Heavenly Father, as we open your Word together to listen to you, I just ask that your Spirit might cause each of us to hear what we need to for this day, for your purposes, for your glory, for our edification, where there is teaching, where there is correction, rebuke, training, whatever is needed in each of us, Lord, that your Spirit might be doing that work in us, that we might live in this world as those who are representative of your children that we might live more Christ-like before a dying world that so desperately needs to see Him. So we ask for that blessing this morning in Christ's name. Amen. Well, this morning we've come to our final message in our study of Hebrews. Every time we get to an end of a book, which isn't too often, but when I do, I always find myself wanting to kind of take everything I've learned, everything I've gleaned through it and go back to the beginning and start studying it all over again. No, we're not gonna do that. But Hebrews is certainly one of those books. As difficult as this book is, it's been an incredible, incredible adventure to study over the past year. We've gazed upon the glory of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, together and here at the end we've been challenged with how to live in this world in light of who he is and in light of all that he has accomplished on our behalf. A year ago when we began this study, I said there is no person that even begins to come close to Him. There is an infinite chasm between sinful humanity and the perfect God-man. There is none that is more captivating than He is. There is none more beautiful, none more glorious, none more exhilarating than Him. And we've seen much of that here in Hebrews. He is the eternal God, the second person of the triune Godhead through whom all that was made was made. And although He is eternal God and our Creator, He willingly humbled Himself for us. It was He who added humanity to His deity that He might redeem undeserving sinners to Himself by giving Himself as a substitutionary sacrifice on our behalf. And of course, because of His sinless nature, He was raised from the dead, is now exalted to the right hand of the Father. He is our better High Priest who is continually interceding for His people. He is Lord who is about to return and judge in shaking the nations. He is about to judge the nations, establish His kingdom which is an everlasting unshakable kingdom. A kingdom where righteousness dwells, where God will be honored forever. with the perfect worship do His name from His creatures whose hearts will be perfected in their love for Him. This is our Christ. This is our Savior. This is our Lord. This is our Creator. This is our God. And we who by God's grace have come to faith in Him are a multitude of sinners who have experienced the unfathomable mercy and saving grace of God. We are those who have been forgiven for our sin. We are those who have been made alive in Christ. We are new creatures who now find it our greatest joy to worship Him, to adore Him, the one who gave Himself to save us from our sin through the shedding of His own blood. Jesus is our salvation. He is the focal point of our faith. He is the focal point of our hope, the focal point of our love. And Hebrews has helped us to fix our eyes upon Him. Our goal in studying this book was to have our hearts endeared even more to Him. to stir deeper affections for Him, to engage our lives in more consistent, heartfelt obedience to Him, to, I guess to sum it up, to elevate our worship of Christ. As we've learned, He is the radiance of God's glory, the exact representation of His nature, better than the angels, than Moses, better than the Old Testament high priests, the new covenant cut in His blood, His once-for-all-time sacrifices, better than the Old Testament sacrifices that had to be repeated over and over. He is now resurrected in the Holy of Holies, serving as our better High Priest, interceding for us continually, and has procured for us perfect and perpetual access to fellowship with God so that we can always, anytime, draw near. This is what Hebrews has shown us about our Christ. And so our affections for Christ should should be reignited. Reignited to the place of counting all other things but rubbish. Our hearts longing to know in greater and greater measure the glory of our God seen in the face of Christ. He is the surpassing eternal treasure of the redeemed. We've seen that in our study of these 13 chapters. Now that we're finishing the book, we need to remember this word of exhortation, this gift from God that we call Hebrews, because it is so practical for today to keep us close to Him. We need to stay in it, not just leave it and go on to the next book, but remember what's here and to revisit it often. The world is filled with deception. The world is filled with darkness that's distracting many Christians from their first love. We're becoming preoccupied with the world around us and all the trinkets it has to offer today. John told us in 1 John 2 to not love the world. For the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the boastful pride of life are not of the Father. We need to be careful that we aren't becoming entangled, that we aren't becoming infatuated with the world. And in doing so, losing our love for Christ and thus our testimony for Him in this world. Our affections need to be nurtured toward Him, always to be set on Him and growing. When our affections aren't upon Him, they need to be turned and cultivated in that direction. And Hebrews is God's grace, it's God's fuel for that repentance. You might remember when we started this study, I mentioned Thomas Chalmers, the Scottish minister who said, The only way to dispossess the heart of an old affection is by the expulsive power of a new one. He said, we know of no other way by which to keep the love of the world out of the heart than to keep in our hearts the love of God. No other way by which to keep our hearts in the love of God than building ourselves up on our most holy faith. The love of God and the love of the world aren't just two competing affections. They are at enmity with one another and are so irreconcilable that they cannot dwell together in the same soul. The only way to dispossess that old affection is by the expulsive power of a new one." To tear away an old affection for the world from the heart, we need to be regularly exposed to a new affection that is so attractive it would render obsolete all the other old affections. And Hebrews gives us Jesus as that expulsive power, that power that pulls our affections away from the world and toward Him. That emanciating power is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Gospel. to rid himself of worldliness, to rid himself of the preoccupation with self, to rid himself from the arrogance and pride that rises up in our flesh that thinks we are the autonomous rulers over our own life, to rid ourselves of dwindling affections for Christ, we must, by faith, set our eyes back upon the glory of Christ. It's in gazing even more upon Christ, His person, His past and present and future work for us, His glory, His beauty, His love for us, that the things of this world once again grow strangely dim. It's as we press in to learn more of Him that our affections for the world disintegrate and cease to control us. Our pride is torn down and our affections for Christ rise up to new heights of radical love for Him, which is then seen in our growing obedience to Him. Peter commands us to do that in 2 Peter 3.18 when he says, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are to be progressing. Paul commands us in Colossians 3 to keep seeking the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things that are on earth. John said in his gospel in chapter 17 verse 3 that this is eternal life that they might know you, the only true God in Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Knowing God, knowing Christ is eternal life. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4, 6, For God who said light shall shine out of darkness is the one who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. It's Christ who perfectly communicates the glory of God, the light, the truth of the knowledge of the glory of God is found in the face of Christ. This is what Paul was so passionate about in his preaching. He says in Philippians 3.8, I count all things to be lost because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish so that I might gain Christ. I want more of Him. His prayer for the Colossians was that they would be multiplying in the full knowledge of God. Christ is the treasure of the universe. And when we see Him as such, when He holds that place in our hearts, we will consider obedience to Him our greatest privilege, submission to Him and His commands our greatest honor. Is that where your heart is? If Christ has become dull to the Christian, it's only because we've taken our gaze off of him and let the world around us entice us away. But Hebrews reminds us that our calling isn't to settle down in this world. Hebrews reminds us that we aren't to be captivated with what this world has to offer, but to stay captivated with Christ. Not to shrink back even when suffering comes for His namesake, but to press forward in faith like those who have gone before us did, who lived and even died. in faith, still looking for a better country, a city prepared for them, a heavenly one where righteousness dwells and the righteous king rules. Hebrews cultivates those affections for Christ. It revives our drooping and discouraged spirits and causes us to press on to the glory that awaits us. That's the purpose for Hebrews. That's what we've been learning and hopefully that's where your heart has been moved to closer to Christ because of our time here. So after 42 weeks of being saturated in Hebrews, Where is your heart? Where is your heart? The real test to find out is in chapter 13 that we've been looking at. Jesus said in John 14, 15, If you love Me, you will, what? Keep My commandments. If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. So chapter 13 of Hebrews is kind of the litmus test. Do you rejoice in all these exhortations that we've been looking at in chapter 13? Do you see them as right for your life, as those things which you want to do and are praying and laboring to have them integrated into your life? This is what you're wanting to be growing in because of who Christ is and all that he's done on your behalf. Are you continually showing gratitude to God? Chapter 12, verse 28. Are you letting love of the brethren continue? Chapter 13, verses 1 through 4. Are you honoring marriage and keeping yourself sexually pure? Verse 4. Are you continually being content with what God has given? Verses 5 and 6. Are you imitating the faith of your leaders? Verses 7 and 8. Are you keeping yourself from strange doctrine, false doctrine, even worldly philosophies that are in opposition to God's Word? Verses 8 and 9. Are you continually offering sacrifices of praise? If those exhortations there are right in your eyes, if that's been welling up in you and you've been putting those things into practice out of your love for Christ, then Hebrews has had a positive effect on your soul. But if not, you need to go back to chapter 1, verse 1, and ask God to help you learn Christ and treasure Christ so you can live like Christ. Because all these exhortations are Christ-like behavior. And the one who truly loves Christ will want to live in this way, pleasing to Him. Now as we come to the final nine verses, we conclude our study with two final exhortations. Two more to add to the other seven that we've been looking at. The first we're looking at is dealing with honoring the leadership God has given to the church. The second one is the final exhortation which is to make the most of all that we've learned in these 13 chapters. Well, let's look at this eighth exhortation as we finish up the book of Hebrews. We find it in verses 17 through 21, and it's exhorting us to honor the leadership in the church. And you notice this is the longest one that we've seen so far. And so I want to kind of divide it up into five parts. This is a very, very important exhortation. And it's especially important for when a church is in a difficult situation or having in difficult circumstances like this particular church was. Which is why I think there is more ink used here than any of the other exhortations. Remember they were being persecuted, they were suffering, and times like that are not only trying on the leadership's ability to lead in keeping with God's Word, but also the congregation's willingness to obey and stay in submission to that leadership as they all go through that together. So this eighth exhortation is very important. Verse 17 begins by simply stating that the church is to obey your leaders and submit to them. Now the words obey and submit are two words that cause most people to kind of bow up quicker than anything. The fallen nature is rebellious and even Christians who have a new nature struggle with the old Add to that the fact that most of us have been abused by authority in some way, and that leaves us very, very skeptical about someone's sincere care for us. And so we have a hard time with obedience. We have a hard time with submission to anyone, especially when you're an American, doubly especially when you're a Texan. So those two words are difficult to hear. And yet God calls us to honor our church leaders by obeying and submitting to them. And this isn't a little thing because he brings up leaders three times here. In verse 7, we were told to imitate them. Here in verse 17, we're told to obey and submit to them. And in verse 24, we're told to greet them. So your willingness to honor the church's leaders is important. God puts a high priority on it. Why? Well, because Christ mediates much of His rule over the church through them. Christ mediates much of His rule over His church through them. So in reality, when you obey your leaders and submit to them, it is Christ you're obeying or not obeying. When your leaders teach and preach as they bring the Word of God to bear upon a congregation or an individual or are giving guidance and counsel to the body from biblical principles, they are simply acting as under shepherds, shepherding God's flock as sort of a surrogate. That's why the requirements for elders are so high. They are to be men who know the Word and are controlled by the Spirit of God, who have been gifted for that particular task. Once a pastor strays from God's Word or God's principles given to us in His Word, once he ceases to be controlled by the Spirit in his attitudes and actions, he is no longer functioning the way Christ would have him. But when He is, the weight of responsibility falls on you to obey and submit because in reality, you're obeying or rejecting Christ, not Him. Christ gave leaders to the church for the purpose of helping her to mature. That's what Ephesians 4 tells us in verse 11, it says, and he, Christ, he gave some, he himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers, why? For the equipping of the saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God to a mature man to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. That's why as Paul was planning churches, he appointed elders in every church. He instructed Titus to appoint elders when he went to Crete. Paul's helpers were given lists, in fact, in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 in order to identify the men God would have as elders and appoint them as leaders over the churches. Their responsibilities were to teach. Their responsibilities were to preach the Word of God, to feed the flock, so they could spiritually grow, to shepherd the flock, to guard the flock, to protect the flock, to pray for the flock, to give oversight to Christ's church. That's the responsibility. And the responsibility of the flock is to obey your leaders and submit to them as they do that work. Yes, I'll be the first one to admit it. There are pastors who abuse their role, who are in it for money, who are in it for power, who are in it for their egos, a lot of things other than their love for Christ and their love for people. And so it's incumbent upon the flock to know their shepherd. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5, 12, but we ask of you, brothers, that you know those who labor among you and lead you in the Lord and admonish you. Know them, watch their lives, understand their labor and love for you. But it also says that as you do, that you regard them very highly in love because of their work. So you're to obey. That is, as they teach God's Word, you're to be like a Brean, to check them out and then make sure you're obeying what they teach. Obey them as they bring God's Word to bear upon you. And so I ask you, all these exhortations that I've been teaching here out of chapter 12 and chapter 13 at the end of Hebrews here, I ask you, are you applying them? Are you applying them? That's the issue here. Are you actively showing gratitude to God? Are you letting brotherly love continue? Are you thinking about that and applying it in your daily life? Are you honoring marriage and keeping the marriage bed undefiled? Are you content with what God has given you? If you aren't, if you're just coming and going and putting no thought into what you're learning so as to apply it to your life, then you are disobedient. not to the one proclaiming the word, but to Christ. So you're called here to obey and submit. Submission has the idea of yielding. of yielding to someone else because you recognize them as having greater authority than you. So you give way to their guidance. That's honoring them. Rather than bowing up in prideful rebellion, rather than being arrogant, rather than being full of strife and dissension, bucking their insight and wisdom because you think you know better. No, you're to yield to them. You're to yield to them. And the reason you should be willing to do that is found in the next phrase here, for they keep watch over your souls. There are times when I think I care for people's souls more than they care for their own souls. I'm giving them truth, I'm giving direction, I'm going before God begging on their behalf and they just continue to live like they want to live. They ignore, they reject the truth that is coming to them. Some of you might remember Tom Landry. He was a coach of the Dallas Cowboys when I was a kid and when the Dallas Cowboys actually had a team. This is what he told the players. He said that my job is to make them do what they don't want to do so they can become what they say they want to become. That's often the way it is with believers. They have some issue they're dealing with, and you tell them to get into God's Word, to listen to Him. You bring biblical principles to bear upon their lives. You tell them to learn Christ, to apply His Word in specific areas. And sometimes people just don't want to do it. They profess to love Christ and want to grow to be more like Him, but they don't obey, as if God's Word isn't sufficient. As if God's word is insufficient and they don't care what you're talking about. So they just disbelieve and leave. They won't submit. And because of their negligence, because of their neglect and disobedience, they don't grow closer to God. And James says, God resists the proud, but gives grace to who? The humble. One of the unique features of humility is that it is a teachable spirit. Pride is not. My Bible says God's word restores the soul, revives the heart, makes wise the simple, rejoices the heart, enlightens the eye, it gives life, it sanctifies. Then the pastor tries to gently lead people in it to that end and they disobey, they won't submit, they disregard everything that's said. And so they don't get what they say they want. The great burden of the pastor is for others to know God and to walk with Him, not only for God's glory, but for their present and eternal good and joy, for those they're ministering to. We're concerned with who is saved and who isn't. We're concerned with where people are going to spend, where they're gonna spend eternity. We're concerned with the witness they're living before the world now. We're concerned with their fruitfulness. We're concerned with their progress in Christ, that they're becoming more and more Christ-like. We're concerned with what's happening on the inside of people. So like Paul said in Colossians 1, 28 and 29, him we proclaim. admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom so that we might present every man complete in Christ. That's the goal to which the pastor labors and strives. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12 15, So I will most gladly spend and be fully spent for your souls. Not for his comfort. For your souls. for the good of the flock, for those whom Christ died for. And so your obedience to your leaders, teaching of God's word and submission to our guidance is crucial for your spiritual growth, honoring the pastors who God has given charge over you. As we listen to this, keep watch over your soul. But I think second, to help you obey and submit in this area of obedience and submission, it's important to remember the accountability that pastors have. We're those who watch over your souls, here it is, as those who will give an account. There is an accountability before God for how we have cared for those God has entrusted to us. If my love for God and my love for people wasn't so great, this accountability alone would keep me from doing what I'm doing. It scares the fire out of me continually. And I think that's the way it's supposed to be. In Ezekiel 34, the shepherds in Israel got severely rebuked for using the flock for their own selfish gain. Thus saith the Lord Yahweh, woe shepherds of Israel who have been shepherding themselves. Should not the shepherds shepherd the flock? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with wool, you sacrifice the fat sheep in shepherding of the flock. Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, and the diseased you have not healed, and the broken you have not bound up, and the scattered you have not brought back. Nor have you searched for the lost, but with strength and with severity you have dominated them. That's a frightening rebuke. They love themselves. Add to that what James says in chapter 3 verse 1, Do not many of you become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment? Christ cares about the spiritual food that His flock is being fed. He cares about the examples that are set before you, the attitudes and actions. So the pastor carries a weight of responsibility in his teaching and in his living. So to help you honor the church's leaders, remember they will be held accountable for their care for you. And third, remember, they're laboring for your benefit. Obey and submit so that the pastors who are caring for you will do this, it says, with joy and not with groaning, for this would be unprofitable for you. Notice that God here is concerned for the pastor's well-being too. First and foremost, we're sheep too. Pastors are sheep, too. But as an under-shepherd, God desires that the work we've been given to do, the caring for His people, would be something that is joyful, that's exhilarating. And believe me, it can be. I mean, the highest height of joy to see people walking as the Lord would have them. I listen to testimonies of what God does in people's lives and it brings tears to my face every time. It's beautiful. John said in 3 John 4, I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my children are walking in the truth. That is true, no greater joy. That's all we want. That's what God used in us. That's what He put in us to get us to shepherd the flock. That's part of the gifting. Many of you fit into this category that makes me absolutely filled with joy 99% of the time. I mean, there's so many people in this body that I've watched over the years that have continued to walk with God, that have grown, that are bearing fruit. Just so many people that are active in other people's lives and sharing and being productive for the Lord and finding joy in their own hearts from just walking with Him. And it just, I'm stunned. I'm just so thankful to the Lord for that increase that they've received. There are husbands and wives in this body who I've watched over the years grow closer to the Lord, and in doing so, growing closer to one another, ministering as one on the same page, praying together, fighting the battles together, growing together, finding joy in the marriage, bearing fruit. I find myself just really tearing up. This is better than a Disney movie, you know? I just tear up when I see the grace of God impact people's lives. But I've also seen people harden their heart to the Word of God. I've also seen people dig in their heels. I've also seen people refuse to humble themselves, refuse to listen to God speak through His Word, refuse to come under the leadership. And there is nothing more devastating, nothing more destructive than that. And the sorrow and pain is felt deeply by the pastors. It can cause groaning. You pray for good and they choose evil and it can become almost unbearable. Numbers 12.3 tells us Moses was the most humble man on the face of the earth and Israel in their rebellion and their stubbornness drove him to sin against God, hitting a rock rather than speaking to it. They grieved him so bad. Jeremiah is called the crying prophet. He wrote lamentations which is a dirge over Israel because of their hard-heartedness, the judgment that they were going to receive. Jesus wept over Jerusalem because of their unbelief and arrogance and refusal to repent and receive him as their Messiah. Truth and love calling out to them like a hen wanting to gather her chicks and yet they refused. The pastor wants good for the people, joy and peace to abound and yet people rebel and it can emotionally break a leader to the place of groaning. So a pastor's heart is taken from the highest highs. I always describe ministry this way. It is the highest highs you can have as a person here this side of glory and the lowest lows. Maybe within a few hours. It can be filled with sorrow when someone in his flock isn't walking with God. All that to say your obedience or lack thereof affects your pastors. And God takes note of it. God takes note of it. But you know the saddest thing is that the sheep who refuse to obey, who refuse to submit, who refuse to repent, who refuse the guidance and care of the pastors are the ones who get hurt the most. That's what it says at the end of verse 17. For this would be unprofitable for you. It would be unprofitable for you. Loss of joy, loss of fruitfulness, loss of opportunity to honor God, loss of eternal rewards. To not obey and to submit to those who are trying to care for you spiritually is to shut off your spiritual progress until you repent. Let me give you a fourth way to honor the church leaders. Pray for us. I'm convinced this is the greatest way to keep your pastors in line and on fire and to keep your own hearts able to receive from them is to pray for them. I know this goes on here. I'm not sure I'd be standing here anymore if I didn't know people were praying for me. I feel the effects of the prayers in my life. Pray for us, the author says in verse 19. Take those who are your leaders, take us before the throne room of God that Jesus, our high priest, has given us access to, to boldly draw near and plead to God on our behalf. We are weak. We are mere men. We can be foolish. We can be sinful. We're constantly dealing with our own feelings of inadequacy. And yet we want to minister to you in the power of the Spirit for your sake, for your advancement, for your fruitfulness. So pray for us. We are desperately needed. The warfare can be intense. It can be constant. It can be debilitating at times. And yet there is work to do. We just can't sit around and mope. So pray for us. If we're going to be men of deep conviction, men of resolve, men who can minister as clean vessels for the Holy Spirit to use, men who have wisdom to lead, to equip you, to love you, to pray for you, we need prayer ourselves. All of those are reasons to pray for your leaders. But he gives two specific reasons here that we're to pray for them. First, he says, for we are convinced that we have a good conscience desiring to conduct ourselves well in all things. In other words, our consciences are clean. There's nothing that we know of that we're doing wrong before God. Our intentions are clean in sending you this letter. There's no hidden agenda. We aren't after money or some ulterior motive. It's solely for the glory of Christ and the edification of His church. It's to help you all set your eyes upon the person and the work of Christ, to see His supremacy over all things, so that you will experience the faith to rise up and stand strong in the face of persecution, of the persecution that you're experiencing. That was the heart of these pastors. wrote this letter and he says so pray for us our conduct is in keeping with all that we've exhorted you to do we aren't hypocrites but we say we say that carefully because we are still mere men So pray for us to that end. And just to show that in sincerity, he goes on and he mentions here a second reason that he wanted prayer from them. Verse 19, and I urge you all the more to do this, that is to pray, so that I may be restored to you the sooner. Sometimes it's easy to write to people and tell them what to do when you're not in the midst of their situation. Sometimes it's easy to do that, but he says here, pray that we can be restored to you the sooner. In other words, we wanna be there with you in your suffering. Even if we have to suffer with you in the midst of it, we wanna be there to encourage you just as we've written to you. That's the pastor's heart. Pray for us so that we can be with you sooner. The pastor doesn't run from difficult situations. He gets in the middle of it in order to help people work through it in a way that is honoring to God and beneficial for them. That's what he's asking them to pray for here, that they might come sooner and be there to minister to them in their suffering. So to honor the church's leaders, first you need to obey your church leader. Second, you need to be remembering their accountability before God. Third, you need to be remembering their laboring on your benefit. Fourth, you need to be praying for them. And fifth, the fifth point is that you need to remember they're praying for you. Your pastors are praying for you. That's what verses 20 and 21 are. It's a benediction, which is simply a prayer. a request for divine blessing on the people of God that they love so much. Not always, but usually it comes at the end of the letter. That's the case here. In verses 20 and 21, listen to it. Now the peace of God, who brought up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus, equip you in everything to do his will by doing in us what is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. That's this pastor's request for his church. a blessing on all those He's written these 13 chapters to. His great longing is that God would equip them to do His will by doing what is pleasing in His sight. Now that they know His will from this letter, they'll need the power to step out and do it. And so he asks the only one who has the power to do that, the God of peace, the only one who can make true peace, lasting peace between God and man, and who has provided for that through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God is the one who brought up the dead The great brought up from the dead, the great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the resurrection power by which he is able to equip you. Verse 21, in every good thing to do his will. Remember Philippians chapter 2 verse 12. Paul says, we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. In other words, you're to put forth sober effort to grow in Christ's likeness. Four, it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work according to His good pleasure. In other words, you are working and God is exerting His power in you to accomplish what He desires. And you might be wondering, well, what is my work? What's my part? The answer is to yield to God's Word. Yield to God's Word. Your work is to fight the flesh, to mortify the flesh and its tendencies. Put off the sin that so easily besets you. Turn from it and set your eyes on Christ. And in light of His glory, yield to His word that directs you in His will so that you're doing that which is pleasing in His sight. And as you do, the power of God's word, powerful. is powerful enough to raise the dead, it will be transforming you more and more in Christlikeness. God's Word is the power of God unto salvation, is it not? Romans 1.16. And it is the sanctifying means by which we are changed. John 17.17. It is the living and active power of God. Hebrews 4.12. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is that same power that's working in you. that is able to do that transforming work in you as you yield to His Word. The great motivation, of course, to yield to His Word is God's love for us demonstrated on the cross. What an incredible benediction here. All that the author wants to see unfold in this suffering church is able to unfold because he has confidence in God's resurrecting power that's available to them because of what Christ has done on their behalf. And so it's Jesus Christ to whom be the glory forever and ever. All glory is to be given to him because without him, the supreme one, the one whom God appointed heir of all things, through whom he made the worlds, who is the radiance of his glory, the exact representation of his nature and upholds all things by the word of his power, who having accomplished cleansing for sin, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, who is better than the angels, better than the Old Testament sacrifices, better than the Old Testament priesthood, better than that old covenant, the one who's made the way to glory for sinners through his own blood, his once and for all sacrifice on our behalf to him, be the glory forever and ever. Amen. That's his prayer. What an appropriate climactic prayer for this church. So honor the church's leaders. as you're remembering that they're praying for you. One last exhortation in conclusion. Look at verse 22. But I urge you brothers, bear with this word of exhortation. He's saying, listen church, all of you, continually hear, continually listen, and apply this word of exhortation. This word of exhortation is referring to all 13 chapters. He's talking about the whole book here. Soak it up. Revisit it and apply it to your lives. Gaze upon Christ in it. Heed the five warnings in it. Be the person of faith that it's described here. Apply all the exhortations. Don't be a person who is deceived, who merely hears the word and doesn't do anything with it. That's what James 1.23 warns about, right? Rather bear with it. That's the last exhortation here. You say, well, it's such a long book. I mean, you know, I got things to do. I got YouTube videos to watch. I got an extra 45 minutes. Well, he actually says here, for I've written to you briefly. Briefly. I mean, he could have actually, he could have very easily written volumes on Christ and volumes on the Old Testament system and volumes on faith. But as God does in the efficiency of His communication and with His illumining work to help us understand, the Spirit made it brief. You can read these 13 chapters through in 45 minutes or you can study them over 42 weeks. Bear with it. Revisit it. continually hear, listen, and apply this word of exhortation. It's the grace that we need to endure and live by faith in difficult times. Verse 23 tells us about Timothy. Kind of an interesting thing that he sticks him right here. He says, know that our brother Timothy has been released. In other words, he had been in jail and they released from prison. With whom, if he comes soon, I will see you. There's a lot of reasons he could have inserted that quick note about Timothy. But I think it was to hold him up as a final example of someone who lived this book. Someone who treasured Christ. Someone who understood the New Covenant. Someone who was living by faith. Someone who was being persecuted and yet endured. Someone who they knew well, someone who they would have considered one of their leaders. In fact, Timothy could have been the one who planted this church. That's certainly what Paul had trained him to do. So he would have been dear to them, a perfect example of them to enduring persecution by faith and of a leader they needed to honor. And then comes the final greeting here. Verse 24, greet all of your leaders and all the saints. It's an expression of love, isn't it? It isn't confined to just their immediate leaders, but all of them. Not just some of the saints, but all of them. Leave none out. In other words, care for one another, love one another enough to greet them. Greet all of them for us. It's another way of saying, we're with you in this. We're with you in the trials and your suffering. Greet those that, verse three, remember, said were in prison and those who were being mistreated. Can you imagine the encouragement that that would bring to the body at large? Those, he says, from Italy greet you. From the family here in Italy, all the believers here, they greet you. One big family in different geographical locations, but all caring for one another, concerned for one another, praying for one another, expressing their love for one another. Romans 16, this greeting went on all over the place, as it should. Romans 16, 16, greet one another with a holy kiss. 1 Corinthians 16, 20, all the brethren greet you, greet one another with a holy kiss. 2 Corinthians 13, 12, greet one another with a holy kiss. 2 Corinthians 13, 13, all the saints greet you. 1 Peter 5, 14, greet one another with a kiss of love. Again, family affection, family affection bound together in Christ even with those they've never met. And then he says, grace be with you all. Let God's unmerited favor shown to us in Christ be the overwhelming excitement for everyone. Let it always be at the forefront of everyone's mind as we live this life and even endure the suffering together by faith. in our glorious Christ until he comes. We live in a world whose foundations are shaking. But Hebrews reminds us that Christ is supreme over all and is on his throne mediating as our high priest even now. And His kingdom that He has made us a part of through the new covenant cut in His blood cannot be shaken. Therefore, we are not to cower or become fearful or become complacent. We aren't to settle down and be content with the things as they are, but to continue to, by faith, press forward in obedience as our Lord and Savior did in His earthly sojourn, continually advancing God's purposes. Hebrews reminds us that when discouraged and tempted to give up, don't, but press forward. And as we've seen, it gives us plenty of motivations and incentives to do so. The most spectacular of which is the reminder that the unshakable kingdom that we've entered into by faith will soon be realized in its fullness, a better country, a city, a kingdom, a heavenly home one where righteousness dwells and our righteous King rules forever. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much. What an incredible gift to us. Thank you so much for helping us to see Christ more for who He is and reminding us more of all that He's done on our behalf. It does excite our hearts. It does move us to want to serve Him, to obey Him, to love Him even more. Thank you for reminding us what faith is and helping us to think through it and giving us just an abundance of examples from the past that we can understand it by. Most of all, thank you for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who is that perfect example for us. We also want to thank you for the exhortations at the end. We ask that you would, by your resurrection power, be working in us all, that we might not only cherish the righteousness that they represent, but that it would be worked into our lives so we could live it out. Even today, in this world, where we are now, for your glory, for the testimony of Christ in this world, and for our joy, we ask in Christ's name. Amen.