Please now turn in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews and chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13, and we are going to read verses 20 and 21. Hebrews chapter 13, and commencing to read at verse 20. Again, please give your careful attention. This is the Word of God. Hebrews 13 at verse 20. Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Amen and amen. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of our God abides forever. A benediction, as we perhaps discovered for the first time last week, is a good word. More specifically in the Bible, a benediction is a blessing. And in particular, often at the end of the New Testament epistles, a benediction is the pronouncement of God's blessing, of peace upon His people. And so, as we come back to these verses, verses 20 and 21 of Hebrews 13, the author here pronounces the divine benediction. He does so upon his congregation, which is centered on Christ and God's eternal covenant, so that the believers may be fully equipped to do God's will, and he concludes then with a doxology. We're going to consider three things this morning. First of all, a Christ-centered blessing. Secondly, the divine equipping. And thirdly, a great doxology. So a Christ-centered blessing, the divine equipping, and a great doxology. So first of all, then, a Christ-centered blessing, verse 20. Christ is at the center of the closing benediction of the book of Hebrews. The author here throughout the book has looked to see the transformed lives of professing believers, that those transformed lives will stand firm in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. But what is the means of that transformation? And what is the means of them standing steadfast in the faith? Probably already facing some measure of persecution and likely facing intensification of that persecution. the means both of their transforming into the ever-increasing conformity to the image of Christ and of them standing fast in the midst of persecution or opposition is the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is through Christ that every spiritual blessing comes to the believer. And so here as the pronouncement of the benediction, the God of peace pronouncing His peace upon His people, it comes to them through Jesus Christ. He is at the center of this blessing. Notice how the author here says that Jesus is the great shepherd of the sheep, verse 20. Hence it is only by being in Christ and by being a part of the flock that he shepherds that anyone can receive the blessings of God's salvation, the blessings of the God of peace. For this great shepherd shed his blood and laid down his life," for whom? For his sheep. The Lord Jesus himself says that in his own words, recorded by John in his gospel. John 10 verse 11 and verses 14 through 16, he repeats it. I am the good shepherd. I lay down my life for my sheep, he said. He does that to obtain for them eternal redemption and to establish with them the eternal covenant that God had promised. And so it was by, or perhaps we might also say through, the blood of the eternal covenant, the author says here, that God brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus." Verse 20. And so we see it is through Christ that God makes covenant with believers and through no one else. Of course, this is the consistent testimony of the Bible, Old Testament and New Testament. The prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, through them God announced His great plan and purpose to establish an everlasting covenant with His people. Isaiah 55 verse 3, Jeremiah 32 verse 40, Ezekiel 16 verse 60, and many other texts beside. You may recall when we went through our sermon series in the book of Zechariah, it may seem a long time ago now. But in that great prophecy of Zechariah, a messianic prophecy of the coming of Zion's great king, the one who entered Jerusalem on a donkey, Zechariah 9.9, and of course fulfilled and reported by Matthew in his gospel, Matthew 21 verse 5. In that prophecy of Zion's coming king, God promised his people deliverance. And how would that come? Because of the blood of my covenant, God says. Zechariah 9 verse 11. And so two major themes dominate the epistle to the Hebrews. One is the high priestly work of Christ, and that's summarized for us here in that one little word, blood, in the blood. The other great theme is God's covenant, the covenant that is eternal, by the blood of the eternal covenant, the author says in verse 20. So, here in this verse, once again, and for the last time, in his, what he often calls, brief word of exhortation, in his short sermon. But once again, and for the last time, these two themes are highlighted. The high priestly work of Christ and God's eternal covenants that will remain forever. Covenants seal with Christ's blood shed once for all." Hebrews 9.26 and Hebrews 10.10. The new covenant in Jesus' blood, which the author of Hebrews dwelt upon in a great thematic chapter of Hebrews 8. That great covenant is eternal. therefore, its benefits. What are the benefits of God's eternal covenant for His people? Forgiveness of sins, sanctification by the Holy Spirit, fellowship with God last forever. It's an eternal covenant, and therefore, so are the benefits of that covenant. Now verse 20 here focuses directly upon Christ's work upon the cross, even according to that covenant in fulfillment of that eternal covenant. It was through the shedding of His blood that Christ fulfilled His part of the covenant. having first appeared as a spotless lamb, as was required, perfect without blemish, and therefore qualified to offer himself as a substitute for others." One commentator, I think, rightly says, the book of Hebrews is soaked in the blood of Christ. And so a great part of the author's teaching here in this book has to do with the unique and saving efficacy of the blood of the Son of God. Remember how again and again he points to Christ and His work as being superior to the mere signs and symbols of the offering of the blood of bulls and goats in the old covenants. how the blood of Christ far surpasses and how it fulfills the meaning of the blood of the sacrifices of the Old Testament. Those that had to be offered daily, day after day after day, Christ comes and fulfills once and for all. So again, the author here wants to remind us, how does Christ save His people? We're thinking in our Sunday school hour again of the great role as Christ the mediator of God's eternal covenants. Well, how exactly does He save a sinner in His office as mediator? The author answers us here, perhaps not exhaustively. There's certainly more that could be said from the parts of Scripture, but he gives a sufficient answer here. He does not save us by setting a moral example. He does not save us by simply enlightening our minds with some great teaching and philosophy, that if you will but follow it, then you will find salvation. one commentator puts it, he says he does not even do it by seizing power to implement a better political agenda. He doesn't save sinners by any of these ways. How does Jesus save a sinner? A sinner like you and me this morning, We've read it already in Hebrews 13 at verse 12. Jesus suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. That's how he saves. By being a substitute. the place of sinners, by paying the price that is demanded by God's holy law for lawbreakers and rebels like you and me. And the price is His own blood, which pays in full. Now many today, and perhaps you might be one of them here this morning, reject the idea, you find the very idea repulsive that God would require the shedding of blood in order to accomplish redemption for sinners. You say, you know, I can live with if He just comes and tells me how to do it myself. You know, I wouldn't really object if He became my life coach, and I need a little bit of assistance in regard to these things. I wouldn't even object if he was kind of a revolutionary and kind of set an agenda in this world that would fit with what I think. But I will not accept that he came to shed his own blood, that God would require that if any sinner was to be saved. Now some of us might be squeamish at the sight of blood. Some are, and some are not, and some are somewhere in between. You might be one of those who even with the slightest minor cut you're almost fainting at the sight of blood. There are others perhaps by disposition or perhaps by their training of what they're required to do, particularly if you're occupied in the medical field, particularly if you think about those who are involved in very invasive surgery. If you've got an aversion to blood, that's never going to work out very well in that calling for you. And so, some are able to do that and are not squeamish and fainting. Whatever your natural disposition is, that's not the issue here. That's not what makes it offensive, the message of the cross and the shed blood of Jesus Christ to save sinners. What makes the atonement difficult and offensive is that people flinch, they draw back from, they repel the very idea that God would require this in order to accomplish salvation for sinners like you and me. Now we have to say it is a very serious thing when you see the shedding of blood. It's not a matter of indifference. It's not a light thing. We should never find that ordinary or something that would be a subject of amusement to us or frivolity. One commentator says, quote, there's hardly a more arresting sight than that of human blood being spilled. That is true. And yet, we are concerned here not just with the idea of blood, whether it be from a minor cut or a major injury. We're concerned here with the shedding of the blood of God's own Son, the shedding of His precious blood. Is that truly necessary if a sinner is to be saved? Well, here as we come to our text, and as we read it in the context of all of Scripture, we find it is with the shedding of His own Son's precious blood that God makes His most important and essential and final words to this world about His salvation. These are statements we must hear, and these are statements which we must believe. if we are ever to come to know Jesus Christ as our Savior. What has God said concerning this matter? Well, first of all, the shed blood of Christ shows God's holy judgment on sin. That's what it shows us. It is only when we see the blood of the Son of God spelled shed upon the earth, that we can comprehend anything of the sinfulness of our sin. Did you know that? Did you understand that? J.C. Ryle put it this way. He says, quote, "'Terribly black must that guilt be, for which nothing but the blood of the Son of God could make satisfaction.'" End quote. Why is it necessary for the shedding of the blood of the Son of God? Because nothing else will pay penalty for that sin. Nothing else. Not your blood, not my blood, but the blood of the Son of God's. Therefore, we get a sense it teaches us. This is God's Word, His statement, His declaration about sin. even in that event of the death of His Son. Let me try and put it as reverently as I can. Do you really think that God would have His Son shed His own blood if it was not necessary? Do you really think so? He did not. John Murray in his great book, Redemption Accomplished and Applied, says that it is consequently absolutely necessary. And meaning by that, he means that did God have to save anybody? Did Jesus have to come to shed his blood for anybody? Was he obligated to any sinner to do that? Answer, no, he was not. But if he were to save any of us, it was absolutely necessary. There was no other way, because this was the price, and only He could pay it in His own blood. The shed blood of Christ shows us God's holy judgment on our sin, that God would demand and nothing else would be satisfactory. Secondly, the blood of Christ shows us yet the great magnitude of God's love for sinners like you and me. Again, let me read from one of the commentators. He says, quote, the measure of love is how much it gives, and the measure of the love of God is the gift of His only Son, to be made man and to die for sins. and so to become the one mediator who can bring us to God." Isn't that what the Apostle John says? Here in His love, where, John? Not that we love God, he says, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins. Or Paul writing to the Romans, God demonstrates his own love for us in this. In what, Paul? Well then, you know, when we kind of tidied our lives up a bit, made ourselves respectable and presentable to God, is that when God demonstrated his love to us? Absolutely not. What does Paul say? God demonstrated his own love to us in this, while we were yet sinners. lawbreakers, rebels, guilty, condemned. Christ died for us, he tells the believers in Rome. The blood of Christ, the shedding of the blood of the eternal Son of God shows the great magnitude of God's love for sinners. And then thirdly, The blood of Christ proclaims that God is not distant and removed from our world. Many believe that. They've believed it in the past. They believe it in the present. They think God is a very distant God. God is a great Creator, but He's like that clockmaker. He makes the clock, He winds it up in its mechanical mechanism, and He just leaves it to run according to the design and pattern of the clock. God is distant from us, removed from us, not really concerned. about our wars fast bound in nature's night, as Wesley would put it, dead in our trespasses and sins. The blood of Christ, brethren, declares and proclaims to us that God is not that. Again, let me read to you from one of the commentators. Quote, God has done the most astonishing thing We want a divine wave of the wand to take our troubles all away. But God, whose holiness makes such a farce unthinkable, demanding a full accounting for our sin, has himself come into our world to personally deal with sin and death." End quote. Whatever you may think about the God of the Bible this morning, then we dare not say that He is removed and does not care about sinners and their plight in misery and woe. God has done an astonishing thing. Did He have to? Absolutely. No, He did not. But if He were to save anybody, did He absolutely have to become incarnate and shed His own blood upon the cross? Yes, He did. And He has done that. Sometimes we want God to be, as I've said through the years, to be that cosmic butler. Just there ready for when we pull the bell in our on-edge room, in our big home, with all of the pleasures that we would desire. But we're finite, we can't do everything, particularly the menial things we don't want to do. Or sometimes we get ourselves into some trouble that we can't get ourselves out of. And then we want to pull that bell, and we want God to turn up at our word and convenience and wave, as the commentator says, the divine wand to take all of our difficulties and problems and troubles away. I think the commentator is right, isn't he, when he says, but God, whose holiness makes such a farce unthinkable. God is not the cosmic butler just waiting for you to call. He is the three times holy God of heaven. And yet, God so loved the world that He gave His one and only begotten Son, that whosoever, do you hear me? Whosoever, believes in Him, might not perish, but have everlasting life. I'm not asking you to shout out, but does anyone want to make a case that whosoever doesn't include you this morning? That's what the word means. It means whosoever. That means you, and the person next to you, and the person in front of you, and the person behind you. Everybody who hears this gospel call, whosoever believes in Him, might not perish, but have everlasting life. If you will repent and believe this morning, God promises to you, because of the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ, shed upon the cross in full penalty payment, will forgive your sins and grant you the gift of eternal life. And so in the light of the cross of Christ, the accusation that God is far off and aloof from the reality of this world, not just an error, it is that, but it's blasphemy. Do you see what you're saying to God? He has come into this world. He became incarnate in the second person of the Holy Trinity. He came to do all that was necessary and did do that to save sinners like you and me. And you want to say God does not care about sinners. He's distant. He's aloof. He has no concern. It's not just error, it's blasphemy. To so malign and slight revelation of God, the promise of God, the purpose of God. One commentator puts it like this, he says, quote, "'For the cross displays God's involvement in this world in a way that is not only far greater than we could demand, but is far more gracious than we could ever imagine.' He goes on to say, quote, God made a covenant far off in eternity that His will would be done. But He also entered into our world in the person of His Son, spilling His own blood and taking death unto Himself that He might seek and save those who were lost, end quote. God still does that in the great day of His salvation. He's doing that today. He's doing that this morning in the preaching of His good news gospel, seeking and saving those who are lost. If you do not know Jesus Christ this morning, come to Him. You cannot accuse God of being distant and removed. You cannot assert that God does not love sinners, for He's done everything necessary to save them. But you must accept that He is a holy God, and by nature you are a guilty sinner and need that salvation, and that there is salvation to be found in no other name than that name which is given unto heaven, which is His Son Jesus Christ. Come to Him whilst you may. His salvation is freely offered to you upon the condition of repentance and faith in the One that He has sent." Well, then that brings us in the second place to the divine equipping, verse 21. The first part of the benediction here in verse 20 is a summary of what God has done in His Son Jesus Christ. The second part here in verse 21a reveals what God is doing in those people that He has saved through His Son. First here the author speaks of God equipping believers to do His will. Now earlier, the author encouraged believers to live that life that's pleasing to God. Hebrews 13, verses 15 and 16. But as we saw then, we see again here, they must look to God for His help, His direction, His wisdom, His enabling, His power, if they are to live such a God-pleasing life. But, because of this eternal covenant, in the blood of the Lord Jesus. God has made with believers in Christ that covenant to grant them everything that they need to do what He commands and wills. You know sometimes how frustrating it can be, whether it's a parent to a child, whether it's a boss to an employee, when you're asked to do something that you're just not able to do. And somehow the person asking you doesn't understand, doesn't get. You know, I'm just not able to do it. I understand what you're requiring of me, but I'm not able. We can frustrate our children very, very easily by doing that, can't we? As employees, if you've got a boss like that, they're very difficult to, you know, almost like, well, I don't care. Don't give me problems. Give me solutions. Just do it. Well, you know, I'm not trained to do that. I'm not qualified to do that. I'm not certified to do that. I don't care about that. Just get it done. That can cause great frustrations, can't it, in various spheres of our lives. But God is not like that. He's not like that parent who exasperates a child. He's not like that boss who frustrates their employee, because for what God requires, He equips and enables His people so to do. And then the author then pronounces that God works in us, you see. It's not that just He has put some natural ability inside us to do these things. The ability to do it comes from God working within us. He works in believers to do that which pleases Him, the author says here. This God equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Of course, that echoes some very familiar words of the Apostle Paul. We may know them perhaps better than we know Hebrews 13, 21. Philippians 2, 12, and 13, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. There is our responsibility. There is God's requirement for those who are united to Christ by faith. Paul goes on, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Same thing here in Hebrews. May this God equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight. The author here is at great pains to spell out that it's only through Jesus Christ that God Himself works in us and equips us to do His will. There's no other alternative way to that. There's no kind of a la carte menu. that you may find in your favorite restaurant where you say, well, you know, I'd prefer that for dinner tonight. And perhaps whoever's gone with you, your spouse, your children, the family members, they go, well, you know, I don't fancy that. I'm going to have this. You don't get an a la carte choice in this. If you would know God working in you to do that which pleases Him, then it's only through Jesus Christ. But here's God's great promise. the receiving of His blessing comes the enabling to do that which He requires of us, and that is to walk in a manner worthy, as Paul would say, of the calling that we have received. But brothers and sisters, we have no excuse. We cannot bleat that God is asking us to do something which He does not enable us to do. Do you see? therefore, what are we to do? Plead the promise of God first. We don't go out on our own strength. Well, I can do this. I got this. I understand this. I can do it. We pray, Lord, help me. You have promised that you will work in me. You have promised that you will equip me. And in that strength, whatever may come my way, I will seek by your grace and by your assistance and by your enabling to live a life that is pleasing to you." Well, and thirdly, we come to a great doxology. We find this in verse 21b, the end of verse 21. Here the great benediction becomes a great doxology. What's a doxology? It's a song of praise. That makes a fitting climax here to everything, not only that we've been thinking about in this benediction, not only in this chapter in chapter 13, but for the whole of the book of Hebrews. Speaking of this one, Christ the mediator, Christ the great high priest, what does the author say? To whom be glory forever and ever. Amen, he says. It's a fitting way to end, isn't it? The book of Hebrews has its great theme, the superiority, the surpassing greatness of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. It is that great theme that it is He and He alone who can bring us to God. Therefore, this great doxology, it is appropriate that praise be given to Him. How does it fit into the context? Well, let's back up and see. Back to verse 20. That speaks of Christ's blood as the source of our salvation. It is from Jesus Christ that we gain all these blessings from God. Verse 21a tells us that Christians will be empowered to serve and please God through Jesus Christ. The one who is the great shepherd, the one who is the great leader, the one who is the great forerunner that's gone ahead of us, but will bring us most certainly to the glories of heaven above. And then, in the very last words of the benediction here, they tell us that this is also to Jesus Christ, who as God incarnate is the rightful recipient of all of our worship and praise. As we seek to draw to a close this morning, the opening verses of the book of Hebrews made the point that God's final and ultimate revelation to man is through His Son. Remember Hebrews 1, 1 through 3? God at various times in various ways in the past made known, revealed Himself through the prophets. But now, in this last time, He has revealed Himself, revealed Himself consummately in the most consummate, final way, complete way through His Son Jesus Christ, the One who in His resurrection has been given that place which is above every other place, that throne above every other throne, that name above every other name. He's received that supremacy over all things in His great ascension. having accomplished salvation. And so, since the Son is the revelation of the Father, it is not to steal praise from God the Father, as some allege, to worship the Son. We are, in fact, when we worship the Son, doing what pleases the Father. We are, in fact, worshiping in the way that we have been told to worship. We worship the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our great forefather, Jeremiah Burroughs, great Puritan, said this, quote, "'Jesus Christ is the altar upon whom all our spiritual sacrifices are to be offered. From Him, to Him, through Him are all things. John Owen put it like this, quote, the Father communicates all His love to us through Christ, and we pour out our love to the Father only through Christ. Christ is the priest into whose hand we put all the offerings that we wish to give to the Father, end quote. God the Father's first and chief love is His one and only begotten Son. He loves His Son both as His own delight from all of eternity in that unique relationship of Father to Son in the Holy Trinity, but He also loves His Son as the one who was appointed to be the mediator of this eternal covenant. He loves Him as the one who brings sinners like us to Him, reconciled at peace through His blood. And therefore, it's God's chief delight that worship should be given to His Son by His people. both for who He is and for what He has done. What we were thinking in our Sunday school hour as the person of Christ and the works of Christ. All of our salvation and all of our worship are from Him, through Him, and to Him, all to the glory of God the Father. And so may we worship Him, even as He has commanded, by the help of His Spirit. Amen. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for this great benediction pronounces blessing that comes even only in and through Christ, even through the blood of your eternal covenant. We pray that you would increase our understanding, and we pray that through it then you would enable us, even through our great Mediator Christ. to live those lives that please you. Enable us and work in us to that great end. And we pray that we might return praise and honor and glory even to Jesus Christ. We pray, O Lord, that to Christ. Be glory forever and ever. So help us, we pray. Amen.