse, he talks about the fact that you're going to have trouble and tribulation. But I have overcome the world and I will give you my peace, my peace I leave with you. But he's not saying you won't have difficulties. He's saying you will have difficulties. But he's saying to them, listen, in your difficulties, know that I'm holding you in my hands and my father is holding you in his hands. And together, no one will ever be able to snatch you out of our hands. You see, what Jesus is reminding His disciples is, you're going through tough times. One thing you can do is you can trust Me because I'm the shepherd who will hold on to you and will never, ever let you go. You see, no matter what kind of difficulties the Hebrews might have been, Christians might have been going through, no matter what kind of trials, no matter how deep the persecution became, one thing that they could know, the writer of Hebrews was saying, listen, you have a great shepherd who cares for you and a great shepherd who will never, ever, under any circumstances, let you go. That's why we've sung repeatedly throughout our study of the book of Hebrews, he who began a good work in you, he is faithful to complete it. He's not going to let you go. He's never going to let you go. Well, not only does he remind us that he is our peace and our shepherd, but he also reminds us that he is our payment. Look at what he says in verse 20 again. Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep. Look at how he does all this through the blood of the everlasting covenant. How is it that we become part of the family of God? How is it that we become part of the sheepfold where the shepherd is going to care for us and watch over us no matter what may be happening to us in our life? Only one way, and that's through the blood of the everlasting covenant. The writer of Hebrews has pointed out a number of differences between the old covenant and the new covenant. He talks about the old covenant as shadows or types pointing forward to that permanent sacrifice that Jesus would one day provide for us. But the biggest difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant is the blood. The blood of the Old Covenant was a temporary covering. In fact, the Hebrew word atonement only means a covering. It was only designed to be there for a short period of time until that final payment would come. The blood of Jesus Christ is spoken of as a cleansing or a purging. The word purging is used most frequently in the book of Hebrews to describe what Jesus did. He purged our sins. To purge something is to clean it completely and entirely. In other words, in the Old Testament, what happened is there was a covering for sins for one year until the next day of Yom Kippur, or the Feast of the Atonement. And they had that whole year where God had looked over their sins, but then they had to do it again another year. And the priests had to offer sacrifices in the temple every single day, because you know why? People sinned every day, and the sacrifices had to be offered over and over and over again. And the blood of bulls and goats and lambs could never wash away sins. That's what the writer of Hebrews says. But you see, when Jesus offered the blood of the covenant, he sat down. He was finished. It was done once for all. He was able to make us perfect by that one sacrifice. You see, there's a big difference between the old covenant and the new covenant. The old covenant was temporary. It was important. It was the type it pointed forward to the new. But the new covenant is permanent and it's spoken of as the blood of the eternal covenant. Not a temporary covenant, but an eternal covenant. But again, the writer of Hebrews is trying to point to them and say, listen, don't you realize all that you have in Christ? You need to trust the work that he's done. He's your peace. He's your shepherd and he's your payment. And no matter what's happening, if God has done all of this for you, don't you think he'll take care of you now? If he sent his own son to die for you, don't you think he'll take care of you and your difficulties? Keep your finger there in Hebrews and turn to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8 is about suffering. It's about suffering as a Christian. In verse 18, Paul says, For I reckon that the sufferings of this present age are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. And then he talks about the whole of creation groaning and suffering. And then what he says is, in verse 31, he says, What shall we say then to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? In other words, if someone comes against us as believers to challenge us, to persecute us, or to send us through trials and difficulties, if God's for us, who can be against you? And so, if God allows something to happen to you in trials, difficulties, or persecutions, then He must be allowing it for His own good. In verse 28 it says, we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. So God must be allowing something to happen for His own reasons and His own purposes. Because if God be for us, who can be against us? Is there any trial, any temptation, any struggle, any persecution that could ever take us away from God? Look at what He says in verse 32. He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not with Him also freely give us all things? In other words, Paul is saying here in Romans, look at what God did for you in sending His Son to die for you. Do you think He's holding out on you now on some of the things you're going through? Do you think God is not going to come through for you? Do you think God's not going to take care of you? After all, He sent His Son to die for you. How will He not also give you all these other things, too, that you need? Now, it doesn't mean that everything's going to be fine and dandy in your life. But what it means is God will allow what He wants to allow in your life for His glory and for your good. And that's why the writer, in Romans, that's why Paul says this, look down in verse 35, he says, For who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? Those are the same kinds of things the Hebrew Christians were facing. Who's going to separate us from the love of Christ? Look at what he says in verse 36. As it is written, for your sake we are killed all day long. We are counted as sheep led to slaughter. Yet through all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Is Paul telling these Christians, don't worry. If you come to Christ, everything will be fine in your life. No harm will ever come to you. Nobody will persecute you. You'll have all the money that you ever need. Is that what he's saying? No. He's saying, listen, you will be like sheep led to the slaughter for your faith. Yet in all of these things, we will be more than conquerors. How? Through Him who loved us. And listen to what he concludes. He says, for I'm persuaded, verse 38, I'm persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. In other words, you're going to go through difficulties, but if you're in Christ, you know what? God is working something out even in those difficulties to perfect you, to refine you, to use you to bring glory and honor to His name in your difficulties. And don't stop and sit back and say, well, maybe God doesn't love me anymore. Paul says, if He would not spare His own Son, don't you think He will with Him also give you all things? I mean, if He's willing to go that far, in providing your salvation. Don't you think he will take care of you in your struggles and your difficulties? And you see, what we lack is the willingness to trust his work. You see, it's God who is at work in you. He's doing something. And the question is, are you willing to sit back and say, OK, God, I'll please you by trusting the work you're doing. I don't like what I'm going through. It's hard. It's difficult. I sure wish there were an easier way. But Lord, I know if you were willing to give your own son for me, I know that you're going to take care of me. And you see, pleasing God comes when we learn to say, God, I'll trust you. I don't understand the work you're doing, but I'll trust the work that you're doing in my life. Second thing that we find in Hebrews chapter 13 is not only do we please God by trusting his work, But we please God by doing His will. It's not just passive. It's not just sitting back and saying, well, OK, I'm just going to trust God to work everything out. But rather, throughout the book of Hebrews, there's been an encouragement to believers to not only accept what God has done for you, but to take what God has done for you and to say, OK, on the basis of this, I'm going to live with all my heart for Jesus Christ. And that involves doing good deeds. Look at what it says in verse 21. The God of peace is going to do this. He's going to make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. In other words, God's doing something in you so that when you do good deeds in His will, then He's going to be pleased with that. I want you to notice three ways that we do His will. First of all, you do it through doing good deeds. In Hebrews chapter 13, Look back at verses 15 and 16 again. We saw this a few weeks ago. Notice what he says. Therefore, by Him, let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God. That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is, what? Well-pleased or pleased. You see, how is God pleased? God is not just simply pleased when you sit back and you say, well, I'm saved and I'm just going to trust what God has done and I don't need to do anything else. That doesn't please God. God's pleased when you say, I'm willing to do those things which you called me to do, God, and I'm going to be actively serving you and doing your will. God's pleased when we're willing to do His will and we're willing to live for Him with all of our heart. And when we pull back from that, then God is not pleased with us. In Hebrews chapter 10, that's what the writer of Hebrews is saying. He says, if anyone pulls back from me or draws back, my soul is not pleased with him. You see, God's not pleased with some believers because we're not pleasing in His sight, because we're not doing His will. But if you're doing His will through the good deeds that you're doing, then God says, I'm pleased with you for doing those things. But He's only pleased when we do those things in His power and in His strength. You see, we need to do His will, but we need to do it by depending upon His work and His power in us. You see, there's a tendency in the Christian life to say, well, okay, salvation is something God does, but sanctification is something I do. You know, or to start off the Christian life by living by faith, but then to move in the Christian life to start living according to your own works and your own deeds. And God is never pleased when we do things in our own strength, because you see, who gets the glory when we do it in our own strength? It's not God, is it? You know, when we sit down and we tell somebody, you know, why we were able to do something, and we never mention that God was the one who empowered us to do it, who gets the glory? We do. And God is not pleased when we do good deeds, but we don't do them to honor Him and to glorify Him. And when we don't depend upon Him, God is not pleased. You see, look at what He says here in verse 21, to make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in your sight, in His sight. You see, God wants to work in our lives and through our lives so that we might be pleasing in His sight. And we need to get people who are saying, Lord, you know, I can't do this apart from your strength. And when we turn to God and say, Lord, you know, I could do this, but I just need, I need your help. And I want to turn this over to you, Lord, before I do this. You know what happens? God says, I'm pleased because you're depending upon me. And I want to turn this over to you, Lord, before I do this. And I want to turn this over to you, Lord, before I do this. And I want to turn this over to you, Lord, before I do this. And I want to turn this over to you, Lord, before I do this. And you see, he's pleased when we do things in his strength instead of simply trying to do them in our strength. What happens when we do it only in our own strength and our own power is simply this, is that we become less and less dependent upon God. And we think we can get by without depending upon God. And you'll see that once you do more and more stuff in your own strength, your prayer life will drop off very quickly. Because you won't need to pray. Why do you need to pray? Just go and do it. And you can do lots of good deeds in your own flesh and in your own strength. But you know what? God's not pleased. And you know what? God's not glorified and God's not honored because you're just doing it in your own strength. If you want to please God, we need to learn to say, Lord, you know, I need your help here and I want to depend upon you and I want to trust you in whatever this situation is that I'm facing. Notice that he says here, to do His will, working in you, that which is well-pleasing. I think it's interesting, the phraseology that he uses here, but also is found throughout the New Testament. Salvation is always an immediate experience. It's an instant experience. When somebody comes to faith in Christ, they are redeemed. When somebody comes to faith in Christ, that moment, all of their sins are washed away. When somebody comes to faith in Christ in that moment, they have eternal life that will never ever be taken away from them. But you see, sanctification is a lifelong process. It's not instant. So many people want an instant sanctification just like there's an instant salvation. I was reading last night in R.C. Sproul's book, the title of the book is called Pleasing God. And in that, it's this theology of sanctification. And there was a phrase that he had in there that I thought was very interesting. He said something like this. He said, whenever anybody offers to you instant sanctification, run from them. I think that's interesting, isn't it? Because that's what a lot of groups offer to you. If you only have this second experience of grace, if you only have a baptism of the Holy Spirit, if you only let go and let God, you'll have this instant sanctification and you'll be holy and you'll be living for God from that point on. Now, I do think there are times when we need to go through a time of repentance and renewal and coming back and saying, God, I want to dedicate my life to you again. And I realize I haven't lived for you with all my heart like I needed to live for you. And Lord, I'm going to do that. But don't expect an instant result. Sanctification is a process. Think back to the book of Hebrews. How does the writer of Hebrews describe the Christian life in chapter 12? What does it describe this? Anybody remember? As a race, as a long-distance race, not a sprint, as a marathon. And you see, that's what the Christian life is. It's something that we continue in and God is working in us to produce something as we follow Him and as we obey Him. Sanctification is not instant. Salvation is, but sanctification is a lifelong process. The third thing I want you to see about doing His will is that our one desire ought to be to please Him. In every single thing we do. In fact, that ought to be our prayer. Lord, my desire today is that whatever I do at work, whatever I do at school, whatever I do at home, I just want to be found pleasing in your sight. You see, that ought to be the heart's desire of every believer. Three times in the New Testament, in the Gospels, three times in the Gospels, there's a voice that speaks from heaven and it says, this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. You see, and Jesus once said, I do everything that's pleasing in the Father's sight. Wouldn't it be a great joy? The greatest joy ought to be to know that your father is pleased with you. That would be a great joy, isn't it? To know that your heavenly father is completely pleased with what you do. And that ought to be the desire and the motivation of the Christian life is that we ought to say, Lord, I want to be found pleasing to you no matter what I'm doing, no matter what I'm going through. I just it doesn't matter what the outcome is, Lord. What matters is that I please you and how I respond to everything that happens along the way. I may lose all my possessions, I may be cast into prison, I may lose all of my friends and my family may reject me, but Lord, I want to please you. And I want to be found pleasing in your sight. It's interesting that when you start the Christian life, remember when you first became a believer, what was your one desire in your heart? It's to please Him in everything that you do. But then, you know, as trials come along and difficulties and struggles come on, then we often go through this struggle, don't we? Do I want to please God or do I want to please myself? What's more important, my own happiness or God's glory? And we need to come to the place as believers. And that's what the writer of Hebrews was trying to say. My prayer is for you guys that God would work in you so that everything you do, you would be found pleasing in his sight. We can make that our prayer too. That whatever we do, Lord, I want to be found pleasing in your sight. I don't think you'll have a problem with sanctification. I don't think you'll have a problem with holiness. If you would simply say, what would please the Lord? Lord, I want to do what's pleasing in You. Lord, would You enable me and work in me so that what I do is pleasing in Your sight? You see, that's how we please God. God is pleased in all things when we do His will. And God is pleased in all things when we learn to simply trust His work. Last of all, God is pleased in all things when we glorify His name in every single thing we do. Look at verses 21 through 22, just the last part of verse 21. To whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. And I appeal to you, brethren, bear the word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly in a few words. Know that our brother Timothy has been set free, with whom I shall see you if he comes shortly. Greet those who rule over you and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you. Grace be to you all. Amen. Real quickly, let me just show you three things. We need to be glorifying God. That ought to be the passion, the driving passion of our lives and our hearts. We need to glorify God, first of all, by our obedience. Look at verse 22. He says, the writer of Hebrews is saying this, I've given you this brief word of exhortation. Now, it's one of the ways we can tell this guy's a preacher, because it's one of the longer books in the New Testament, and yet he's calling it brief. So we know that he was a preacher. But the reality is here, this brief exhortation, the truth is he could say a whole lot more, couldn't he? And he's saying, look, I've put it to you in a succinct fashion, but the real key is that you'll follow the exhortation that I've given to you. It's the obedience to what has been heard, which pleases God. Not simply that you read the letter of Hebrews, but you take the letter of Hebrews and you'll say, OK, God, what is there in here that is not in my life? I need to obey that. And God will be glorified when you do those things that God has called you to do as you go through not only Hebrews, but other places in the Scripture. In 1 Corinthians 10, verse 31, Paul put it this way. He says, whatever you do, whether you eat or whether you drink, do all to the glory of God. You see, the driving passion of our lives ought to be that God would be glorified. And some people will sit back and say, well, you know, I'm saved. All of my sins are washed away. Even if I don't live for God 100%, I'm still going to heaven. Well, I think we've talked about that a lot in the book of Hebrews. You're going to lose out. You may have the discipline of God in your life now. You'll lose rewards later. But you know what? You're not honoring God now. And you see, God desires that he be glorified and he be honored. And one of the reasons he allows you to stay on this earth is so that you might bring him honor and glory by your life and by your words and by your testimony. And as a result of that, other people might be drawn and attracted to him. And you see, he wants you to glorify him. And you might sit back and say, well, I'm not doing any sin, I'm not committing any sin, I'm just saved, I'm sitting in the pew and I'm satisfied, but I'm not doing anything wrong. Well, I think you are, but you're not committing any gross sin of immorality or anything like that. But you may live a general life, but if you're not glorifying God, God is not pleased with you. And you see, if you're not obeying God in everything that you do, God is not pleased with you. And that's why Paul says, you know, in everything, Glorify God, whether you eat, whether you drink, what are you doing? Are you doing it in such a way that God is honored and God is glorified? The second thing is that we glorify God and bring glory to his name by loving one another. It's interesting in verses 23 and 24, it mentions greeting Timothy and greeting the saints in Italy and it passes greetings back and forth. Frequently in the New Testament, there's this idea of greeting one another, even greeting one another with a holy kiss is mentioned in a number of passages. That's a tradition in the Middle East and the tradition in the Mediterranean world is to greet one another with a holy kiss. But he's simply saying here that Christians ought to demonstrate visible love to one another. That doesn't necessarily mean in America you need to greet each other with a holy kiss, but it means you need to care about one another. And there's tons in the scriptures about loving one another. In fact, Jesus said the one way people will know you're my disciples is if you have love for one another. And we've seen that in the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 10, for example. The need to exhort one another and to care for one another and to assemble together so that we can encourage one another is essential. And we need to love one another. In Hebrews chapter 6, verse 10, he talks about ministering to the needs of the saints. You see, we need to be on the lookout for how can we care for one another as believers in Christ. Why? Not just so needs will be met, but so that God will be honored and God will be glorified. See, that needs to be the driving passion of our lives. that God will be glorified by the way that we love one another. Then the third thing, and the last thing, and then the most important thing, is that God is glorified by grace. God's not glorified by works. He's glorified by grace. You know, it doesn't matter how good your works are. It doesn't glorify God. Grace does. Grace says, Lord, it's you. I depend upon you and what you have done. I trust your work. I'm willing to do your will, but I can only do it if you empower me to accomplish it. And grace simply says, it's all you, Lord. It's not me. That's why he closes out the letter with what most of the New Testament letters are closed with, and that is grace. Because grace is the foundation and the focus of the Christian life. Look at what it says in verse 23. Grace be with you all. Amen. But turn back in chapter 13. If you'll take a look at verse 9. Verse 9, he says, Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines, for it is good that the heart be established by grace. Not with those foods which have not profited those who have been so occupied with them. You see, what is it that is good and pleasing to God? That your heart be established by one thing. By grace. Not by good deeds. Not by doing more than the Christians sitting next to you. But by grace. By saying, Lord, it's all of you and I'm going to trust you. You see, there's this temptation constantly in the Christian life. We come to salvation by grace alone. And there's this temptation to walk away from grace and to say, well, now I need to be made perfect in the flesh. I need to be strengthened by what I do. But it's not about you. It's about Christ. It's about His superiority in our lives. And you see these Jewish Christians, we're very tempted to go back to Jewish rituals and back to Jewish practices. And we're tempted to go back and say, if I do this, then God will be pleased with me. And the writer of Hebrews is saying, no. God's pleased with grace. Not with works, not with deeds, not with rituals, not with sacrifices. He's pleased with grace. And you see, we glorify Him when we rest in grace and when our hearts are established on grace instead of upon all sorts of things that we might do, but established on what Jesus Christ has done for us. You may be here this morning without Christ. I want you to turn your attention back to verse 20 again. We're celebrating the Lord's Supper this morning. And the reason we celebrate the Lord's Supper is a constant reminder that it's all grace. Only grace. That's all it is. And if Jesus Christ hadn't come to this world, hadn't died on a cross, hadn't shed his blood on our behalf, and hadn't been raised from the dead, it wouldn't be grace. It'd still be your own works and your own good deeds trying to get you to heaven. But you know what? All of the good deeds that you would do would be like filthy rags in God's sight. None of them would make you acceptable. But you know what? By God's grace, what Jesus did makes you completely acceptable in God's sight. In verse 20, he says, Now may the God of peace, who brought our Lord Jesus Christ up from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant. You see, that's how a person comes to faith in Christ. Only through Jesus Christ. It's by grace. It's by grace. It's not what you do. It's what Jesus Christ did. He shed his blood to pay for your sins. If you've never come to faith in Christ, we want to urge you this morning. The offer of free grace is there. Christ has shed his blood and invites you to come and receive that grace. And if you're apart from Christ this morning, we'd love to talk to you about how you can be a believer and how you can follow Christ. And if you'd like to talk with me or someone maybe that you came with, we'd love to share with you more about the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, which comes to us through the blood of the everlasting covenant. And this morning, as we share the Lord's Supper together, we want to remind you that it is only by the blood of Jesus Christ that our sins are washed away. So we rejoice this morning as believers in the blood of Jesus Christ. Let's pray together.