Please turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Hebrews, chapter 13. We'll look at the final verses of the book of Hebrews for this morning, verses 18 to 25. If you're using the Pew Bible, that's on page 949. 949 in the Pew Bible. Hebrews 13. Verses 18 to 25. Let's begin with verse 18. Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience desiring to act honorably in all things. I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner. 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 we glory forever and ever. Amen. I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly You should know that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon. Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings. Grace be with you all. Let's pray. Father, as we conclude this wonderful book of Hebrews this morning, we want to give you thanks for the rich truths that have come to us through it. And we do pray now, Lord, that as we concluded that what we've gone over will not be lost from our hearts and minds and what we conclude with now would remain with us. And we ask, Father, that you would be well pleased to grant us your Holy Spirit so that we would live out of these great truths and that we would be more firm in our commitment to the gospel. and to the Lord Jesus Christ as a result of having worked through this book together. We pray, Father, please hear us, be gracious to us today. As we look to the end of this book, we pray in Christ's name. Amen. Having worked through the final exhortations and commands given here in chapter 13 of Hebrews, this morning we conclude the epistle by considering the author's closing plea, his benediction, and final greetings. And so we'll work through each of those three things as we conclude. First, we look at his closing plea in verses 18 through 19. He says, pray for us for we are sure that we have a clear conscience desiring to act honorably in all things. I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order that I may be restored to you the sooner. It always strikes me to find those who have written the New Testament epistles pleading for their readers to pray for them. The apostle Paul does this on several occasions in his epistles, and while we are not certain who the author of this epistle is, it certainly contains the theology of Paul, and it is consistent with the teaching of Paul in his epistles. Needless to say, the great apostles and spiritual leaders of the early church saw themselves not as spiritual giants, but rather as vessels of clay used by the Holy Spirit who desperately needed a constant flow of grace of God to persevere. And to this end, they knew very well that the prayers of God's people would ensure that they would receive a constant flow of this grace of God. They knew that God would use the prayers of the people to strengthen them. They didn't see themselves as the spiritual giants that we see them as. And the specific content of this particular request really hits home for me personally, and I believe it ought to hit home for all pastors and those in leadership, especially when we consider how many good men have fallen even in recent times. Let us then consider the subject of the author's request for prayer here. There are two parts. to this request of prayer. The second has more to do with his desire to be restored to his readers, and so there's a very practical sense of this prayer that he'd like to see there, and we'll talk about that as well. But let's consider both of these portions respectively. First, notice again, he says, pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience desiring to act honorably in all things. And so we notice first that the author pleads for his readers. Remember, his readers are struggling. His readers are wavering. His readers, to some extent, are teetering even on the edge of apostasy. And yet he appeals to these leaders. He pleads for them to pray, he says, for us. for us. Now the plural here is telling, isn't it? The plural that he uses here. This would assume that the author here is speaking on behalf of all of the leaders, of apostles, of church planters, of leaders of missionaries, of those who were serving in positions of leadership amongst the churches. Those who were in positions of authority and leadership. Again, he knows that those in positions of authority are not beyond the need of prayer, and in fact, they all the more desperately need prayer as the enemy has his sights very intently fixed on them. The enemy is after the enemy. those who are in these positions of leadership. Why? Because he knows that if he can cause them to stumble, then he can cause extensive waves of damage to ripple through all of the churches that have been taught and influenced by them. Imagine what it would have been like if the Apostle Paul had been, had fallen into adultery. or fornication or some kind of heresy, the damage that that could have done to the churches. And notice then the specific nature of the request. While they are sure that they have a clear conscience concerning how they have conducted themselves among the churches, they have a clear conscience, it is their desire to consistently and perpetually act honorably in all things. So up to the present, they feel like how they've been dealing with the churches, even how the author here has written this letter, that they've acted in an honorable way, that their conscience is clear, but they're concerned that they would be consistent and that they would act honorably in all things at all times going forward as well. They didn't hang their hats on past faithfulness and accomplishments. In other words, in all places and at all times, they desire to properly represent Christ acting in a way that would not bring reproach to his name. And to this end, they knew that they were prone at any given moment to fall short in this regard. Then the Apostle Paul even say to the Corinthians how he buffeted himself. It was like he was sparring with his own flesh so that he would not fall into sin. He had to fight against his own flesh, the Apostle Paul. Many moral and heretical traps set by the enemy could easily lead them astray, leading them to tarnish their ministry in such a way that the word of God would be hindered as their lives failed to live up to the message that they had preached. And so they sought prayer in this regard, that their lives would honor and reflect the very word that they taught and preached to the churches. To be sure, the author has faithfully written this very letter as a means of bringing about the necessary correction that would restore those among his readers who have begun to go astray. In doing this, his conscience was clear as a faithful servant and watchman and steward of God called to steer the churches in the right direction and all the more as they were tempted to turn away from the gospel. Such a task can be very difficult, of course, as we know that it can rock the boat, it can ruffle feathers, but a good steward must overcome the fear of man and be willing to speak the truth even when it comes back to hurt them in some temporal way in this world. And so the author desired that his readers would not only respond well to his correction and his rebukes, that they would return to the right path, but furthermore that they would even pray that he and his co-laborers would continue to exercise such faithful ministerial oversight in all cases while conducting themselves in a way that would adorn their ministry with a consistent testimony of faithfulness to Christ. And so this is the first portion of his prayer request. And brethren, as you've heard me plead on several occasions, please continue to pray for me in these regards. The fear of man is a bane to my soul. And it is only by the grace of God that I can remain faithful in seeking to speak the truth to the body here in love And especially in a private context, that becomes more challenging. But I need to be able to do that. It's so much easier to bring general exhortations and charges from the pulpit. But it is my responsibility as well to bring private charges and exhortations. And that is not so easy. And furthermore, I am always prone to wander and in need of grace from our great God, who is able to keep me from stumbling and to present me faultless before His presence and His glory with exceeding joy. Any pastor or church leader that is worth his salt knows full well that he is but dust and constantly, desperately in need of daily grace to persevere and finish well. Any pastor that really knows the truth about his own weakness and his own tendencies will pray or will ask the people of God to pray in such a way as this. And then secondly, the second part of his prayer, he says, I urge you the more earnestly to do this, that is to pray, in order that I may be restored to you the sooner, verse 19. And so here the author also pleads with his readers to pray for him earnestly, right, fervently to pray for him that he might be restored to them sooner. Clearly, we find then that the author was separated from his readers by distance, and he was unable to come to them at this time, but he had hoped to be able to get to them soon. Now, there could be various reasons for this separation. He may have been in prison, at least for a time, for the sake of the gospel, and had hoped to be released, to come to them again, or he may have been recently released. There's some indication, at least, that persecution has been what's kept him from coming to them. We'll see that, I believe, implied in verse 23. And while we cannot be absolutely certain, if this also can indicate that the Apostle Paul is the one who's behind, in some sense, the writing of this letter, as we know that he was persecuted and that he was under house arrest and had faced much opposition. Whatever the case, by way of application, we do find that the prayers of God's people are effectively used by God to bring about the unfolding of His will in all of the practical steps that are to be taken by those who seek to faithfully serve Him. So we find two kinds of prayer here. The first is more of a spiritual prayer in the sense of keeping Him honorable before God, that His integrity would remain intact. But then there's also practical things that he asks for prayer in as well. Things that have to do with practical movements in the gospel. This is why we pray for specific prayer requests that are given to us by missionaries, usually on Sunday nights when we have our Bible study. We pray for some missionaries or pastors or church leaders and why we pray for all of the people of God relating to practical means of overcoming obstacles that seem to hinder us from doing the work that we desire to do unto the Lord. And while we know that God providentially ordains all things, even the imprisonment and the trials that come upon His people, God ordains all things, we know that. We also know that He removes the very obstacles that He ordains for good in His perfect time and by the means of the prayers of His people. So we don't want to say, well, God has ordained that this person will be in prison or go through this kind of suffering at this time. That's true. And we want God to accomplish his sanctifying purpose in that. But at the same time, we want to remember that God uses our prayers to lift up those burdens and to bring them out of those kinds of trials as well. And so praying in both senses is important. In other words, brethren, our prayers count. Our prayers matter and it ought to encourage us all the more to value the importance of our corporate and private times of prayer. What we do on Wednesday evenings is important, is significant to God. And it takes faith to believe that. Because from our standpoint, it's just a group of us huddled together, and some on Zoom, and we stutter, and we struggle with our prayers, we're not perfect in them, and we don't necessarily see the fruit of our prayers. But we have to, by faith, believe that God is using those prayers effectually to unfold His will in this world. Well then, secondly, We have considered first the closing plea. Secondly, move on to the closing benediction. The apostle gives as well a closing benediction here. You'll notice in verses 20 and 21. 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. Brethren, as we read this benediction, and every week I read generally the benediction from Jude at the end of our service, we find that the benedictions of Scripture are so precious, not only because they are proclaimed as blessings upon the people of God, or invoking God, as it were, to bless His people, but also, these benedictions are often rich in theology, aren't they? they're rich in theology. And so I want to examine this benediction with you before we move on to the author's final greetings and conclude this letter. Particularly relevant for the Hebrews, who were teetering again on the edge of apostasy and in danger of turning away from Christ, the author expresses his desire for God, he invokes God as it were, to bless them out of the resources that God has stored up for his people in Christ. And as we consider this blessing brethren, we note the following things about the way it is constructed. First, we're given a description about the fountain that is the blesser out of which this blessing comes. So we're going to talk about first the one who Paul invokes to give the blessing. Second, we're given the source out of which this fountain draws power to issue forth this blessing. So the blesser blesses by drawing from a particular source. Third, we're given the actual blessing itself. What is the blessing? We're given the blessing. And then finally, lastly, we're given the ultimate end which this blessing brings about. And so let us consider each of these parts to this benediction in turn. First, we consider the fountain of the blessing. That is the blesser. That is the one who the author is invoking here. Who does the author appeal to, to initiate and provide this blessing for his readers? Notice, now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep. And so here we find that the fountain of this blessing, that is the blesser, is the God of peace. So here the author highlights one of the particular glorious attributes of God. He could have said the God of righteousness, the God of wrath, the God of grace, right? A lot of good things we can say about God, but in this particular context, The author highlights one of the particular glorious attributes of God, which the author utilizes as a means of rightly labeling God in such a way that would assure his readers of the natural inclination of God to bring about the blessing. In other words, he's labeling God in such a way that would tell his readers that God is very inclined to bring the blessing that he is invoking God for on their behalf. And every blessing, for that matter, not just this one. God is the God of peace. He is a God who, although he is holy and righteous and wrathful against sin, goes to great and profound lengths to secure peace with sinners. And from the beginning, when our first parents rebelled against God in the garden, and incurred the righteous wrath of God against them who had pronounced that death would come to them if they ate of the fruit. When they had sinned and brought God's judgment and condemnation down upon them and the entire human race through them, God had immediately act to bring about a true pardon and reconciliation. He worked toward peace, right? from the outset and did the unthinkable to procure and secure that peace. God is inclined to initiate and secure peace with those who have offended and fostered enmity with Him. And all the more, He continues to initiate, offer, and bring about peace with and to those who are in covenant with Him when they yet sin against Him." See, if God did that in a general sense, He took a posture of seeking peace when Adam and Eve had sinned, how much all the more Does God show himself peaceful to those who are in covenant with him? He provides a perpetual avenue of peace and restoration for his people who still sin against him. And wouldn't that be the temptation for the Hebrews to think, look at what we've done already. Look at the warnings in this book. Look at how we've already begun to go astray. What hope do we have? to come back to this God, but He is a God of peace, and that's why the author invokes God as the God of peace, to bless them in this way. And God is not only inclined to initiate and bring about peace with those who offend Him, but furthermore, He exhibits His ability to legally procure that peace by the fact that He powerfully raised the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, which he says here. The God of peace, who raised up again the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. God exhibits his power to bring peace, to initiate and procure peace, by raising Christ from the dead. Jesus Christ is God's means of securing peace with sinners. And God raised him from the dead unto the accomplishment of this great end. Jesus became a curse for us. And bearing that curse, he became the object of God's holy and righteous wrath. And the indication that Christ had legally and entirely dealt with the sins of his people is proven by the fact that God had raised him from the dead. that great shepherd of the sheep who gathers those who have gone astray. The Lord Jesus Christ, our blessed and glorious shepherd, was raised up by the God of peace. And so this same God, who is both the God of peace and the one who powerfully raised Jesus up from the dead, is the fountain. He is the blesser whom the author invokes unto the blessing of his readers. But then secondly, Notice the source out of which this fountain, this blesser, draws power to issue forth the blessing. So God is a God of peace who raised Jesus from the dead again and he draws though, he draws from a source so that he can bless his people. Notice, 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. What then is the source out of which God draws power to bless his people? How does a holy and a righteous God bless those who are sinful? by the blood of the eternal covenant. Our holy and righteous God, who is the God of peace, and who raised up Jesus, our shepherd from the dead, issues forth His blessing through the blood of the eternal covenant. What blood? What eternal covenant? It's the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, whose blood was shed, whose life was given as a means of bringing about full pardon from sins, and reconciliation with God for all who are united to Him by faith. And what covenant? It is the eternal covenant. It is the eternal covenant of grace whereby God always relates to all who are joined to Christ by faith that as to all who have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, He relates to them in a favorable way, such that those who were once worthy of His wrath have become objects of His perpetual blessing. It is an eternal covenant. Isn't that a wonderful term? The eternal covenant. In the context of Hebrews, how powerful that would be. It is an eternal covenant as opposed to a temporal one. Because in Christ and his gospel covenant, unlike the old covenant, there is no imperfection or lack. And therefore, every blessing promised in it is secured and guaranteed by Christ, His life, and is sacrificed by a person who already came, by actions that had already taken place, and by a resurrection that affirmed all of those things. The covenant cannot be broken because Christ has already fulfilled it perfectly on behalf of his people and that is why it's an eternal covenant. They merely remain recipients of the covenant and recipients of constant and unending grace in that covenant as long as they remain in Christ who procured it to the full. And so by these means, by the pure and perfect shed blood of Christ's pure and perfect offering, which has ratified and enacted an eternal unbreakable covenant, God draws forth all power to freely bless his people. And so the author offers a benediction, appealing to the God of peace, who draws from the blood of an eternal covenant to bring about a particular blessing. Well, what then is the specific blessing which he calls for, which he invokes God for? This God of peace, drawing from this covenant. Notice, next, continuing on, thirdly, May the God of peace, by those means, equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ. And so here then is the blessing, that God would provide them with every good resource enabling them to do His will. And here, once again, brethren, we find that we not only draw the blessing of salvation from God's free grace, that's true, but furthermore, we draw the ability to fulfill God's will for us entirely by His grace as well. We draw from the same well. In other words, every good thing that we need for our sanctification, for our ability to effectively serve Christ in his church, for our ability to persevere each and every day, for our ability to do anything at any given moment that would bring glory to God, we need God's constant providential aid to do anything. We are called to act. We are called to cooperate in our sanctification. But everything we need, every resource comes from God. That's why Augustine said, right, that he would ask, that whatever God would ask him to do, he'll do, but to give him whatever he asked him to do, because he knew it had to come from God. He provides both the resources for everything that we would do to please him, and the strength to make good use of those resources at the same time. So he doesn't only give us the resources, he also gives us the strength and the ability to use those resources. To this end, We are completely helpless and useless in any spiritual sense, apart from God's ongoing intentional assistance. And that is why we pray continuously for God to grant us His Holy Spirit. Isn't that what it says in Ephesians chapter 2? We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. as the Apostle Paul states. And we work out of salvation with fear and trembling because it is God who works in us to will and to do according to His good pleasure. And so this benediction is an invoking of God to do in us that which is pleasing in his sight. And this, of course, is always done through Jesus Christ, through every spiritual blessing that is given us through Christ, by virtue of his righteous life, his glorious sacrifice, his resurrection, his high priestly mediation, and our union with him unto the receiving of the benefit of all of these by faith. we are in an eternal covenant cut by the blood of Christ. And so the blessing is that God would equip them with everything good that would enable them to do his will as he works in them all that is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ. And notice, fourthly, in looking at this benediction, the last portion of it, We have seen already, right, what the blessing is. We have seen who the one is who blesses, right, who is the blesser. We've seen the source that he draws from to bless. We have seen what the blessing is, but then notice, the ultimate end which this blessing brings about, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever, amen. There's the ultimate end. as the God of peace who raised Jesus from the dead, as He by the blood of the covenant equips us with everything good to fulfill the will of God. All of this is to the glory of Jesus Christ forever and ever. Amen. As God provides us with everything that we need, brethren, to fulfill His perfect will and to finish the race, the end result is that Christ is glorified forever. It's a wonderful thing. that we are recipients of such profound grace, and that we will be perfected, and that as Christ is, we will be like Him, morally perfected, and that we will be in glory forever and ever, and that we have eternal life, but it doesn't end there. It ends in Christ being glorified forever. and ever. As God provides us with everything we need, the end result is that Christ is glorified. In and by the power and work of Christ, a sinful people are restored to God and suited to conquer all opposition of the world, the flesh, and the devil, leaning to the eternal praise of Christ, who accomplished so marvelous, perfect, and complete a redemption that eternity itself will never suffice to diminish his praise for even a single moment. He will always be worthy of praise. Can you imagine something with that kind of effect? We know, we watch baseball, Jeff and I try to follow the Yankees, and they're out now, but we know that even when the Yankees win a World Series, which they've won many, it doesn't carry over into the years to come. You want to see them win again and again. These things, in this life, whatever we see, whatever we watch, all of them have a term of limitation where the effects of it run out after a while. Christ will be glorified because of his plan of salvation and redeeming us forever and ever without end. And all of the redeemed and every heavenly and angelic being will sing his praises forever unto the acknowledgement of this great end. And that's why he says, amen, truly, let it be so. Well finally, thirdly then, we have considered the closing plea, we have considered a closing benediction. Let us look lastly at his final greeting, very briefly, his final greeting. in verses 22 to 25. Notice what he says, I appeal to you brothers, bear with my word of exhortation for I have written to you briefly. You should know that our brother Timothy has been released with whom I shall see you if he comes soon. Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy, send you greetings. Grace be with all of you. And that is the book of Hebrews. And so we conclude the book of Hebrews then by briefly commenting on each of these concluding four verses. First, he says, I appeal to you brothers, bear with my word of exhortation for I've written to you briefly. Here the author simply makes a final appeal for his readers to give heed to his exhortation. He says, bear with me, and we know that that's because it's his desire to lovingly redirect them on the right course as they have been in danger of going astray. to be sure these kinds of confrontations can be difficult and injurious to the pride. But they are ultimately for the benefit of those receiving the correction. And so this concluding appeal is simply a means of nudging his readers to accept the correction with the utmost sincerity of concern. The matter is vitally important, but he does it in a spirit of gentleness at the same time. He says, bear with me in this correction. The author is only doing what is essential and necessary for their good. And while the letter will sting at times, and we have seen that, especially in consideration of some of the stern warnings that we have gone over together, that sting is good and unto the spiritual preservation of those who read the letter. Again, such is the heart of a true church leader or pastor toward the sheep. Having to bring forth the truth, even when it stings, but also doing it in a way of love with a gentle spirit. Secondly, he says, you should know that our brother Timothy has been released with whom I shall see you if he comes soon. So here the author mentions Timothy. We know who this man is, this young man. And we find that Timothy had just been released from prison. and with whom the author had planned to visit the Hebrews as soon as they were able. Now this may indicate that either the author was recently imprisoned himself, as Timothy was, or at the least he had been waiting for Timothy to get released so that they could visit the brethren once Timothy came to where they were staying. So he might have been released at this point, but they were waiting for Timothy to get released so that they could go to see these brethren. Well, to this end, brethren, we do know that the author was someone who served alongside of Timothy, which could be the Apostle Paul, it could be Luke, it could be Silas, or one of the other brothers who traveled with him. Whoever it was, was heavily influenced by the Apostle Paul. We know that much. But it probably was one of those men if it was not the Apostle Paul himself. Thirdly, he says, greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings. And so here the author gives his final greetings to his readers and to their leaders, clearly indicating that he's writing to a group that belongs to a church populated probably heavily by Jews based on the nature of this letter, but the fact that he speaks of their leaders there as well. And we also have further insight given concerning the location within which the author was currently residing. That's helpful. He was writing from Italy. This would fall in line with Timothy's imprisonment, and again, it would seem to imply a certain connection to the Apostle Paul, who we know himself was held under house arrest in Rome. Well, the author sends greetings from those who are in Italy. Sometimes those little biographical pieces of information are helpful and geological piece of information just to give us some insight into who may be writing this letter and where it's coming from. Don't ever lose sight of that. And then finally, fourthly, he says, grace be with all of you in verse 25. As typical of a brief concluding benediction to an epistle, the author invokes God's blessing of grace upon his readers. As we have seen already in this book, and as is consistent with the rest of scripture, we're reminded that every ounce of progress made in the Christian faith comes not without the necessary and essential aid of God's continual flow of grace. Grace is the fuel that sustains and advances every aspect of the Christian life. We begin by grace, we live by grace, and we are carried home to glory by grace. And so the universal Christian blessing toward others is to wish God's grace to ever be with them. Well, brethren, this concludes the book of Hebrews. I hope and trust that we have gained a better appreciation of the glory of Christ and that our hearts have become increasingly convinced of our need to place all of our hope and trust entirely in Christ and in Christ alone for every aspect of our salvation and our sanctification for that matter. You cannot read through the book of Hebrews without coming to the conclusion in reading it straight through as we have and just seeking to open it up and letting it say what it says and come away from this book and say that there's anything on our part in any way, shape, or form that merits God's favor, not only for salvation, but even for our sanctification. It's all of Christ and Christ alone. We are justified, declared righteous in the sight of God by Christ and by Christ alone. And that is where our faith needs to be. The Old Covenant and its ceremonial shadows served an essential and vital purpose for keeping things together and for preparing the people of God for the coming of the Messiah. So we're not saying the Old Covenant was purposeless. God had ordained it. It had a purpose. It was not a mistake. However, it was weak in that it could never in itself provide a means of salvation. But it was never meant to provide a means of salvation. And we can prove that right from the beginning. Because from the very beginning, right in Genesis chapter 3, we find that God's intention was to bring victory and salvation to fallen sinners, not by way of a covenant of works, but through the Lord Jesus Christ, the seed of the woman who would crush the head of the serpent. To this end, once again, let us revel in the glory of Christ, who is divine, as we saw in Hebrews chapter 1, who is greater than the angels, who is the only perfect and righteous high priest and mediator for the people of God after the order of Melchizedek, and who offered himself up as the only perfect sacrifice on behalf of man, bringing us into God's heavenly tabernacle, not the earthly tabernacle. all by means of a new and better covenant whereby fallen sinners could be reconciled to God freely by grace. And so as we have walked in Christ, brethren, let us continue to do so to the end, not getting swept away by any teaching that would seek to take away from or add to the pure and undefiled gospel of Jesus Christ. We just talked about this in Sunday school today. That if anyone, anyone, if an apostle during the time of the apostle Paul himself, or an angel from heaven, or any church out there, or any group of people, Whatever it is, if any of them come to you with a different gospel than that which is in this word, let them be accursed. Let them be accursed. If any counsel contradicts this, no matter how close to the apostles they were, even the apostles themselves, Paul says in Galatians, if we or anyone else or an angel from heaven come to you with a different gospel, let them be accursed. This is where our faith and trust are grounded in the word of God. This is above the apostles, the word of God. May God give us grace to follow his truth. If you're outside of Christ today, I would plead with you on the basis of what we have gone over in this book of Hebrews. You have seen, if you've been here for any time, You have seen the emphasis and the centrality of Christ in bringing about salvation. And to think for a moment that there's any other way to be right with God by any of your works, by any religion, by anything else but Christ and Christ alone. We see in this book that that is the way of damnation. It's only through Christ. Our faith, our hope, our trust, everything Everything must be fixed on Christ. He is more certain and more stable than the ground that we stand on. We must seek Christ. and our hope and trust must be in Him and Him alone. And nothing else may be on our dying day if we have dying words and a dying moment to be able to say anything. And if we forget everything else, even our own spouses and our own children and our own families, that we can say in those moments, all I have is Christ and that's all I need. That's all I need. If you're outside of Christ, seek him today. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Be baptized in him and follow him and be part of his church and walk with him until you get home to glory and you will find that you will not be ashamed. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the book of Hebrews. which really is a book about the glory of Christ, which really is a large billboard with an exclamation point at the end. proclaiming that Christ is better and superior to everything else and anything else in this world that we might be tempted to trust in. Father, we know that there would seem to be nothing greater for the people on this earth than what the Jews had experienced in the old covenant as your set apart people. And yet all of that was full of mere shadows. All of the religion of that day was mere shadows that pointed to the promise. And if they did not have faith in the promise, those shadows were useless and did nothing to add any merit to their standing before you. In fact, it condemned them. Oh Lord, we pray that you would bless us as your people, that we would stand firm in Christ, that we would finish this race surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who've already made it with our eyes and hearts fixed on Christ, who for the joy set before him endured the cross and despised the shame and has sat down at your right hand. Give us grace to persevere to the end. Protect us from every subtle, even false teaching that would lean us or turn us away from Christ. For we know, Lord, that these truths are not limited to the first century, and there are all kinds of attacks today on the gospel. Lord, hear our prayer as we pray in Christ's name, amen.